N.S. government offers funding for review of licensing process for international nurses

As Nova Scotia’s health-care sector faces chronic staffing shortages, the provincial government is spending $340,000 to support a review of the registration and licensing process for internationally-educated nurses.

The one-time funding, which was announced Tuesday, was given to the Nova Scotia College of Nursing in June for the ongoing review.

The review is looking into how the current licensing process can be streamlined so nurses who trained abroad can get their licence sooner.

The province says the money will also be used to hire new staff to support the process.

The Nova Scotia College of Nursing says it took steps earlier this year to make registration and licensing more efficient, including giving earlier access to the national registration exam and reducing the documentation required to apply.

“We are committed to continuing to conduct a detailed assessment of the unique circumstances of each applicant because there is no one-size-fits-all solution,” says Sue Smith, the CEO and registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Nursing in a news release.

“While we are very pleased with the changes we have made to our policies thus far, we are committed to continuing to evaluate our policies to make sure they are relevant, flexible and positively contribute to the supply of nurses.”

The Nova Scotia College of Nursing licenses about 140 internationally educated nurses each year.

So far this year, more than 210 have obtained their licence, which is about 60 more than in all of 2021.

The province says the funding is expected to help with the demand for health-care professionals.

"(Tuesday’s) announcement builds upon other important initiatives to secure and retain nurses throughout Nova Scotia, including the government's commitment to fund 200 new nursing seats and guarantee every nurse graduate over the next five years a full-time job,” said Nova Scotia Minister of Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson.

There are currently 185 internationally educated nurses in the registration and licensing process.