Back in his native Ecuador, Andy Ponce, 28, was a nurse in a local hospital. It took him various years of schooling and sacrifices to get his degree. Fast forward a few years, Ponce finds himself in the United States working in a mailing warehouse.
Although Ponce had many years of experience in the nursing field and was eager to start his work in the States, he worked at a mailing company inserting ad flyers into envelopes. And because of his low English skills, Ponce wasn’t able to apply to CBNC.
“The idea of knowing that in Ecuador I could be working as a nurse and that I was wasting my time here, it felt bad. I couldn’t work on something that I loved either.”
That is the case for more than ten thousand immigrants in Illinois. According to data from the American Community Survey, there are approximately 10,300 internationally educated nurses (IENs) in Illinois. However, ten percent of them are employed in low-skilled jobs, and 2 percent of them are unemployed.
That means that there are approximately 1,200 nurses, a much needed and scarce resource in the upcoming US nursing shortage — that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing— whose skills are underutilized.
However, even though the IENs may be registered nurses in their home countries, that doesn’t allow them to become an RN in the US —and the process of getting certified in the US is not simple.
To become an RN, nurses need first to prove their English proficiency. After that, they need to provide records and documentation to a credentialing agency that will determine if they received proper nursing education in their home country, and finally, they need to pass the NCLEX test.
The Chicago Bilingual Nurse Consortium (CBNC) is a non-for profit organization founded in 2002 that supports IENs as they become licensed and acclimated to health care in the U.S.
Ponce learned English, enrolled in CBNC and just months later, took his TOEFL and got a nursing position at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“It’s my mission. My students come to me with different challenges, they’re each so unique, so I nurture them, assist them with whatever knowledge that I have,” said Paula Schipiour, the Associate Director of the Chicago Bilingual Nurse Consortium.
Bringing in bilingual and bicultural nurses into the American healthcare system can help diversify the nursing workforce, but it also brings another significant benefit: IENs can provide proper care for monolingual immigrant patients in Illinois. In Illinois, the top three non-English languages spoken by the immigrant population are Spanish (1.6 million), Polish (189,000) and Chinese (96,000).
Among the Registered Nurses (RNs) in Illinois, only 2.2 percent of them can speak Chinese, 3.1 percent speak Polish and 22.9 speak Spanish, very low percentages compared to the immigrant state population that can only speak those languages, according to a 2007 survey by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
When the credentialing process doesn’t pull through, international nurses are required to take the necessary coursework to obtain their certification. Often, they are required to retake the entire course load to complete the degree. For that reason, CBNC has collaborated with Chicago community colleges to assist international nurses in completing any necessary coursework that they may need.
“Prior to that, it was extremely expensive (for international nurses) to retake the entire program, as opposed to just taking one or two classes,” said Schipiour.
Gladys Colón Ortiz, 49, is an RN from Puerto Rico that decided to move to Chicago after Hurricane Maria made conditions in Puerto Rico unbearable to live in. She arrived about three months after the hurricane hit.
“My area of work closed off; the city looked like a desert, there was a limit to how much you could fill up your gas tank, you couldn’t get your hands on anything cold,” Colón explained.
Back in Puerto Rico, Colón received her nursing education, where she proceeded to pass on her knowledge to other aspiring nurses. However, Colón didn't know what it took to become an RN in other States. She later found out that to become a nurse anywhere else in the US, except Florida or Dallas, she was required to pass the NCLEX exam. And the task of obtaining the documents needed from back home to receive her license is proving to be a struggle itself, she said.
“Due to technical issues, since Puerto Rico doesn’t have a phone connection, water, electricity and all that, I’ve had problems in the process of verifying my nursing work back home,” Colón said.
After doing some research, Colón came across Schipiour and the work she does. Colón has been introduced to potential future employers and has been led through the different steps to become an RN in Illinois. Aside from the language barrier and difficulties getting used to the new culture, Colón also expresses her frustration at not being able to do the work that she loves, she said.
“I like the hospital, and I love training kids. I want to keep on doing it,” Colón said.
Schipiour expresses said she admires all the students that the CBNC takes in and who have become her “second family."
“There are so many compelling stories, and I don’t know where you find the strength to leave your home country and come [to the U.S.] for a better life,” Schipiour said.
“These people need to have the heart of a nurse. These are strong, passionate people who want to help others and they will not stop until they do it,” Schipiour added.
For more information, visit CBNC’s website or reach them at their email cbnc247@gmail.com.
