Meet our New Brampton Case Managers
CARE Centre’s Peel Region office in downtown Brampton now has two full-time case managers serving clients.
Natolina Marius-Springer is a CARE Centre member RPN, on her way to obtaining her RN, who worked as a nursing instructor in St. Lucia. “Having been on the IEN journey in Ontario, I can relate to our clients’ needs on a very personal basis,” said Marius-Springer. “There are many steps in the registration process, and using my knowledge and experience to help others is very rewarding.”
Junlex Doydora is originally from the Philippines where he worked as a bank officer, having later completed his nursing studies and RN registration in Ontario. He has worked as an RN both in Canada and the USA. “Jun” has also experienced coming to Canada as an immigrant shifting careers from banking to nursing. “After a first career I was called to the nursing profession. I started as a PSW, became an RPN and now an RN. I want to spread the message to our clients that through hard work, sacrifice and perseverance, one can succeed.”
The Brampton office holds regular group information sessions. Please visit the CARE Centre website to register: https://care4nurses.org/events/
CARE Centre Member IEN Joins Board of Directors
We are pleased to welcome Hameed Zahedi, RN, BSN, to the second CARE Centre member IEN seat on the board of directors. Janet Kwanza, RN, is the other IEN member serving on the board. Hameed currently works as a Psychiatric Nurse at the Dundas West Medical Clinic. He was registered with the CNO in 2015 and presented at the CARE Centre’s Conference for IENs that year. He did his nursing education and was licensed in the U.S. and was awarded a Nightingale in Nursing certificate for his achievements. His work experience is in medical-surgical and mental health nursing. Prior to immigrating, Hameed was a university professor in Iran in the field of second language education and linguistics.
CARE Centre Welcomes Master’s Student
Jennifer Cheng is collaborating with CARE Centre Professional Practice Lead Ruth Wojtiuk as preceptor on a project to complete her Master of Nursing Degree in Health Policy and Education at Ryerson University. Jennifer has been a registered nurse for over five years and currently works full time on the multi-organ transplant unit at SickKids. During her placement, Jennifer will be focusing her research on the Observational Job Shadowing (OJS) Program to gain insight on the program through the lens of the expert nurse in order to expand placements. Jennifer hopes that her findings will allow IENs to have greater opportunities to discover the diverse areas of nursing available and gain workplace experience. “Once again CARE is pleased to provide a placement opportunity for a Ryerson Masters nursing student,” said Wojtiuk. “This initiative represents a “win-win” partnership affording CARE the opportunity showcase IENs and to gain enhanced program insights while supporting a nursing leader of tomorrow in achieving their educational goal.”
Announcing the 2016 Joan Lesmond IENs of the Year
CARE Centre thanks board member Ella Ferris, RN, MBA, recently retired from St. Michael’s Hospital, who again chaired the Joan Lesmond IEN of the Year Awards committee to select outstanding members to be recognized for their achievements. There were seven nominees for each nursing designation, and the committee had a strong field of contenders to consider.
Viral Pandya, who works at ParaMed, is the RPN IEN of the Year. Kareen Tacderas, who works at Humber River Hospital, is the RN IEN of the Year. Both will receive their awards in a November presentation. Many thanks to committee members Dr. Ruth Lee of McMaster University; Dianne Martin, CEO of RPNAO; Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of RNAO, and last year’s award recipients Rupali Krishna, RN, and Alex Lamsden, RPN. CARE Centre Executive Director Dr. Sue VanDeVelde-Coke joined the committee this year.
PASS Attends National Immigration Meeting
On September 27 PASS Coordinator Meghan Wankel attended the Planning for Canada Consultative Conference in Ottawa. Planning for Canada, an amalgamation of the Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP) and Canadian Orientation Abroad (COA) provides pre-arrival services to Canada-bound immigrants in 5 regional and 40 satellite offices across the globe. While attending the conference Meghan connected with two newly-arrived PASS participants, Salima and Christina from Pakistan and the United States, who had recently settled in Ottawa. Meghan had a wonderful time connecting with the IENs to hear about their experiences in PASS and arriving in Canada. Salima Mithany and Christina Lehman were very excited to build their networks in Ottawa as they work towards licensure. As of publication, 100 IENs have accessed services through PASS since January 2016.
CARE Centre Presents at NNAS Conference
The National Nursing Assessment Service hosted its inaugural conference on October 18th and 19th in Toronto. CARE Centre Professional Practice Lead Ruth Wojtiuk and Case Manager (and inaugural IEN of the Year) Loy Asheri presented on CARE Centre’s Competency Assessment Supplement (CAS) program, which helps IEN RPN candidates present their clinical qualifications and experience to the College of Nurses of Ontario to fulfill competency requirements. Ruth and Loy joined a roster of speakers examining healthcare human resource policy, change management and nurse leadership.