B.C. spending $12M to help internationally-educated nurses get licensed

The province is spending $12 million to help make it easier for internationally-educated nurses to become licensed to practise in B.C., hoping the move will help address a staffing shortage in the field.

Officials said Tuesday the funding should shorten the lengthy registration and licensing process, which can currently take up to two years to complete.

It also included bursaries for 1,500 nurses — up to $16,000 each — to help pay for the series of national and provincial assessments required to be licensed in B.C.

A statement said nurses who were educated outside of B.C. but want to practise in the province will be eligible for the funding, with "an initial focus" on those who already live locally.

Currently, internationally-educated nurses who want to become licensed in B.C. need to undergo English-language testing and credential assessments. They must also be processed by the National Nursing Assessment Services (NNAS), Nursing Community Assessment (NCAS) and the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM).

Those applications and assessments can cost a prospective nurse at least $4,200. If they need to upgrade their education, it can cost thousands more.

With the new funding, the province is introducing a "triple track" system for assessments: nurses will be able to apply to be evaluated for multiple positions — like health-care assistant, licensed-practical nurse and registered nurse — at the same time, instead of one by one.

The province said the change should double the number of nurses that can be tested every day.

The funding also includes more than $2 million to help with recruitment and outreach.

Earlier this year, the B.C. Nurses' Union said nurses are burnt out and desperate for relief. Staffing levels were already critical before the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse.

In January, a survey found 76 per cent of union members said their workloads have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The survey said 51 per cent of those working in emergency departments and intensive care units said the pandemic has made them more likely to leave the profession in the next two years.

Since 2017 and 2020, the number of licensed practical nurses in B.C. has risen 12 per cent. Registered nurses are up six per cent.

But as the overall number of nurses has increased in recent years, so has demand. Retirements, combined with an aging population that will need more care, are creating new pressures on the system alongside the pandemic.