Community Involvement
Pilot Program for Licensure of Foreign-Trained Nursing Professionals
To assist foreign-trained nurses in rejoining the nursing profession for
which they were trained in their home countries, and to increase the number
of culturally and linguistically competent nurses in Montgomery County, Holy
Cross Hospital helped to develop and launch a collaborative pilot program
for licensure of foreign-trained nursing professionals. The pilot program
is part of the Latino Health Initiative of the Montgomery County Department
of Health and Human Services.
The pilot program helps foreign-trained nurses who meet specific selection
criteria navigate the state's registered nursing licensure process, participate
in college courses to prepare for licensure and gain clinical exposure to
the U.S. health care system through placements in hospitals. There are no
other known local or national programs that offer these program components.
Partners include the Latino Health Initiative; Montgomery College; Montgomery
County Department of Health and Human Services; Montgomery County Workforce
Investment Board/MontgomeryWorks One-Stop Career Development Center: Career
Transition Center, Inc.; and Welcome Back Initiative. The program also is
expanding to other community hospitals.