Research Proposal

Internationally Educated Nurses in Saskatchewan

 

Context

International recruitment efforts have become an integral health human resource strategy in many parts of Canada. In Saskatchewan this effort has focused to date primarily on the Philippines, a country which has indicated traditionally that it educates more nursing personnel than it needs domestically, has English as a language of instruction (at select institutions), and historically has produced well-qualified health human resources personnel. The intention is to recruit over 300 registered nurses initially to work in participating health regions. Some internationally educated nurses (IENs) have already joined the Saskatchewan health care workforce. More are expected over the upcoming months (between 2008 and 2009).

 

In order for the IENs to be successfully recruited and retained, a number of efforts have been undertaken. For example, pre-arrival visits have been undertaken by recruitment and selection teams originating from the recruiting health regions, professional bodies, educational institutions, and government. For newly recruited IENS, extended orientations, training opportunities, and mentorships have been arranged.

 

Despite these efforts, a number of challenges remain for all parties involved in the success of the IEN recruitment and retention. IENs are required to successfully complete the Canadian Registered Nursing Examination (CRNE) which causes significant anxiety for the IENs. At present fewer than 50% of IENs succeed on the first writing of the CRNE. For units and direct line managers, there is a need to prepare the staff and unit for IENs to enhance and ease their integration into the care team. Health regions and educational institutions are challenged to provide the foundations for success through augmenting education and training opportunities (for both IENs and regional staff), as well as to seek opportunities for sustainable, successful relationships with their Filipino partnering agencies. The Government of Saskatchewan recognizes the importance of a successfully integrating the IEN cadre in augmenting, revitalizing, and sustaining a diverse nursing workforce.

 

Issue

International recruitment in health care will likely remain a mid to long term strategy to address health human resource needs in Saskatchewan and, more broadly, across Canada. It is critical to understand the recruitment and retention strategy in its entirety (i.e., from policy to implementation to evaluation) across all partners (i.e. IEN to unit to region to education and government sectors, as well as Philippines’ perspective). Through a comprehensive research and evaluation approach to the Filipino IEN initiative, the project will contribute to the knowledge of successful and sustainable recruitment and retention of Filipino IENs specifically and other IENs generally. Further, the study will identify key elements/strategies for the integration of IENs into the Saskatchewan health care context.