#MyBestMoments Campaign - Shraddha Patel, Registered Nurse

In our #MyBestMoments campaign staff and physicians from across our hospitals and community sites share the moments that have mattered most to them in their careers at Lakeridge Health. Read Shraddha's story below. 

LH. These two letters – which stand for Lakeridge Health – written on a bulletin board are what helped to motivate Shraddha Patel as she studied to become a licensed nurse in Ontario.

Shraddha and her husband immigrated to Canada from India in 2014. Although Shraddha was trained as a nurse and midwife, she initially worked in Environmental Services for a walk-in clinic and did not complete the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) requirements to become licensed to practice.

However, when the couple decided to move from Scarborough and buy a house in Whitby in 2021, Shraddha had to leave her job at the clinic because she did not have a driver’s license and access to a car to make the commute.
“My husband encouraged me to write the exam to become a licensed Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) now that I had more time,” Shraddha explains. “When I started to investigate job opportunities in Durham Region, I was so impressed with the many positions available at Lakeridge Health. So, as I was studying for the RPN exam, I wrote the letters ‘LH’ on my bulletin board, along with my other motivational messages, as a reminder of where I wanted to work.”

Shraddha not only aced the RPN exam in September 2021, but also successfully completed the exam to become a licensed Registered Nurse (RN) in January 2022. She is now a proud member of the team on one of the Medicine units at the Oshawa Hospital.
Shraddha shares that “there are just so many skills I can develop as a nurse here at Lakeridge Health. I want to work here as long as I can.”

If you’re an internationally educated nurse (IEN) or know someone who is, learn more about our IEN career pathway program to help IENs start their careers in Ontario and transition into registered nursing positions.