Red tape holds up nursing reinforcements, union says

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This article was published 04/11/2020 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As administrators scramble to find replacements for medical staff who are self-isolating due to COVID-19, the Manitoba Nurses Union said dozens of nurses aren’t able to provide frontline care because of red tape.

“It’s very frustrating,” said union president Darlene Jackson.

“They’re waiting in the wings to register and it’s all based on the fact they can’t write the English-proficiency exam.”

The issue involves one of two licensing bodies disallowing foreign-trained nurses from working because their English tests are considered outdated. Generally, such tests are deemed to have expired after a two-year period. 

The College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba allows those who have  trained in Canada to work in the province, even after the English test they need to start training has expired.

The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba requires an updated English test in that scenario, meaning that nurses who passed an English test in order to start training will have to retake the test if it has expired.

Foreign-trained RNs complete bridging programs in Canada, which are college courses that teach everything from how to speak with patients, to rules and protocols. The courses include tests to ascertain whether nurses’ training from abroad meets the criteria of Canadian training.

The RN college says the bridging program cohorts that finished in March and July had 29 graduates, but 19 were held back from writing the final regulatory exam because they “need to complete language testing (either due to expired test results or unsuccessful attempts)” wrote college spokesman Martin Lussier.  

That’s despite a policy that requires foreign nurses to meet language requirements before they begin a bridging program.

The National Nursing Assessment Service requires RNs to prove they speak English or French as their first language, or provide proof of a successful test.

Meanwhile, the LPN college said that once someone has passed that benchmark “as long as they continue to work with us on their application, another test is usually not required, regardless of if the original test expires.”

Jackson said the LPN policy makes more sense during a global pandemic. She pointed out Winnipeg had “a chronic nursing shortage” before COVID-19, and now nurses are forced into isolation because of outbreaks in hospitals.

Lussier said the RN policy recognizes language skills can erode over time.

“From our perspective as a regulator, it’s not so much a question of providing leeway to meet staffing needs during the pandemic — it’s a question of ensuring we protect the public interest by maintaining appropriate standards for registration, as guided by evidence,” Lussier wrote.

Some of these nurses had taken an English test known as CELBAN, which is not available online. Nurses can be certified virtually through other tests, but the nurses union argues it’s an unnecessary barrier for those who have taken the CELBAN in the past.

The union stressed it believes nurses need to understand patients and communicate, but it argues RNs should have the same flexibility as LPNs, especially with the province’s tardy recruitment campaign for medical personnel.

Manitoba reached out to retired nurses in the spring, but only ramped up recruitment efforts in mid-October, as Winnipeg came down with one of the highest COVID case rates in Canada. Jackson said adequate pay and less red tape is needed to shore up the health system.

“You can’t just put out a call for nurses and hope that people do it out of goodwill,” Jackson said.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca