Training ‘expendable’ workers: temporary foreign workers in nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of Temporary Foreign Workers in health care in Alberta, Canada. In 2007–2008, one of the regional health authorities in the province responded to a shortage of workers by recruiting 510 health-care workers internationally; most were trained as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the Philippines. However, the Association of RNs required them to complete an assessment, and in many cases, to complete further training leading to an examination before they could actually work as RNs in the province. Furthermore, economic recession and restructuring of the health authority meant that many of the short-term contracts were not renewed, despite initial promises made by recruiters. This article looks at the assessment of foreign credentials and processes that followed as a part of the vocational education and training system that is often ignored. Drawing on social closure theories, we look at the experiences of foreign workers whose positions are extremely precarious in terms of employment and residency status. Our analysis suggests that the use of temporary workers to address ‘short term’ labour demand has implications for the workers themselves as well as larger political, social and economic implications that need to be acknowledged.

Keywords:

• migrant worker
• foreign credentials
• exclusion

Notes

1. This information was accessed 3 November 2010 at: http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/Subjects/Migrantworkers/lang--en/index.htm.

2. The unflattering term ‘stock’ is used to describe the number of workers present on 1 December of a given year. The growth in foreign workers is documented on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2009/temporary/10.asp (accessed November 2010).

3. Following Anderson, Brown, and Rushbrook (2004) we define VET as learning for work including training for specific job roles. VET qualifications range from those certifying basic skills and competences to para-professional and professional certification. However, VET tends to be associated with industry-driven curriculum using non-university providers.

4. The LPN occupation that requires less formal education and pays a lower salary than RN. A unit manager suggested that the salary difference between RNs and LPNs is approximately $15 an hour and that benefits for RNs were better.

5. CARNA is the professional and regulatory body for nurses in Alberta, while the Canadian Nurses’ Association (CNA) is a federation of the provincial professional associations and colleges. CNA provides the exam (CRNE) by which all RNs, except in Quebec, are tested to ensure they meet an acceptable level of competence before beginning practice. CARNA oversees the assessment and education of provincial applicants and IENs prior to writing the CRNE.

6. Interestingly, in a similar recruitment effort which involved recruiting 122 Philippino nurses to work in regional health authorities in the province of Manitoba, more support for licensure and permanent residency appears to have been provided and 87% of these TFWs passed the registered nurse exam (CRNE) and were retained (Kominko 2010). Therefore, the country of origin is not necessarily a deciding factor in outcomes.

7. We requested information from the provincial government about source countries as well as the number of TFWs who are nominated for and receive permanent resident status. We were told that the latter information is not available.

8. Judith Butler (2009) refers to ‘precarity’ as a politically induced condition in which certain populations suffer from failing social and economic networks of support and become differentially exposed to poverty, injury, violence and death. While this may overstate the case for most ‘skilled’ TFWs, the TFW programme arguably positions many workers in this way.

9. For example, obtaining a credit card is likely to be impossible for those with no credit history in the country. Furthermore, TFWs’ children cannot pay domestic post-secondary student fees, which are significantly lower than foreign student fees.

10. RPN stands for Registered Psychiatric Nurse.

11. Mount Royal University is the post-secondary institution that provides the SEC assessment as well as courses for nurses perceived to have gaps.

12. It should be noted that the staff representative for the AUPE local that represented the LPN TFWs was of Philippino descent, something that both TFWs and the representative himself admitted made working with the TFW nurses easier, as he possessed cultural understanding and heightened sensitivity to their situation.