At Nova Scotia Health, we have a shortage of nurses and other health care providers to provide the care that Nova Scotians deserve. We have introduced several initiatives to make it easier to enter the workforce in Nova Scotia, including new nursing roles and new pathways to obtain a nursing licence.
As a result, we are welcoming more internationally educated health care providers. The skills, expertise and unique perspectives that internationally educated colleagues bring to our health care settings and communities allow us to provide better care to the patients, families and communities we serve.
Are you new to Nova Scotia or new to your role at Nova Scotia Health?
Welcome! This guide includes resources to support you and your family as you settle and transition to practice at Nova Scotia Health. We want you to feel that you belong to our community.
Are you a manager, clinical leader, preceptor, mentor, or practice educator who supports health care providers (licensed or unlicensed) in new roles?
This guide will help you understand recently introduced nursing roles. It includes transition to practice tools, role clarity documents and helpful learning opportunities.
While the initial focus is on nursing roles, we hope to expand this guide to include resources to support a range of new health care provider roles as they are developed.
We welcome your questions and feedback: new2supports@nshealth.ca
The Transition to Practice program emphasizes seeking opportunities for learning from the start of your orientation and throughout your career with Nova Scotia Health. You will be expected to continually:
You are responsible and accountable for ensuring that you have the knowledge, skills and ability to provide quality patient- and family-centred care, while using the documents in this resource.
You are not in this alone. Your support people (including preceptors, mentors within the unit, clinical practice leads, clinical nurse educators, and managers) are available to answer your questions and provide assistance. We want you to be successful in this transition.
Medical terminology is the vocabulary used to describe components and processes of the human body, medical procedures, diseases, disorders and pharmacology. Health care providers use it to describe the body, what it does and the treatments they prescribe.
Nova Scotia Health will accept any accredited medical terminology course, including any university and/or college course. Other examples include: