Horizon partners with ThriveNB to help our newly recruited Internationally Educated Nurses settle into their communities

Akhila and her family moved from India to Sackville, NB, in October. Moving to a new country is never easy, but thanks to the new partnership between Horizon and ThriveNB, Akhila’s move was seamless.

ThriveNB is an organization with the goal of helping newcomers settle in the province. Horizon has officially partnered with them to help internationally educated nurses (IENs) settle in our province.

ThriveNB retention specialists are located in every major region of the province with decades of experience in their communities as community leaders. By partnering with the organization, Horizon can focus its efforts on the recruitment of new IENs. ThriveNB will focus on helping with the needs determined by a comprehensive needs analysis.

“The needs analysis is different for each person. We go through what they see as key priorities and create milestones. The four things we see most common are accommodations, spousal employment, childcare and community,” said Carol, president and founder of ThriveNB.

“Afterwards, we ask if there are other things they’d like to add. We give examples, one being if they would like us to help them find a local church. There was one gentleman whose son loved to play basketball, so I told him about the minor program in Moncton.”

Carol began working with Akhila and her family shortly after she accepted her job offer from Horizon. Carol picked the family up from the airport and took them to the Airbnb they stayed at until their new lease started.

“I helped them update their cellphones with Canadian numbers and took them to the RCMP station so Akhila could start the process of getting her security checks done. They don’t take long, but it can be confusing if you don’t know where to go or how to start the process.”

Akhila was so grateful to have Carol’s team helping her family settle.

“The best thing about ThriveNB is their openness to hear us and help us. Responding to emails and arranging calls; they helped us right from the beginning,” said Akhila.

“They arranged pickup from the airport, helped us set up bank accounts and find an apartment. They helped arrange daycare for my son and introduced us to the Sackville community. Now Carol is helping my spouse to find the right job.”

Thanks to ThriveNB’s help, Akhila was able to focus on training and certification. She is now officially licensed as a registered nurse and works in the surgery department at Horizon’s Sackville Memorial Hospital.

Current IENs will be connected with someone from ThriveNB to ensure they have the support needed to get settled. Going forward, all new IENs will be paired before they move to NB.

By partnering with ThriveNB, Horizon can focus on helping IENs get settled in their new jobs and working through the process of getting licensed whilegetting accustomed to their new team and new facility.

To learn more about our current recruitment and retention efforts, see our Recruitment Dashboard and Performance Dashboard.

Recruitment and retention, specifically the recruitment of physicians, nurses, and staff is a key priority of Horizon’s plan to ensure all New Brunswickers receive the quality care they need. This plan consists of three other priorities, improving access to care specifically emergency care, surgical services and addiction and mental health services; improving overall patient experience; and improving patient flow at our health care facilities. Further details about Horizon’s four priority areas are available at HorizonNB.ca.