HOLYOKE — As students chatted about what they did over the weekend, Amy Pechukas, an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher at Holyoke Community College, walked around the room and listened in on their conversations.
“The more they speak it the more comfortable they will be with the spoken part of the test,” said Pechukas, referring to the International English Language Testing System, required in many licensed professions for employees whose native language is not English.
The students meet every Tuesday night in the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development to go over sample tests, but more importantly to socialize and speak English with one another. They may come from different backgrounds, but these students have several things in common — English is not their first language and they are all registered nurses from other countries.
Passing the advanced English test is the first step in getting into the nursing field in the United States. After they pass the test, students are required to submit their nursing certifications for approval by the state. Once their certification is approved, students go on to take the nursing exam for Massachusetts.
“What we have found over the years is that this can be a very long, confusing process and people get discouraged,” said Kermit Dunkelberg, assistant vice president of Adult Basic Education and Workforce Development for the college. "We also know that there is a shortage of qualified nurses and hospitals are desperate for nurses.”
After Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico in September of 2017, Springfield and Holyoke saw an influx of Puerto Ricans.
“As the career center started to process all of these evacuees who were coming to them for services, they found that there were a lot of nurses among them,” Dunkelberg said. “We saw this as an opportunity to create a course that would serve a need that has existed for international nurses for many years.”
The college is hoping to get as many students as possible to participate in the course before the $30,000 grant runs out in June. The grant pays the $240 nonrefundable fee for each student to take the test.
The college teamed up with David Gadaire at MassHire, a career center in Holyoke, and the Bunker Hill Community College Welcome Back Center in Boston to establish the class here in Western Massachusetts.
“The Welcome Back Center helps nurses trained in other countries with everything from having their nursing credentials evaluated to preparing for the English and nursing exams with the goal that they can obtain their nursing certification in the state,” Dunkelberg said.
Before the class was established at HCC, hurricane evacuee Frank Martinez had set up a study group on his own. He earned his nursing degree in Puerto Rico, but is not able to work as a nurse in Massachusetts until he goes through the testing and certification process.
By day Martinez is an employee at the career center. At night he is a phlebotomist at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. He evacuated from Puerto Rico after the hurricane and came to Holyoke, where he had lived before and still has family. While registering people for services at the career center he noticed the number of registered nurses coming in.
“We had about 30 in the beginning and we just kept getting more and more. We started with a little study group once a week at MassHire and when HCC got its funding we formalized the class,” he said. “I think it’s a bonding experience where you get to share your concerns, your struggles with people who are also in the same field as you.”
Martinez is fluent in Spanish and English, but still found the English test to be daunting. He recently passed the exam and is now in the process of getting his credentials validated by the state.
“The test is very challenging,” said Emmanuel Reyes, a career development adviser at HCC. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Reyes knows what it’s like to learn a new language.
“Many of the students get discouraged, especially when they hear about someone taking it and not passing and losing the money. That means they have to go through the whole process again,” he said.
Reyes helps to keep the class organized from taking attendance every week to checking in on students who may have missed a week or two and keeping an eye out for job opportunities in the medical field.
“I try to keep them motivated and encourage them if they need it. I look for opportunities for them to work at hospitals or doctor’s offices, just to stay active in the field,” he said.
During a recent class all of the students present were already working in the medical field in some capacity. Most are certified nursing assistants.
“It’s difficult sometimes because I see what the nurses are doing and I know I can do that to and I’m ready,” said Habiba Atanane, a registered nurse for more than five years in her native Morocco. She has been in the United States for a year and three months and said she is ready to be a nurse again.
Jelitza Rodriguez-Alicea, Daliris Neifa and Julianna Torres are all working as certified nursing assistants. They said having a designated study group to meet with weekly has made the process less stressful.
“Here we can practice our English, but talking about things related to nursing, which you can’t really do when you’re at home with your friends and family,” said Torres.
For Neifa, seeing other students sacrificing time with their family and spending hours studying has motivated her. “I feel as though if they can do it I can too. We encourage each other,” she said.
Dannys Solis and Anaida Vazquez were also trying to study for the test on their own before discovering the group.
“I want to do this for me, but more importantly for my children, so that they can see that I will never give up and I will pursue my goal of being a nurse,” Vazquez said.
Her son’s teacher gave her a newspaper clipping announcing the classes at HCC. “When she sent this clipping home with him, I felt like an opportunity was presenting itself to me and I had to take advantage of it,” she said.
“I tried to start the process on my own, but it was very difficult to navigate the system,” Solis said.
Pechukas, a teacher and registered nurse, said the class focuses on teaching content knowledge and test-taking skills as well as building confidence. However, she said, being a nurse is about more than taking a test.
“Nonverbal communication is a huge part of being a nurse," she said. “Sometimes there is prejudice in the profession where people are judged because they might have an accent or imperfect grammar, but actually they are excellent communicators and that is a huge part of nursing.”
Anyone interested in joining the study group should contact Sheila Kelly at skelly@hcc.edu or 413-552-2027 for more information.