Monday, March 25, 2013

GNIE: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

As recently as between 12th to 19th Mar-2013, when my cohort of GNIE graduates received our CRNE result notification from the CRNBC, we were reminded of our outstanding requirement towards finalizing our registration with the CRNBC. To quote the CRNBC letter: 
"In order to finalize your registered nurse registration with the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC), you must provide a satisfactory reference from a Canadian employer for whom you worked at least 250 hours while holding provisional registration."
During the 2nd semester of GNIE, some of my classmates discussed about joining/infiltrating the CRNBC and the nurses' union to eventually fight against the (IMHO) discriminatory 250 hours requirement for GNIE graduates. [See "changes to XYZ" in the blog post here.] Back then, all we could hope for was to survive the process "as-is", and (with luck) eventually create the change we want to see for future generations of GNIE graduates. We never thought that change would be possible for our cohort of GNIE graduates.

In fact, if not for the "reception" we received at an Open House of a certain health authority back in 27-Nov-2012, we would not have been stirred up enough to launch into advocating for ourselves. As a Chinese saying goes, “塞翁失马 焉知非福”。 ["A blessing in disguise and vice versa."]

We first heard rumours about a change in policy on Wednesday 20-Mar-2013. On Thursday, some of us called up CRNBC for a verbal confirmation of the rumours. On Friday 22-Mar-2013, many of us received an email from CRNBC stating the following.
"There has been a change to our registration requirements which affects you." [... snip ...] 
"1. You are now eligible for practising OR non-practising registration." 
"2. You do NOT need to have an employer send CRNBC a reference after 250 (hours) of practice."
You can imagine the waves of celebratory joy going around amongst us. We were standing on the shoulders of giants. The change in policy, and thus the course of history for GNIE graduates, is made possible with the support of some very important people and organizations. 
Thank you all for recognizing the discrimination we faced as GNIE graduates and changing the unjust situation.

[29-Mar-2013 Update: Click here for the full impact of the change in CRNBC policy.]

6 comments:

  1. You should run for political office.

    Show Singaporeans how it's done! :)

    Angle your volunteering towards that.

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    1. Haha, CK, you're joking! It's funny that several of my classmates also suggested the same -- mayor or premier. :-D That said, politics is not in my crystal ball for now.

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  2. Wow! This is really good news. My friends and I are about to embark on the next step in our journey to obtain RN status here in Canada which is the GNIE program this summer 2013.

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    1. Hi AnGeLJaDe,

      Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.

      Congrads on getting into the GNIE summer-2013 intake. It is an excellent program to guide you step-by-step into nursing in B.C., Canada. All the best!

      Cheers, WD.

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  3. Hi Winking doll,
    I happened to chance upon your blog from ASsingaporeanSon. I must say you are really brave to brace through the migration path yourself in the beginning.

    By way of introduction, i am one of the fellow mates in Singapore planning to move to Canada as PNP PR in Nova Scotia. My issue right now is, if i am a bachelor graduate and WES had recognised my cert, will NNAS require me to do bridging course if i were to come abroad to Canada?

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    1. Hi Babyling_loves,

      Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I am sorry that I only just saw your comment as I only check my blog occasionally.

      Nursing registration here is determined on a provincial level, i.e. each province has its own rules. Your best bet is to email the Nova Scotia College of Nursing at registration@nscn.ca (i.e. its nursing board) to ask your questions.

      Nova Scotia College of Nursing website as follow.
      https://www.nscn.ca/registration-licensing/first-time-registering-nova-scotia/internationally-educated-nurse-not-currently-licensed-canada

      Other places to look for information includes AllNurses.com but personally I find too much "noise" on its various discussion boards sometimes.

      Nurses are expected to be advocates here in Canada. I believe that since you have the ability to complete the PNP PR in Singapore, you will have the ability to figure out your path towards registration in Canada from the various publicly available resources. Think of it as an exercise in advocacy -- in this case the beneficiary is yourself. ;)

      Good luck on your path!

      Cheers, WD.

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