“THE PROUDEST MOMENT OF MY NURSING CAREER”

Care Centre for internationally educated nurses (IENs) annually presents the Joan Lesmond IEN of the Year Awards, recognizing a member registered nurse (RN) and a member registered practical nurse (RPN) who have undertaken many challenges to become licensed nurses in Ontario, returning to the profession they love and excelling in the Canadian healthcare workplace.

The RN IEN of the Year is Sangeeta Maharjan, an IEN from Nepal, who came to Canada in 2015 with six years of acute care nursing experience. She currently works as a community health nurse with VHA Home HealthCare where she helped support the launch of the Home2 Day project, which ran successfully as a programme of integrated care for clients with COPD in the community. In Maharjan’s second year with VHA she was honoured with a Client Choice Award 2020, one of ten recipients. She received the highest number of client endorsements by more than three times and was the top pick of the selection committee.

“After registering with the CNO, I did Care Centre’s observational job shadowing with one of the busiest day units at St. Michael’s Hospital,” says Maharjan. “My job search was challenging, unfortunately. I lost one interview because I was not a Canadian graduate with clinical experience. I applied at several other places but did not get a  response. With my case manager’s support, I added ‘Successfully passed the IENCAP/OSCE’ to my resumé, to let employers know the value of the clinical entry to practice exam, but I still had to explain what it was in interviews while I worked at RN casual and contract positions.

“I am so grateful to be the recipient of Care Centre’s Joan Lesmond IEN of Year Award. This is the proudest moment of my nursing career and will be my lifetime inspiration. I feel incredibly honoured to be a part of the Canadian healthcare system. Thank-you for this recognition.”

 The awards presentation took place as part of Care Centre’s 20th anniversary and graduation celebration on September 16 over Zoom.

More info at www.care4nurses.org. 

 • If you’d like to share the story of your arrival in Canada, please write to desinews@rogers.com or call 416-695-4357.