Working in the O.R.: From Thailand to Hamilton

WORKING IN THE O.R.: FROM THAILAND TO HAMILTON

Previously trained as a nurse in her home country, Puangkaew “Kaew“ Luerueng ’14 upgraded her skills through Mohawk's Bridging for Internationally Educated Nurses program.

By Kat Clark ’10

Puangkaew “Kaew“ Luerueng ’14 grew up in a small village in Thailand as one of five children. Though they had very little, Kaew says her parents have always been incredibly supportive, wanting the best for their children. “They worked hard for us and, in turn, I wanted to make a good life for them.“

In 2005, Kaew became a nurse in Thailand and worked in a hospital operating room for three years. In a country where pension plans don’t exist for non-government workers, her parents’ future well-being increasingly became a concern for Kaew.

Knowing that there was more opportunity and better paying jobs in North America, Kaew made a very big, very daunting decision and left Thailand behind for a brighter future in Canada.

Without a license to work as a nurse in Canada, Kaew found a job as an in-home caregiver and personal support worker. She sent the money she earned back home to her parents while improving her English. My parents were so poor, when it rained, there would be buckets all over the house to catch the water that came through the ceiling,“ says Kaew. “I wanted to do a good thing for my parents and help them in any way I could.“ That ’good thing’ happened in 2010, when Kaew had earned enough money to build her parents a new home in Thailand, which they lived in until her father passed in 2016.

Once her parents’ needs were taken care of and her application for permanent residency was approved, Kaew began researching programs that would allow her to return to her true passion and practise as a nurse in Canada. Many of the programs Kaew found required her to start at the very beginning, giving no credit to her previous education or the three years she spent working in the hospital operating room in Thailand. While diseases such as diabetes and cancer may be endemic to countries around the world, Kaew says “it’s not the disease that’s different from country to country but the drugs to treat them and the brand names of the drugs differ.“

A fellow personal support worker told Kaew about Mohawk’s one-year bridging program for educated nurses. Kaew began her studies at Mohawk in 2013, graduated in September 2014 and passed the licensing exam in October 2014. Then the job hunt began.

“I had no experience as a nurse in Canada and friends, who had been looking for nursing jobs for six months to two years, were telling me there’s no chance of finding work in the city.“ Kaew cast a wide net searching online for jobs in “General Hospitals in Ontario“ and discovered a website with nearly 400 results. “I emailed all of them,“ she says. “I decided whichever one hires me, I will accept the position because it was meant to be.“

Kaew’s positivity paid off—she got an email the next day from Manitouwadge General Hospital requesting a phone interview. Kaew was offered a job on the spot and so began her first job as a nurse in Canada, two months after graduating from the bridging program.

While Kaew enjoyed her experience in Manitouwadge, her true dream was to be back in the operating room of a larger, busier hospital. Within a year, she secured a fulltime position at Hamilton General Hospital working as a cardiac-vascular nurse in the operating room.

For students facing seemingly impossible obstacles, Kaew has this advice to offer—“Follow your dreams, keep going, keep doing, and one day you will reach your goal.“