Nurses say Supervised Practice Program is ‘a good move’

Nurses say Supervised Practice Program is ‘a good move’

Jennifer Lopez, President of the Integrated Filipino Canadian Nurses Association

By Michelle Chermaine Ramos
LJI Reporter
The Philippine Reporter

Jennifer Lopez, President of the Integrated Filipino Canadian Nurses Association, was one of the Philippine-trained professionals who attended the recent signing of the Joint Communique by Ontario Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton and Philippine Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello on March 13, 2022. Its purpose is to improve pathways to employment for Filipinos by working towards having their foreign credentials recognized in Canada.

According to Lopez, it is a good move to offset the increasing nursing shortage in Canada. “They were saying last time it’s 22,000 nurses needed in Ontario. Now, as for the latest RNAO (Registered Nurses Association of Ontario) report, it has risen to 30,000,” she said. “We are really very happy to help. And loosening up a bit on the bureaucracy from the government and the College of Nurses of Ontario, from the standpoint of the IENs (Internationally Educated Nurses) from the Philippines, it’s a good move. We are happy.”

Lopez said many Filipino nurses are glad to also be able to finally help the Canadian nurses after they saw them suffering from burnout which took a toll on the Canadian nurses’ mental health during the pandemic. “If you see your fellow nurses struggling, you want to help. It’s not because you want to help the patient only, but we want to help our fellow nurses also.” Some of her colleagues have also recently passed the Supervised Practice Experience (SPE) program which has made it easier for Filipino nurses to get licensed.

With the Supervised Practice Experience, IELTS is no longer the barrier it used to be.

The strict requirements of passing the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) has been a long-time complaint and challenge of many Philippine-trained nurses who entered Canada through the caregiver program.

With the Supervised Practice Experience, foreign-trained nurses can update their safe practice here and bypass the IELTS exam if they complete 140 hours of practice in a Canadian hospital proving their English proficiency on the job at the end of which they are given a checklist of the safe practice requirements they have met including language proficiency. “The mandate of the College of Nurses of Ontario is three years, right? If you didn’t practice for the past three years as a nurse, that means to say you are like, incompetent, because your safe practice expired. So, with the Supervised Practice Experience program through the Ministry of Health and the College of Nurses of Ontario, they can now go into SPE so that their practice will be upgraded. And at the same time, the English proficiency will be satisfied through requirements,” Lopez explained.

“Also, there’s one thing that they have just approved March 7. If such IENs had practiced, or worked in a healthcare setting like the porters, the dieticians, or the caregiver who worked as PSW in a healthcare setting, the language proficiency is waived already,” she added.

Mentorship for newcomers through the Integrated Filipino Canadian Nurses Association

The IFCNA helps newcomer nurses by advising them on how to start the process of acquiring their license in Canada. Lopez hosts online review sessions and takes them through mock interviews and resume building workshops. Sometimes, the mentorship is one-on-one for some individuals who need extra help. They also collaborated with the Philippine Consulate in Toronto by delivering an orientation session for newcomers and are planning to do another in the future. For more information, they can be reached at ifcna.cares@gmail.com or through their website (https://ifcna.ca).

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