International students get chance to regain their careers

International students get chance to regain their careers
By Sarah Rohrs/ Times-Herald, Vallejo
Posted: 06/22/2009

Rihong Chang is so eager to return to nursing that twice a week she drives seven hours from Los Angeles to Solano Community College for a class that will get her closer to her dream.

Chang, 41, worked as a nurse in her homeland of China for 20 years. But, in California, an exam is barring her from her chosen work.

Before she can take the National Council Licensing Exam (NCLEX) to return to nursing, she said she must take certain classes which are both difficult to find and to get into.

Like her classmates, Chang was nearly desperate to land a spot in Solano College summer's psychiatric mental health nursing class. She must take it before she can apply to take the exam.

High demand and state budget cuts at universities and colleges have made it difficult for these students to find the necessary classes, Solano College Dean of Health Occupations Maire Morinec said.

This is the first time Solano College has offered such a class geared specifically for international nursing students. "We didn't realize we would get such an overwhelming response," Morinec said.

More than 60 applied for a spot. Solano College hopes to offer similar classes in the future, she said.

Each student in the class has worked as a nurse or doctor in their native countries, most for many years. They immigrated from Russia, Mongolia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbijan, China, Yemen and Nepal.

Chang and many others searched and waited two or three years for the necessary classes, many said during a break in their Monday class.

The 32 students come from around the state for the 10-week class. The class involves one day a week in the classroom and one day gaining clinical experience at the St. Helena Center for Behavioral Health in Vallejo, Morinec said.

The state recognizes the experience that international nurses like Chang bring. However, officials determined these students need more classroom and clinical experience before they can take the exam, Morinec said.

Some students need only take a nursing psychiatric class before they can apply to the state Board of Registered Nursing and take the exam. About one-third must also take a class in obstetrics, Morinec said.

Once they take the exam and get their nursing license, they can help fill the state's nursing shortage, Morinec said.

A native of the Soviet Union, student Gunel Azimov, 26, comes from San Francisco where she works as a clerk at Kaiser Permanente. "I'm very excited to be here," she said.

With her husband and three children, Svitlana Dromova moved to Sacramento from Ukraine where she helped administer anesthetics in a hospital. She can't wait to be a nurse again, she said.

"I love this work and I loved doing it in my country and it would be nice to work here in America," she said.