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Yelitze Medina spent eight years as a nurse for the Venezuelan air force. In 2001, when she moved to the United States with her husband, she never expected it would take seven years to obtain the license she needed to continue in nursing.

Medina credits the Latino Health Initiative, which helps foreign-trained nurses learn critical English language skills and U.S. medical standards, with getting her the license she needed. She is now an emergency room nurse at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park.

"Before the program, I was scared I couldn't do the nursing here. But, oh, my goodness, they showed me to be motivated and not give up on what I wanted," Medina said. "I love to help the people, and now I can finally do what I love here."

Medina is one of 11 to earn a nursing license in conjunction with the Latino Health Initiative of Montgomery County.

The program, which took its first class of 25 in 2005, aims to combat the nursing shortage in Maryland by utilizing the already-trained immigrant workforce. Maryland is projected to have a shortfall of 17,000 nurses by 2012.

The nursing program has been renamed the Licensure of Foreign-Trained Nursing Professionals Program. Starting in December, it will begin teaching foreign-trained nurses of all nationalities.

Program participants take English language and nursing refresher courses at Montgomery College and are later placed as nurses-in-training at Washington Adventist or Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. The program is intended to be completed in two years, but each nurse receives counseling to design a personalized plan.

The program pays for most of the training costs for the nurses.

"You can see their eyes light up in the classroom, and they're saying to their classmates or to me that they never thought it would happen, but now they see a light at the end of the tunnel," said Linda Jennings, who teaches in the English language component of the program at Montgomery College.

Eleven of the nurses in the program work at Holy Cross Hospital.

The nurses provide a tremendous benefit to the hospital, said Wendy Friar, vice president of community health.

"These nurses are lovely," she said. "They're very well-trained, and they bring in a bicultural element that's a must. ... It's not about language, but it's about understanding different cultures, belief systems and customs, and these nurses bring it to the bedside and also teach other staff as well."

Now, with help from a grant from the Maryland Hospital Association, the amount of which is still in negotiation, the nursing program hopes to be able to open at additional locations, including one in Baltimore. Program manager Sonia Mora said the program may also be expanded to other foreign-trained allied health professionals, such as nurse practitioners.

Until Medina found the nursing program, she studied English on her own and made two unsuccessful attempts at passing the licensing exam. Many other immigrants with specialized training find themselves working in jobs they're overqualified for because of language constraints or difficulties understanding the requirements of U.S. licensing systems.

In addition to helping bridge the gap in unfilled nursing positions, the program aims to incorporate a more diverse workforce into Maryland's hospitals.

Hospitals lacking diverse staffs are likely to struggle with the cultural and linguistic barriers to providing high-quality care. These barriers often lead to inefficient treatment, poor communication and patient dissatisfaction, said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, at a conference on Maryland health care disparities.

Medina testifies to this firsthand. She described a suicidal Latino patient at Washington Adventist who was brought to her attention because she was one of the few nurses who could communicate with him.

After hearing how the non-Latino staff at the hospital was not able to understand him, Medina said, she spent time simply holding a general conversation with the patient in Spanish. The patient's spirits lifted, and he stopped talking about suicide.

Medina said she's had many similar experiences with Latino patients ranging from the homeless to Latino women battling post-partum depression.

"It's really sad the help that the Latin American population in the hospitals need," Medina said. "That's one of the reasons that motivates me to continue with this beautiful job."