Internationally Educated Nurses: An Employer’s Guide (www.oha.com/ien) is a unique web-based guide designed to help hospitals and health care facilities overcome barriers faced by internationally educated nurses (IENs) from the time they enter Canada.
On the site, you will find a wealth of information, including the advantages of hiring IENs, how to create a harmonious workforce, organizational success stories and useful resources. Some health care organizations have been successful in integrating and advancing IENs. A video clip of an interview offering integration tips for employers with Verla Fortier, Senior Consultant, Nursing Recruitment and Retention at Hamilton Health Sciences.
IENs often mention their quest for respect and equal opportunities in promotion and leadership. The website includes stories by IENs about their experiences on their journey to becoming nurses in Canada. Maria Rosalie Rival, who migrated from the Philippines to Toronto in 2007, advises other IENs to research what is needed to register in Ontario before migration. Read her story.
This web-guide was produced by The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) in partnership with the Nursing Health Services Research Unit (NHSRU), McMaster site and was funded by the Government of Ontario. The research leads for the initiative are Dr. Andrea Baumann, Scientific Director, NHSRU and Dr. Jennifer Blythe, Senior Researcher, NHSRU.
For more information about the IEN Project, please contact Dr. Andrea Baumann at baumanna@mcmaster.ca , Dr. Jennifer Blythe at blytheje@mcmaster.ca or Maggie Fung at mfung@oha.com.