New rules speed up licensing for nurses amid shortages

Thanks to the efforts of the Welcome Back Center of Suburban Maryland in Montgomery County and World Education Services (WES), the state of Maryland has streamlined its nursing licensing process to address a critical nursing shortage.

Together, these organizations successfully campaigned for new regulations that would help foreign-educated nurses more easily meet language proficiency requirements to work in their state.

The new rules, effective June 24, expedited the licensing process and immediately benefited about 80 nurses working at the Welcome Back Center. The change removes a significant barrier for many highly educated and experienced Maryland-based healthcare workers who have degrees outside the United States but were underemployed because of previous hurdles to licensure.

Senior County Executive Marc Elrich praised the advocacy efforts that led to the rule change, noting that the change removed a significant barrier for qualified individuals and created a more inclusive licensing pathway.

Before the change, the Maryland Board of Nursing’s language assessment standards did not adequately address the language skills required for nursing in the context of the specific profession. This made it difficult for nurses at the Welcome Back Center to achieve the required scores on accepted language proficiency exams.

“World Education Services applauds the Maryland Board of Nursing and the Welcome Back Center of Suburban Maryland for their leadership and perseverance in advancing significant reforms to nursing licensing requirements in the state,” said Esther Benjamin, CEO and executive director of WES.

The Welcome Back Center, part of the county’s Latino Health Initiative, has been helping foreign-educated health care workers since 2005. The center provides a range of resources, including personalized guidance, English language classes, exam preparation, orientation to the U.S. health care system, pre-employment services and financial assistance.

Additional information about the Welcome Back Center of Suburban Maryland can be found on the Latino Health Initiative website.

Click Here For more information on the new regulations.