PR: Partnership puts area nurses back to work

A pilot program will launch this summer to put local resident immigrants who are skilled in nursing back to work in local hospitals and clinics. Tacoma Community College, WorkForce Central, Franciscan Health System and MultiCare are collaborating to form an international nurse program. The program aims to find qualified immigrant or refugee nurses and provide them with additional training on U.S. nurse practices so they can pass the National Council License Examination (NCLEX). This will help address the nursing shortage locally.

“WorkForce Central is happy to be a partner in this effort,” Linda Nguyen, WorkForce Central CEO, said. “The program is just one strategy that will help answer Pierce County’s need for more healthcare workers. WorkForce Central and the Pierce County Health Careers Council have been successfully addressing this shortage since 2001.”

TCC is providing the training, thanks also to grant funding from The Promise of Nursing for Washington Nursing School Grant Program administered by the Foundation of the National Student Nurses’ Association. Funding for this grant program came from several hospitals and health care agencies in the Washington area, Johnson & Johnson, and national companies with an interest in supporting nursing education. WorkForce Central is providing approximately $170,800, and has identified qualifying students for the program. Franciscan is creating opportunities for clinical training opportunities once nurses have passed their registered nursing exam.

Nurses that have been trained and worked in other countries often have most of the medical skills needed to be successful, but nurse practice is sometimes different outside the U.S., according to Pat Brown, the Dean of Health, Justice and Human Services at TCC.

Responsibility for assessment and decision-making can vary, as can the responsibility of various members of the health care team. Terminology also can be a significant barrier. The program is designed to address those issues and more.

“Programs like this succeed because they give highly skilled immigrant nurses a way to get past those things that keep them out of the field,” Brown said. “These nurses are here, they want to be nurses, and they’re already residents.”

It is common for highly skilled immigrants in many fields to work low-skill minimum wage jobs because of difference in the way their professions are practiced here compared to their country of origin, Brown said. With medical facilities in need of trained nurses, everyone wins when immigrant nurses can be prepared to succeed with relatively few training resources.

“This is a great, cost effective way to build up residents who want to practice nursing in their new country,” Nguyen, said. “It normally costs around $32,500 for an associate level R.N. to be trained at TCC. With the program, the cost will only be around $11,000. It really is a win-win for all.”

“We’re preparing them for transition to US practice rather than having to start from the beginning of a nursing education, which is an efficient way to prepare nurses to serve our community,” Brown said.

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