Adventist HealthCare – The Hiring of Nurses in Maryland

Okay. Hi, everybody, and welcome. It's Friday, so it must be the Connetics USA Weekly show. Onwards and Upwards. Everything that a healthcare worker needs to know about coming to live and work in the United States. I am your host, Tanya Freedman, CEO of Connetics USA, the number one company for direct hire health care workers coming to the United States. We have a very interesting topic today. Our showcase our client showcased today is Adventist Health Care, Maryland. They were on our Career Day a few weeks ago. That was kind of like speed dating where you got a taste of what Adventist healthcare Maryland was all about. But today we have a full showcase. This is like a full date for you to fall in love with. And we will be showcasing Adventist Health Care in Maryland, USA. Please stay on until the end of the show because we will be announcing the winner of the Connetics, the lucky winner of the Connetics Scholarship NCLEX Scholarship. Please stay on until the end of the show. We'll reveal the name we will pay for the exam costs of one lucky NCLEX scholarship. If you are joining us today, please put your name into the chat and where you're watching from. And if you have any questions about Adventist Health Care, Maryland, or about the process of coming to the United States, and if you are interested coming to the United States, please apply to the Connetics USA international nursing agency website.

Our team are waiting on hand right now to help you and to make your American dream a reality. We're going to be joined now for with our panel who are going to be speaking to us about Adventist health Care, Maryland. And we are joined by Alper and Mary Jane. Hi. Hi, Mary Jane. Welcome. Hi. Hi, Tanya. Can you. Yes, we can. Loud and clear. And we are also joined by Edgielyn. Hi, Edgielyn. Welcome. Hi, Tanya. Hi. Welcome. Nice to see everybody. I think we have one more panelist who'll be joining us shortly. And then we got a full house. And I see the questions in the comments already starting. Very excited. So I also wanted to welcome and Thalia, who's saying, Hi, I hope I got your name right. And we've also got Warwick Horn, who is from Thailand, Lee from Trinidad and Tobago. Dennis is saying Hi. Hi, Dennis. Watching from Saudi or from the Philippines. My is watching from Ghana, Risa from Saudi and lots of people watching from all over the world. If you have questions for our panel, please go ahead and put them into the chat and I'd be happy to get through as many questions as we can before we do the introductions. I want to just refer everybody to our success path on the Connetics USA website.

If you are not sure about this process, how to come to the United States. Please check out our success path. We have a step by step guide the roadmap of how to get to the United States. It's very confusing. It can feel very overwhelming. But please check out the step by step process to get to step number seven, which is enjoy and prosper, which is where England is right now. She's enjoying and prospering. Okay. So let's get started with some introductions. The Adventist health care team, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourselves. Mary Jane, let's start with you. All right. Thank you so much, Tanya, for allowing Adventist health to be a part of your show today. My name is Mary Jane. I have been a nurse for about 30 years, and I have the wonderful opportunity to work here in our International Nurses program here at Adventist Health Care. Thank you, Mary Jane. Thank you, Tanya. Hi, everyone. My name is Apache Whiskey and I am the program manager for National Nurses Program here, and it's health care. I join in health care. It's a nurse and the international nurse from Zimbabwe 20 years ago. And I've been here all this time as a mid-stage nurse and nurse educator. And I'm excited to work with fellow international nurses. Thank you. Thank you. I'll pass up. It comes from a country not far from where I come from, South Africa. Below Africans.

And great to see to hear this experience as well as we as we dig deeper into Adventist health care, Maryland. Because Uppal was an international nurse herself, so she really has kind of looking at the process through both eyes. And England, Do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Hey, good morning, everyone. My name's as in Galena and I am an international nurse from the Philippines. I started working at Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Labor and Delivery Department last October 2022. OC So a newly arrived Italo, we can't wait to hear your story and to follow your journey. And I know there are many nurses all over the world who are really interested right now to find out more about Adventist, Maryland. So if you are, please put your questions into the chat and the panel will be happy to go through any questions that you might have. And so just looking at the chart again before we start getting into the question, so and Jenny's from Kuwait, Fawzia from sorry, Jenny from Qatar, Fauzia from Kuwait, Rasha from Sri Lanka, and Robert from Ghana. Dana is watching from Saudi, Stephanie from the Philippines and Ruchira was Shira has a question how long will it take if I pass the in place? So right here, I'm not sure what you speaking about specifically. I think you're asking about the green card process. So, sure, it takes just under a year to get to the United States.

And if you look at the we have previous shows on the green card process, there is a full description of all of the different steps that you go through on the green card in order to come to the United States like OPR or agent date. Okay, so let's get started talking about Adventist. It started talking about Maryland. Well, for starters, well, many international nurses, they don't know much about and where Maryland might be. I think a lot of nurses might have heard of California or Texas or Florida, but not New York, but not that familiar from Maryland. But Mary J. Do you want to talk to us just a little bit about the states specifically? Yes, thank you, Tanya. So, yes, we are located in Maryland. And I think what people would probably recognize more than anything is D.C., where the capital of the United States is located. So our hospitals are actually located about 45 minutes just outside of the D.C. metro area. So we are able to capture the wonderful things that are in the D.C. metro area. But we live out in a more suburban area. So our hospitals are located right there in the D.C. metro area. And as that map has gone in, you can see that we have ocean availability just a couple of hours away. And our great Chesapeake Bay, that is closed as well. So one thing that is really neat about Adventist health care is we are a faith based organization and the really nice thing is we have hospitals through Adventist Faith Base all around the world. So we are an international faith based organization.

And so one of the really nice things is we get to talk to people from Africa, from the Philippines, from India, from different places, and they have actually heard of Adventist health care either through the schools, the churches or the medical hospitals and clinics that we have all around the world. It's really interesting. Mary Jane, what would you say is the biggest advantage of being a faith based organization? One of the things that I think is makes us really interesting is we are able to do what we call a holistic approach to care, which really embodies physical, mental and spiritual component as well. And so we're able to offer that really nice holistic approach to care to all of our patients. Okay, So that is a very unique aspect of Adventist health care. Connetics have been working with Adventist health care for I think it's about 15 or 16 years as a system and we have had thousands of nurses that have joined the organization and always say very, very favorable things about the organization and the system as a whole. Uppal Let's talk a little bit about Maryland specifically. What do you like about living in Maryland? Oh, wow. What do I like about living in Maryland? Everything. So Maryland is a state where you can experience the Four Seasons like you do. See, from summer to winter to spring, just the change of the seasons is fantastic. But the biggest thing I love is the diversity. You never feel like an outsider there.

Actually, the population center stays like one third of the population that lives in Maryland is from somewhere out of the out of the state of Maryland. I think that was a show about the events that was showing the slide show. Yes. So you are 30, 25 minutes from downtown when you get to see the museums that are the historical moments. Washington, D.C., the White House. But then you are also the same distance to the great outdoors. I have gone hiking on the on the Appalachian Trail, and that is just fantastic about Maryland. We go to pick apples. As you can see, some of our nurses have gone out to pick apples at the farms around Maryland, so there's never a shortage of things to do in this in the state. Lots of things to do. Can you tell us a little bit about the climate? Yes. Yes. And that's the fantastic thing. It does get. It has extremes of everything, right. Like it can get pretty so hot in the in the winter. In the summer, and we get snow in the winter. So it's you get to everything and then we get the gorgeous, just gorgeous spring like now we're looking forward to of course, lots of pollen out there, but the cherry blossoms downtown. Oh, my goodness. Just marvelous, beautiful people fly in from all over the world to see the cherry blossoms that are in Washington, D.C. And we also have them in our we are in suburban Maryland. So they are cherry blossoms everywhere. And it's just so pretty spectacular. Absolutely. With lots of beauty in Maryland. Edgielyn why did you choose Maryland and what do you like about living there? Because I know you've just arrived. So what are the things that you like so far?

Well, same as that offer said. I love how they verse the culture is was I got to experience the Four Seasons as well. Yeah. And for me that's was best that what Maryland has to offer. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Edgielyn and I see that we have a question in ED that was sent to me privately about the cost of living. And in Maryland, Mary Jane, can you talk a little bit about that? How does it compare to other states? Well, cost of living is it is not the most expensive, but we are a fairly expensive area to live in. So one thing that I encourage people to do as they are coming is get a partnership with someone else that is coming in fact agile and could talk about this as well. In fact, I should have her talk about this. She met one of another Connetics nurse and they actually have decided to room together. And so we have that happening with a lot of our international nurses. And it's something that we really encourage is to find that friendship and that partnership and, you know, find that apartment that you would like to share together. It's not only good for living finances, but it's also it's a really nice time for people to be able to have that companionship, to go explore the area, to just bounce things off of and just have that companionship of doing things together.

Yeah, having a buddy can be incredibly helpful because it really is an opportunity to explore form bonds and learn together and lean on each other. Italian How's that work for you? Yeah, I'm actually sharing an apartment with a friend whom I met through genetics, and they arrived here. We are in the same batch, and she's working in PACU in Shady Grove Medical Center. Well, sharing an apartment with her helps us split the bill, which for us is cost effective. It helped us to save money. And it's really a good thing living with someone specially during the transition phase. But of course it is always a person's preference. If you think that you are more comfortable living alone and that is totally fine as well, that the cost of living is okay because it's well compensated as well. Okay. And that's a big plus. I think for many international nurses they don't. Or health care workers they don't really realize, always look at the rate in comparison to the cost of living in the taxes, not just the rate in it's in isolation. And if we if we look at the cost comparison between living in the Maryland area as opposed to, for example, San Francisco or New York, there really is a significant difference.

So if we look at the Maryland area compared to Los Angeles, which is nearby where I live, and it's 6% lower than Los Angeles. So I think that's kind of interesting to look at. And if we look at it in comparison to New York, it's 41% lower than New York. If you look at that housing cost, that's pretty significant. And so really much lower from a housing perspective. Edgielyn, can you talk a little bit about in Maryland, just like what you pay for an apartment? Yes, well, the usual range of apartment here in Maryland. It really depends on this, like which site you are in that like across advantage healthcare. Usually it's around 2000 to $2500. So that's for two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Okay. So that gives everybody an indication of the housing in the area. I see. We have a question in the chat from Pius who's asking, do you take like takes? So Adventist health care, Maryland. I'm not taking health lab takes at this time, but Connetics do have many, many, many opportunities. Pius across the United States, so please go ahead and apply to the Connetics USA website and our team will be able to tell you more about those opportunities and perhaps Adventist Maryland might be looking in the future.

So and really we I'm sure we can help you with that. We also have a question from Joy who's asking what happens if an international nurse fails the English test or the clinical test, please? I took the test some time days ago and waiting for my results, but a bit nervous. But Joy, we hope that you passed. And then can you talk a little bit about the English exam? Yes, as far as I remember, a dentist or sorry, Maryland is like accepting total fail and child's English test. So for the IELTS, it's unlimited. So you can take it even after you pass, like there is a certain period where you can take it. So that's actually what I took before I applied for NCLEX. Okay, so Joy, I hope you passed, but as a Connetics nurse, if you did not pass Connetics, have a free English course that we supplied to all of our nurses. This is our gift to nurses that we implemented during the pandemic. It's our way of paying it forward. And we pay for a course and we've had the most incredible results. So even if you didn't pass, I know it might be disappointing, but we hopefully can get you through that. The English process. And Mary Jane, what are your favorite places around Maryland to travel? Because I know there is a lot to see and do in the area, even just surrounding Maryland. Oh, that's a great question, Tanya. I do. I love to travel. And so honestly, within a 3 to 4 hour car ride, I mean, you can also do bus or train. We are so blessed here on the East Coast.

Like I was saying earlier, we are close to the ocean. So a lot of people love to go over to the ocean and explore the oceans. We have some incredible big cities that are just within our range. The biggest one, of course, people always think of as New York City. In fact, a bunch of our international nurses, that is something they do even as soon as they get here before they start working, they like, I've got to go to the Big Apple, We have to get up to New York. And so you can drive, you can fly, you can bus, you can train, but you can get there just within 4 hours. So New York is a big city. We also have Boston up a little bit further. We have Philadelphia, we have Richmond. We have a lot of really incredible cities just within a few hours. And like Oprah was saying earlier, if you want to get out into the Maryland mountains, the Appalachian Trail, that is a very famous trail that that that goes along the East Coast there is that we have lakes to enjoy. And then there is the whole rest of the United States. That is just a nice long drive or a nice airplane ride. If you want to take in bigger mountains and deserts and other big cities and experience things all across the United States as well.

So much to see, so much to do it. Edgielyn, have you traveled anywhere outside of Maryland yet? Yes, we do. Like in Washington, D.C. There's a week after I arrive here. I'm also planning to travel to New York and Virginia next week. Oh, what do you need to send us some pictures of your travels. Very exciting. And Fauzia has a question. I applied to Connetics. My wishes to come to Maryland. I passed my incase, but unfortunately, I'm a diploma. If we're waiting for Connetics, if I will get the opportunity. Does Adventist and health Care Maryland accept nurses who pass the intakes but have a diploma so would do well would prepare to have a bachelor's degree. That is the preference because we are raising the standard for the nursing practice. But I, I get that because I came into the USA with a diploma. When you are in the USA or outside, there is a fine line between diploma and associate degrees. So we do have a prevailing wage that will accept nurses that have a diploma and associate's degrees. So, yes, I mean, submit your application, we'll do an interview and we'll definitely consider your application. But there you go. Aphasia, you heard it directly from Adventist Health care themselves apply. They'll interview. And we love to see you living the American dream. Like Allen and Sharmila saying, I've been interviewed by Connetics before for weeks, but why took a long time to finding me a hospital? Jamila Oh my goodness. I'm not sure why.

We have literally hundreds of employers that are interviewing right now. Adventist Health Care in Maryland are interviewing for hundreds of nurses, and so they are lots and lots of communities and hopefully will get you to America like we did with Agilent and many thousands of nurses and Dame. But before we talk about the system, one more question from the chat Damian is asking. My question is if I have a master of science in nursing major in advanced medical surgical and is accredited by with WES, I'm not sure how you pronounce it. Will it be accredited by Adventist Health Care and specifically in a medical center? I will also be joining the family soon. I love that. The family. Yes. Mary Jane. Real life. And so. So yes, we are absolutely taking nurses with master's level preparedness as well. And that actually opens up the discussion for what we love to see our nurses do. We want to have our nurses have the opportunity to continue not only their personal dream, but also their professional dream. And that means career opportunities and career growth. And we can talk about that a little bit later. So we are we're hiring for Adventist health care at large, not specifically for one hospital. White Oak I know you're interested in white Oak or Shady Grove or Fort Washington, but we're doing that at large, so you can always put in a request. So you know what, I just have to comment. I love those pictures that you are showing them because those are pictures of our international nurses out and enjoying life here in the metro area. So these are the nurses that have started coming in from April last year.

These are the nurses coming in through Connetics from April last year. And they are just so they are they are forming a community. They are supporting each other. It's beautiful. We are so excited to see the growth of this pipeline. It is so exciting. I agree with you and Mary Jane, I agree with you 100%. There's nothing better than seeing those pictures even from the Connetics side. It just warms the heart because it's such a difficult journey as agent, who knows an up and up and knows to come to the United States. You go to pass two exams. It's such a long way to immigration process is so frustrating and long and overwhelming and confusing. And then to get here and be living the American dream, there's just nothing better. So we just there's nothing better than seeing those pictures. And on all these asking and how many weeks does it take to process if we apply for Maryland? So the good news is Adventist, Maryland are going to be interviewing for, I don't know, an open. Mary Jane, we're keeping you very busy in March. We have many, many dates that I love being there. We have many, many days of interviews. The teams are going to be interviewing many, many nurses. The good news is that the system, have they prevailing wage and posting done and we file right away.

So it's really a very smooth and easy process from an immigration perspective. We get the offer latest you right away. It's really a fabulous smooth process and we would love you to join on. So please go ahead and apply online if you have not already done so. And our team will be on hand to speak to you and to schedule you because we have many, many dates. In March, we Adventist Health Care in Maryland will be interviewing. All right. So let's talk a little bit more about the system specifically. I know we have a short video about Adventist health care and which we going to show now. And just spotlighting a little bit more about the system and what the organization has to offer. In 1907 Adventist, Health Care opened its first hospital in Montgomery County. Since then, we've grown to become a comprehensive health care system, offering a full continuum of high quality care across more than 50 facilities to thousands of patients across the Washington, D.C. region. With advances in medical treatments and technologies, a world class team and numerous awards and recognitions, we remain true to our mission of extending God's care through the Ministry of Physical, Mental and Spiritual Healing Adventist. Health Care features three acute care hospitals Shady Grove Medical Center, White Oak Medical Center and Fort Washington Medical Center, and two full spectrum rehabilitation hospitals, along with multiple outpatient rehab centers. Adventist Health Care also manages Howard University Hospital in the nation's capital. We also offer a network of cancer centers, imaging locations, primary and multi-specialty care and home care services.

Adventist Health Care is a regional leader known for world class services in areas such as heart care, orthopedics, maternity and mental health, and has developed the region's largest clinically integrated network, with more than 1700 participating physicians and providers working together to improve quality of care and patient outcomes throughout the region. Adventist Health Care has all of your health needs covered for over a century. We've stayed true to our calling to offer hope and healing by promoting wellness, providing outreach to the most vulnerable in our region, serving our community with compassionate, high quality care. Very impressive video, wonderful organization. So much to offer, Mary Jane, what do you like about working for the organization? Oh, oh, wow. Tanya, that that's a great question. And, you know, one of the things that I like, like I was talking about earlier, it is a faith based. And I actually started my nursing journey 30 years ago and a different advent as hospital in the middle of the United States. And so we've been able to journey that. And so working with Advent is health care in Maryland. It is a really wonderful opportunity.

We are the capitals nation. I mean, we have the opportunity to work with people that actually help make leadership inside of downtown DC. You know, we have our patients that come from all over and it's like Oprah was saying it was a it's a diverse community. We really have the world at our fingertips, not only with our people that work with us, but our patients as well. And so to have that opportunity is something very unique. It's something special. It's not something that you can get everywhere. And you know, it is a family. We have our personal families, but we also have our work family that we get to work together and we enjoy getting to spend time together. We look forward to  spending time with one another. So it's really important that we also have that wonderful connection in our work life as well. And we do. That's fabulous to hear. Okay. I see we have a comment from niece in the in the comment that saying I'm Adventists and I'd love to be part of the Adventist health care system. Does somebody have to be a person of faith to join Adventist health care? Absolutely not, Tanya. We are embracing everyone from Adventist. I mean, if you consider that our mission of extending God's care through the Ministry of Physical, mental and spiritual healing and you consider the foundations of  Christianity, it's about embracing everyone. It doesn't matter what background any person comes from, we are all embracing. I mean, our chaplaincy department.

You should. It's beautiful when you are in the hospitals. When we have patients that have or staff that have a background in other religions, they connect with imams, with different commands and different spiritual and religious leaderships to be able to give to the patient that holistic care. So no, you do not have to be advantageous to be part of Adventist. It is just who we are and we are all embracing of all religions and cultures and we love that. So if you are a person of faith, this is a wonderful match for you. And if you are not a person of faith, there's a wonderful match for you here as well. Edgielyn why did you choose this hospital system and tell us about your first day? Two questions. Yeah, well, the main concern, while why I chose Adventist Healthcare, aside from the high quality care that this hospital provides, I chose Adventist health care mainly because my mission isn't a health care professional alliance with Adventist Health Care's Mission and vision, which is we extend God's care through the Ministry of Physical, Mental and Spiritual healing and to provide a world class patient experience to every person every time. And for me, it is important to find and choose the hospital that sets a very good the foundation for your nursing and for my first day here in the United States, well, it's really overwhelming. It was a long I was overwhelmed.

Everything here was huge. The roads are bigger and the cars move fast. There are only so many choices available for everything. Like you, if you went to a coffee shop or a restaurant. And also something stressful happened to me on my first day. Okay, so what happened? When I finally arrived at the airport, I wasn't able to hand over my visa packet to the immigration office. Mary Jane know about it. I'm so sorry. At the time I was waiting for him to ask me about it. It was so precious to me that I wanted to make sure I will give it to the right person. And then when I realized that the next third was the cleaning area for luggage, I panicked and informed the guard that I need to go back and hand over my visa packet. But they didn't allow so good thing because my on boarding specialist from Connetics and my batch meet that I met in Connetics helped me to research where I can hand over may be sent back because I already tried Colleen's governess and went to Social Security office, but they told me to get back in. So after one week of certainty, it's a closed in La Guardia about the same situation. So just like what they did, I called the deferred inspection officer in my port of entry and they told me, yes, I can hand it over to them.

So we went to the airport and went to the deferred inspection officer, but this time it up I am going to connect into our onboarding specialist for the guidance and support, especially on their first weeks here in the United States. Also, during the first few days of working in Adventist health care, I already felt a sense of belongingness because the steps are polite and very welcoming. And I'm also thankful that Adventist health care for providing us with accommodation for 30 days from our time of arrival and for the care that we receive, especially from our international recruiters, which made it a lot easier for us to settle in here. We love that edge. And you know, as you're telling your story about what went wrong, it's the kind of thing I think sometimes afterwards you can laugh about it, but when you're going through it, it's very scary and very, very stressful. Everybody's nodding their head. So and this is what happens, you know, in the beginning, it's not easy. You know, nurses think they can arrive in America and everything's going to be smooth and everything's going to be perfect.

And we hope that it will be for you when you arrive here. But it's not always like that. Sometimes something unexpected happened, like what happened with insulin. But that's where going to an organization like Adventist Healthcare, Maryland, which is so kind and so caring and helpful and having the support of Connetics, and your batch mates and your, your, your buddies makes all the difference. And it really can make a huge difference to get you through any of those initial challenges and hurdles. And I see that we had a question here from one of the nurses in the chat about housing, initial housing. Mary Jane, I'm just looking for that question, but I think there was a question about if there's a family of six and it really was saying that the is housing. Here we go. Melaye's asking if a family of six come to America is Connetics shouldering the housing. So first of all, just to remember that Connetics is not an agency. We don't hire and sponsor nurses. We are you are hired and sponsored directly by Adventist Health Care Maryland. Who is your petitioner and your sponsor.

And so the housing would be provided by them. And Mary Jane, is there housing if there's a family of six? Well, that is one of the really exciting things that we have had our nurses bring their spouses, their families with them. So we've had two people we've had I think we've had three children. We have four children yet I'm not sure we've I think we've had a family of five. I'm not sure we've had a family of six come with us. And so what we do provide is we do provide a hotel room. So I know that certainly might get a little tight during those first 30 days. But, you know, I know some of our family members have gotten able to work that out. And so we do do a housing here for a 30 days in a hotel that actually has a nice kitchenette in it and it has a free breakfast with it. And that gives people a time to be able to go and start looking in the areas for them to get their own housing, their own lodging. You know, we've had people most often get apartments. That has been the number one thing people have done. But we've also had people that had extra family or friends in the area. They've gotten to live with them. And then we've also had people just rent like some townhomes or something other out. So there's not one true and tried way that people are able to do it. We let them do that individually on their own, in their own needs, because person and every family has different needs. Absolutely.

And Melanie or anyone who's watching, I would also suggest that you watch, we have a previous show. We'll put that into the chat that we and we did a few weeks ago. It was it was towards the end of last year on on the state side statement where we spoke specifically about living in Maryland. So there's a lot of housing options. And if you watch that show, a lot of the nurses that were on that show will give a lot of more insight about the housing that's available. And as Mary Jane said, there are lots of options. So I'm sure that you would be accommodated with your family. And. Okay. Can we talk a little bit more about the International Nurse program? Why did Adventist Healthcare decide to hire international nurses? And where are some of those international nurses from? Because you speak about a lot of diversity, but what are some of the countries? Oh my, I don't know that I could speak about why we decided because as I stated, I mean that the I've been here for 20 years, so we have been having nurses coming from the international world for ever really. And this is just the area that we live in. We the representative of the communities that we have, we have communities from all over the world. You will see that a lot of our nurses come from the Philippines, but we have nurses from the Caribbean, from Africa, from the Middle East, from Europe.

We have nurses from South Korea. It's really just a wonderful mixed area. So we are deciding to go into international hiring. Of course, because the worldwide shortage of nursing we are at this point, but our area and our organization, this is not new to us. Having international nurses within the organization and they have there through we have international nurses throughout the ranks of the organization with some skills. That's our chief nursing officer. We have presidents that are international nurses. So it's nothing new to us. This is who we are. Okay. I love it because we see. Right. I mean, Connetics have been in international nursing for many, many years. And in fact, when I think back, Adventist health care as a system was our first international client and that was about 15 or 16 years ago. So it's wonderful to see the diversity that that has grown up over the years, which really makes it a lot easier for nurses like Edelman coming in to the system because they just such is this such a big community already? There? And we have a video of some of the international nurses speaking about why they chose Adventist Health Care Maryland and that we get a show now and how their viewpoint of why they decided to come to Adventist.

The best part for me about working at Adventist health care is that the orientation and onboarding process has been so seamless, very helpful, way easier than what I was anticipating it to be. And when I got on to the unit for my shadow days, everybody was so extremely welcoming. The environment was very warm. It just really made me feel like I really am so glad that I took this opportunity to work here. And it just seems like such an amazing organization that I can grow personally and professionally and, and I'm really, really excited to get started. What's the best thing about Adventist is their ability to foster comfort, not just for the patients, but also for us international versus you starting from our employment until our arrival here. They were very great and awesome. They provided us the best accommodation, training, orientation and structured program. It made us more prepared, equipped and set in taking care of our respective patients. They were morally supportive when it comes to providing professional growth, especially for us nurses. One of the best things I like about working at Adventist Healthcare is their mission. We extend God's care through the Ministry of Mental, physical and spiritual healing every day during the huddles in the morning before we start or usual day of work, we usually have a prayer and then a small devotional.

And then we repeat our mission just to remind us why we share and what should we be giving to a patient's household to give them the best quality of care that they deserve, the best thing about working at Adventist Healthcare is that they appreciate, they value and they care for their employees as much as they do to their patients. And on top of that, they are very supportive to what's really beneficial to their employees. Career growth. I think these are the things that the job seeker should really consider working with. Thank you. That's really beautiful to see the faces from all over the world. And that's the diversity that Oprah was talking about. And Mary Jane has been speaking about it. German international nurses have a lot more choice in today's times. There's a lot of hospitals that are now recruiting international nurses. Why would an international nurse choose Adventist health care as opposed to another organization? Because honestly, the offered lots of flexibility in terms of when and how people want to work. You can always request a self schedule, which is for us, that's very important. There is readily available education and training where you can also be certified in your own specialty or unit. Also, what alike about Advantage is that there is diversity in this hospital like the labor force is composed of numerous races, ages, genders, ethnicities and orientation. And for me it provides the best possible care for all patients.

Okay, well, that says it all couldn't say better. Thank you, Angela and Mary Jane. In terms of what the hospital offers, what could and Internet, I think what it's not actually about the what Adventist health care office. Can you talk us through that and speak a little bit more about the benefits and the offering that an international nurse could obtain from the organization? And I just also wanted to give a shout out. I saw there was a question about how do I apply If you're interested in Adventist health care, Maryland, please apply to the Connetics USA website and our team will be on hand to speak to you and see if this hospital would be a hit or if it isn't, If it if there's some other hospital we can help you with. Okay, Mary Jane, just in terms of the offering. Okay. So one of the things that we offer here with Adventist Health Care is, as you know, we're partnered with Connetics. And so they are able to go and help us recruit the nurses from all over. And then we do the interviewing process. So what we offer for our international nurses is we offer a fair wage, we offer 1 to 1 years of experience. So if you have one year experience in international work, we count that is as one year here in the United States that we give you a fair rate as far as your nursing as compared to those that have had nursing experience here in the United States. So that's something that's very important.

The housing we already talked about, the housing we do that, we do a relocation bonus that you get on your first paycheck once you have started working with us. And one thing that's really exciting that we have the opportunity to do is professional development. As Oprah had already said, we have international nurses that have gone through every rank in our in our system. You know, we bring all of our international nurses in as acute care bedside nurses, but already with the international nurses that we have had here within the 6 to 9 months, we already have people expanding their careers. We have people that are already doing preceptorship for our other nurses. We have one of our nurses that has already become an assistant charge nurse. We also have said yes, we also have one of our nurses that has become certified in the ICU. So the career growth opportunity, they're already moving, they're already getting to experience that excitement of getting to look for a new career growth and opportunities. And like you're saying earlier, we have international nurses and education. We have them as managers, we have them as directors, we have them as vice presidents, chief nursing operators in our system, and even a president of one of our hospitals. So what you want to do and what you want to achieve within your career, you can absolutely do that here at Adventist Health Care.

Wow. So the sky is the limit. I think we have a graphic of some of the nurses that arrived very recently and with their notable accomplishments, we can see that some of them already charge nurses. Oh, there we go. So know it joined in July already certified critical nurse and require joined in September already a chart in charge nurse training and Dan joined in October and he testified at the Maryland state Senate up I want to find out a little bit more about that but goal to improve the processing for international nurses and one who is joining in November who's already going to be a charge nurse. And so really, really exciting to see the international professional growth and development of it. Can you talk a little bit about Daniello and you becoming a unique situation and very, very exciting. Oh, thank you, Tanya. You know, I'm so excited and I'm so humbled and honored when I meet these nurses who are just so ready to take on and do the things that need to be done. So what happens in our state in Maryland is that we international nurses are not able to apply. And get their license, their initial license in Maryland. And so they send it our area, send it.

Of course, we have been asking and advocating that we have the nurses be able to get their license. Initial license are in Maryland. So what our senator went forward in drafting a bill to change that regulation. And of course, we were so honored when they invited us to come and talk about that, how it affects us. But it is a barrier. And so I went to downtown, to Annapolis, to the state capitol, and we sat in front of the whole committee of senators. And I would I couldn't have been more proud. Danielle really gave them a good overview of how that policy is a barrier and a challenge for national nurses and how changing it would give us a opportune idea to be able to get more international nurses easier into the state. So it was such an amazing thing and everybody was so amazed at him and just congratulating him. I mean, the senator, oh, my gosh, he was he was just amazing. So we are so thankful to Connetics giving us nurses that are already leaders. I mean, he is he's already he's a natural leader, is just taking it up. And so we are excited for that. Well, we feel so proud to just be a small part of that journey and to see the success of the nurses and making a difference. It really is making a difference and paying it forward for others. So thank you for that opportunity on behalf of all international nurses. And so, Oprah, can you talk a little bit about what you look for in the international nurses that you hire? Because I'm just looking in the chat we have with a lot of questions.

They are like, do you accept nurses with a with a working gap and what specialties are you looking for? Can you talk a little bit about what you look for and an international nurse? Sure. So what we are looking for, we are hiring for the three hospital that you saw in the initial video and we're hiring for pretty much all the specialties within our organization. Mid surge. I am see you ICU. Ed love everything, but we are looking for nurses that are actually working in these areas that we are hiring or it takes a year or so to go through the whole process in right here. So we do look for someone who is currently doing the work that we are looking for. So current experience is very important. A gap in the past experience, it doesn't matter. It is right now. You are doing the work and they experience that we are looking for. You know, of course you do need to have a license to be able to  get sponsors, to get sponsorship. So a US license in current acute care experience is what we are looking for. Acute care, including acute we have we have a we have that we are hiring for behavioral health. So we have over a dozen specialties that we are looking for, but most importantly be in the field that you are looking for us to be hiring for. Okay, thank you for sharing that. So lots and lots of opportunities with Adventist health Care in Maryland Again, if you're interested, please apply to the Connetics USA website.

Our team are waiting for you right now to see how a kid is asking. I would like to apply Kelly. Go ahead and apply because we can have you interviewing very quickly. The hospital have the prevailing wage. They have they pay premium processing and which you can be like Edgielyn in the United States very, very quickly and making sure that you are living your American dream. Janelle is saying, well said, Edgielyn, congrats for choosing Adventist. So lots of applause to fill Edgielyn in in choosing this awesome organization. Okay. So for the last segment, I want to just talk a little bit about the education and the orientation at an international nurse might expect when coming to the United States, because obviously nursing overseas is very different to nursing in the United States and our practices. Nodding your head, she was an international nurse. So notice this first. So, Mary Jane, how did you go about setting up the on boarding education and orientation and for international nurses when you started to proactively I know you've been doing it for a long time, but proactively recruit international nurses, what was kind of the thinking behind it? So the thinking, I'll start with it and then I'm going to way over and let OPA talk in depth about our program. But the thinking of it really was looking at what a nurse may or may not need. And so as open, I have had the wonderful opportunity.

We have gotten to talk to hundreds of nurses around the world. I mean, we're so blessed to do that. And as we talk to people all over the world, they're starting to understand differences in practices. And so why it might be something that we think of is important in health care here in the United States. It might not be as much in other areas, and that is perfectly fine. But we started to notice differences. And so that's why we decided we really needed to get a program developed that can actually help nurses experience what it is to work in the United States. The best thing is you all are experienced and you can bring your wonderful practices here to the United States and help us even get better. And that's why we asked Oprah to develop a program for us. And she'll go over the program that she developed that actually does that, transitioning seamlessly. So thank you. It was a nice way. Mary Jane hit on this. This is this is such an amazing opportunity. And as Mary Jane said, we have it's been years in the making for me personally, a lifelong journey.

I remember 20 years ago when I started working here, when I would say terminology that that that I came with from Zimbabwe and it sounded completely wrong because that's not how we say things. Yeah, I would say. And that is and, and the word is anesthesia ology here. And I would say go to the theater. And the word is that operating room here. So there is so just a lot of little nuances that are sounding different and makes you look so I'm sure those lose your confidence as you are coming in and you're coming in with all this experience. So when we are looked at, what can we do for nurses? We looked at what are the we looked at pillars and said, you know, we need to redefine. We need to let them understand that this is not you're a new president, right? You are redefining your role as a nurse in the U.S. What is the difference in the scope of practice in in the functions of the nurse? The U.S. gives the nurse a lot of autonomy, which does not translate to a lot of the other countries out in the world. And that's a real difference that people that our nurses see when they come here, that they are valued, their opinion is really asked for.

And the advocacy for the patient, Huge, huge that we as nurses are advocating for the patients and then the skills transferring the skills that you have learned from the international world to here we have some of the most amazing nursing skills that we have in nurses. What able to, you know, put in intubation or pick line or anything that nurses you have to get a specialized training for have to be certified for. So sometimes nurses have to dial back their skill level because that's what the scope of practice is here or they have delivered babies and, you know, done all of these magnificent skills. But then there are also some other skills that are expected of nurses, which you might come in without. You know, we have seen even simple things as doing an assessment, listening to loud sounds and hard sounds and making sure that you are documenting that correctly and following that throughout the shift and advocating to say what is the I.V. fluid that the patient has in relation to the lab results that the patient has in the morning? A lot of the world has that is a physician function. But in the U.S., the nurse is supposed to understand that part of physiology. So we review some of those just basic foundations of nursing and go back to, you know, the basic head to toe assessment review, that nursing process, delegation coordination of care, working with an interdisciplinary team.

There are lots and lots of things that can be different. And just the equipment that we use sometimes, you know, you have done one process with one equipment and you need to learn how to use a different equipment or you have done it with a down floor for your IV. And now you need to plug it into an IV infusion machine. So it's a lot of things that we have seen that we incorporate into two weeks of training before the nurses even get to that. But the unit as an organization, we already have a department that caters for diversity and inclusion and they give the nurses a good presentation interactive that helps them to understand what it's like going into a health care facilities that has a, you know, staff from all over. What are some of the communication challenges that might come into play? So we did try to come up with a very robust incorporating program outside of the hospital. And then we when they are doing the prehospital training, they get a chance to go into the hospital for a shuttle opportunity where they get to live the experience without the burden of an actual patient assignment. And that has proved to be so popular with our nurses because it takes off that first day anxiety of what is it going to be like? What is my unit, what is my team going to look like, or how are they going to receive me? So and then there is a lot of work that goes into our preceptors, just training the nurses throughout as they join the unit.

And we have seen this, you know, I work out very well already, but we have always said we are nurses at heart, we still incorporate the nursing process and we continue to evaluate and we evaluate and change everything, make it individualized to what that particular nurse needs because. You know, we are all different individuals with different backgrounds, so we so blessed to work with teammates that are willing to adjust everything to make it work for each individual. Nurse Wow. Oprah That was really impressive. I mean, it's clear that there's a lot of thought that has gone this program. It's very robust, it's very holistic. It takes into account a lot of different aspects, not just where the nurses coming from and the specific experience they bring, but also training the preceptors and looking at how that aspect fits into the bigger picture and the and the different puzzle pieces. So and we can I think everybody can sense the passion and the care that has gone into this program. So really, really impressive training program enrollment. What was it like to go through the training, the orientation at Adventist health Care offered to you? And what would you say was the biggest difference clinically that you experienced in in your home country as opposed to in the United States? Well, yeah, It's a classroom based training for two weeks with other international nurses. So then we had one general orientation that we had the chance to meet all the newly hired staff of Adventist health care.

We also had a chance to schedule our preceptor in a respective unit for two days during the two weeks orientation. And we also had like online modules where we watch videos and read modules about asserting nursing related topic like the basic handwashing, fall prevention, alaris pump infusion and a lot more. And it's how it prepared us for the transition. It helped us really be prepared. Before we start with the actual duty, and I can say that the clinical difference between working at Adventist versus the hospital in my own home country is most of the hospital in the Philippines are training hospitals, so we don't usually speak with the primary physician right away. We do rounds with them, but we don't directly refer their patients to them since we have medical residents on duty. 24 seven and since Adventist health care is not a training hospital, nurses here are empowered to make clinical judgments. Hearing Adventist Health Care. We speak with the primary care physician directly. They refer and update them about the patients that this and other concerns relating to the care of the. Okay. So and that's pretty common as one of the biggest differences. I was nodding your head and that most international nurses would and would encounter. I can't believe we are at the hour. I have a lot of more questions. An open space. Why did that happen? We were having so much fun.

Yeah, so many more questions. And I'm just looking in the chat. We had so many more questions that nurses have. Also, we're very grateful to the Adventist health care team that have been answering questions in the chat as well. And Mary Jane and Oprah, if you wouldn't mind if there are some questions that we weren't able to get to, if you could, into the chat after the digital and as well and just give your your inputs. So we are at the hour, everybody, and we have had such a fun, informative, entertaining hour with the Adventist health care team. And I'm going to maybe ask Oprah to give final words here and what would you say is your advice to any international nurse that's looking to come to the United States as a member of Adventist health care and an international nurse? I would say don't give up. It might be sound like a daunting journey, like a tough process. Don't give up. A lot of people have done it. You can do it too. And we are here cheering and waiting for you to make it to this, to this side. So keep at it and keep working towards it. I love it all, but don't give up everybody. And Jennifer saying presentation. So thank you everybody for joining us. Before you leave, I want you to announce the winner of the Interlake Scholarship. And we have the winner of the in-place exam is Jenelle's de Mayo. So congrats Jenelle's. Connetics USA is covering cost of your intakes. Exam Journalist is a Connetics intake scholar and we are excited and proud to be part of your journey. And before everybody leaves, let's look at the upcoming shows.

And so we have some upcoming shows on onwards and upwards on the 3rd of March, we have state side. We are talking about Texas, what it's like to live and work in Texas. On the 10th of March. We're going to speak speaking more about next generation in place, which kicks in on the 1st of April. On March 17th, we have our usual segment, which is immigration Q&A with the legal experts. And I see we've had some immigration questions in the chat, so keep posted and we will definitely be able to talk about some of your immigration questions. On the 24th, we are going to be showcasing Advent health, which is a sister company of the Adventist Health Care Maryland organization on the 31st. Our state side is highlighting Pennsylvania and then in the Lefora, and we will be talking about Encase Heroes on the 14th of March and also, please don't forget our Connetics college. Every Monday, check the time zone converge, not the cut. The time in your country are free classes. Free classes. Everybody includes classes, English classes without esteemed parties, Aspire IPASS, Swoosh and Niner is amazing classes to help you to get through the different exams and barriers that Agilent got through in order to come and live and work in the United States. It's a last but not least, are Connetics initiatives, which is that every Connetics nurse gets a free English scholarship.

I know there were lots of questions about the English exam. If you are not trained in English, you need to pass the English exam and we give a free English scholarship. We have amazing results from that free course. We have a free NCLEX scholarship for selected nurses. We have $1,000 referral fee bonus, which was extended until March 31st. Please listen to our podcast Nursing in America. This month we actually and highlighting living and working in Maryland. So and please listen to that podcast we have I retire program onwards and upshot show every Friday, Connetics College every Monday and also many allied needs for health care facilities all around the world. So with that said, I want to thank Allan and Mary Jane and Oprah. It was a pleasure being part of this Adventist health care showcase. You all did amazing and it was so informative, so enjoyable. And we can definitely see the passion, the love, the care that this organization has for the international nurses and where we can see them blossoming and growing and in their professional development in the United States. Thank you, everybody, for joining us. We'll see you next week onwards and upwards. Thank you. Oh, and lots of nurses here at all. Our nurses that are in Adventist, Maryland, already Come and join us. Apply Connetics. You just say onwards and upwards, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you too.