A South Dakota city is pioneering nurse apprenticeships for English-as-second-language residents

A South Dakota city is pioneering nurse apprenticeships for English-as-second-language residents

Norma Torres Ortiz quit her full-time job at a Huron nursing home in February 2019 to spend her days studying for the national nurse licensure exam. Her first language isn’t English, it’s Spanish. Originally from Puerto Rico, she still considers English a struggle. To pass a challenging professional exam in a language she’s still learning, she had to work twice as hard. It took the 47-year-old two years to pass the test, succeeding in June 2019.…

A South Dakota city is pioneering nurse apprenticeships for English-as-second-language residents • South Dakota Searchlight

Norma Torres Ortiz, a registered nurse with the Huron Regional Medical Center, works with a patient. (Courtesy of Huron Regional Medical Center)Norma Torres Ortiz quit her full-time job at a Huron nursing home in February 2019 to spend her days studying for the national nurse licensure exam.  Her first language isn’t English, it’s Spanish. Originally from Puerto Rico, she still considers English a struggle.  To pass a challenging professional ex…