I came to Canada from the Philippines in 2012.

I knew before I came that I would have to go through a process to become licensed as a nurse in Manitoba, both to ensure that my skills were able to adapt to working in a new country, but also to learn how to communicate and practice within a culture that is so different from where I trained.

I was surprised at how long the process took but I focused on completing the bridging education that was recommended for me based on the results of my competency assessment and then did a practicum at Deer Lodge.

When I finished, I was able to begin work at Health Sciences Centre immediately.

I know from my own experience that the journey can be long and that there are challenges along the way. When I speak to Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) who are starting their own journey, I tell them that the culture in Canada and the way we practice here are different in many ways from how and where they trained. So while we are all nurses back home, our path to being licensed here is going to involve some work – and some time – as we adapt and bring the skills that we have into how care is delivered in Canada.

The bridging program at Red River included tools that helped me adapt to providing care in a very different culture. When I started working in Canada, asking for help was not natural or familiar for me. That’s very much a cultural thing and something that new IENs have shared with me that they also struggle with.

In some cultures, asking for help is viewed as admitting that you don’t know what you are doing, and questioning orders – especially when given by a doctor – is something that is not done. But in Canada, we work as important members of collaborative teams. We discuss care plans, we work alongside the doctors and other health professionals, and our opinions are valued.

When IENs come on the unit they are sometimes very surprised to hear us using first names for our colleagues, including the doctors. I explain that we work as a team here, we support each other and treat each other with respect, but without the need to use sir or ma’am. That can be an adjustment!

In June of 2023, we welcomed our first IEN to WRS3. We thought it would be easy to orient them to working in our hospital but it was clear to me that we needed a structured orientation, with opportunities to be buddied with experienced nurses and some education about how we work at HSC.  

I approached my manager with an idea of how we could help the new IENs settle in and our clinical education team quickly developed a program that combines time in the classroom with experience in the unit, all in an environment that has mentorship and support built in.

I know it has been very helpful for the IENs and that the nurses and managers on the units feel the orientation has benefitted both the new members of their teams and the unit as a whole.

The IENs feel better supported and the nurses working on the unit understand the cultural differences. Together, we are building a culture that encourages IENs to feel comfortable asking for help and an environment where the support they need to be successful is available.

Archie Carganilla is a Nurse Educator working at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre. Using insight gained from his personal journey as an Internationally Educated Nurse (IEN), combined with observations made working alongside more recently hired IENs, Archie and a group of clinical educators, have developed a structured orientation program that provides additional support, classroom education and mentorship to IENs working at Manitoba’s largest hospital.

Archie was nominated alongside Gillian Nattress, manager of health services, clinical placements, recruitment and retention, Bernadette Cacalda, Educator, and Anna Stewart, Educator for their important work supporting IENs at HSC.  

Shared Health is proud to recognize Asian Heritage Month and celebrate the contributions and stories of colleagues, friends and neighbours with diverse Asian backgrounds that enrich our health system and strengthen the care we provide.