N.S. receives thousands of applications from internationally-trained nurses since fast-tracking process

Nova Scotia’s College of Nursing has received a thousands of applications from internationally-trained nurses hoping to practice in the province.

Sue Smith, the CEO and registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Nursing (NSCN), said the college has received 9110 applications since it expedited the licensing and registration process for the top seven countries where nurses apply to come to Canada.

“We’re in day eight and we’ve had well-over 9000 applicants,” Smith said. “It’s all hands-on deck.” 

The Nova Scotia College of Nursing was the first provincial regulator to announce plans to fast-track applications for international nurses who are trained in the seven countries where the scope practise matches Nova Scotia’s. This means nurses would be eligible for licenses in a matter of weeks, rather than years.

Nurses registered in the Philippines, India, Nigeria, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are now eligible to apply for a license in Nova Scotia and have no other requirement except pass a national entrance exam.

The stream-lined process has cut out paperwork and time.

Smith noted while the college was anticipating there would be a lot of interest, more than 9000 applications within eight days exceeds expectations.

“This does not automatically translate into 9000 nurses however based upon even the high high number of people who are filling out an account we are very optimistic that we will certainly have significant positive number of nurses available to work in Nova Scotia,” Smith said.

CTV news spoke with Janet Hazelton, president of the nurses union, earlier on Wednesday at which point in which the Nova Scotia College of Nursing had received more than 1400 applications within the first two days of the process. Even having heard the much smaller number, she was pleased.

“I’m shocked and I’m pleased but I’m cautiously optimistic,” Hazelton said. “Because they still have to be obviously vetted to make sure they meet the standard we hold in our province. There’s still some work to be done but it’s certainly promising.”

Hazelton estimates there are somewhere between 1200-1500 vacancies within the Nova Scotia Health Authority, which does not count the IWK or long-term care nurses.

While Nova Scotia was the first province to introduce the licensing changes, Alberta and British Columbia have followed suit.

“That’s always the issue when you have a good idea. It germinates and others latch onto it,” said Hazelton. 

Nova Scotia’s health minister Michelle Thompson believes the initial interest shows that people have been waiting for changes for a long time.

“We’re really proud of the college and the work that they’ve done and you see that we’re reaping the benefits of that change,” Thompson said.

On Tuesday, the college convened a meeting with healthcare and immigration stakeholders, including the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment.

“It certainly mobilized a whole crew of people quite quickly to say ok this is a real opportunity,” said Suzanne Ley, senior executive director of the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment.

“It’s one thing for us to be doing recruitment around the world, which we’ve been doing but this is recruitment coming to us,” she said. 

While licensing is key, so is finding a place for new nurses to work and live.

“As we get these folks we want them to stay in Nova Scotia,” said Smith. “Other partners also have to step up and we wanted to give them a heads up.”

Ley also noted there are lots of internationally-educated nurses in Nova Scotia already.

“And so there’s some work happening to make sure we’re taking care of some of the folks that are here,” Ley said.

As for the applicants who are still abroad, Ley expects it could take anywhere from months to a year to get them to Nova Scotia, depending on their individual circumstances.

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