Saskatoon nurse discouraged by lack of financial aid options for nurses returning to work

A Saskatoon registered nurse who briefly left her profession is upset with the province’s health ministry and some of its policies, calling them unfair and discouraging for domestically trained health-care workers.

Hannah Ogieglo received her nursing degree from Hamilton’s McMaster University in 2010, and has eight years combined full-time and part-time work in Saskatoon critical care and neuroscience departments.

She left her profession in 2019 to raise four children. Her husband, Dr. Adam Ogieglo, also works as a family physician in Saskatoon.

During the pandemic in 2021, she decided she wanted to go back to work.

“It’s a great career — the kind of flexibility and different opportunities. I really love it,” she said.

She, like other nurses who want to become recertified, took Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Registered Nursing Bridging program, a certificate program for nurses previously registered in Canada. Nurses have three years to complete the courses.

“We refreshed everything. We went back over nursing theory, physiology, medication administration, pediatrics, labour and delivery, adult health … it was very extensive,” she explained.

While the courses are “a little bit different” for Internationally Education Nurses, or IENs, Ogieglo says overall, the program is nearly the same. Ogieglo says while she paid nearly $20,000 for the course, IENs just received reimbursement cheques from the provincial government  for $15,000 less than two weeks ago.

The cost of the program has nearly doubled in just two years.

When she inquired whether domestically trained nurses wanting to become recertified could also receive provincial government subsidies, she was told no.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I’m really happy the government is supporting my IEN classmates. I’m very much in favour. They work hard. They totally deserve it.

“I can’t understand why they would also exclude Canadian educated nurses from getting that support to return to the nursing profession,” she added.

She called it “discouraging,” adding that with the amount of time and cost involved to become recertified, it doesn’t make logical sense to do so. And while she was able to afford the program, other nurses who are thinking of going back to their profession may not be able to afford to.

“You would think that having a degree from a Canadian university and experience in some local Saskatoon hospitals would be an asset. Right now it feels like a detriment,” she said.

Saskatchewan Union of Nurses president Tracy Zambory isn’t surprised at Ogieglo’s concerns.

“There’s virtually been nothing done to retain mid- to late-career registered nurses. That’s a fact. The government has really hung its hat on internationally educated nurses,” she said.

Zambory said it’s the mid- to late-career nurses who set the stage and create a foundation for other younger, less-experienced nurses, or nurses new to Canada.

“We’re finding ourselves in a nursing crisis. It’s unfortunate that people are finding themselves in situations where the financial burden is heavy,” she added.

When asked whether the cost of the Registered Nurses Bridging Program, which is now listed as $20,500, could discourage some nurses from returning to work, Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman replied he didn’t think so.

“I don’t see it as a determining factor, but we’re always continuing to adapt our programs to make sure that if there is somebody out there that has the skills in our health-care system, that we can integrate them as fast as possible,” Merriman said.

Ogieglo also points out that when she goes back to work, she will also have lost any seniority status and will return to base pay.

“You’re starting over from scratch,” she explained.

She would like to see the same supports offered to all nurses who want to return to their profession.

“I think that’s a fair request,” she said.