National Nursing Assessment Centre NNAS

[iblessed]

Hi iblessed, You're welcome. I share my information because I know how frustrating is to wait in the dark and not having any resources available where you can find some information about the process/timeline. I read in an old post that CNO took 2.5 years to process your application, Is that correct? Do you mind sharing the details? I know everyone is different but would help to know what to expect. Did they ask you to write the Jurisprudence exam?

Because CNO ridiculous process I accepted a position as an RN across the border in the US which I have to drive over an hour twice a week. I've been working in Canada as a PSW for 2 years and I decided that I don't longer want to work as an assistance, under other RN direction when I am a nurse myself. It is ridiculous! I can imagine how frustrating would be for other applicants who can't work as an RN at this time. At least I have options. What a nightmare!!!

Please share the details of your process with CNO.

Thanks,
YA

Hello YA. In march of 2012 I applied to CNO and had submitted all my documents as was stated in their letter to me, I did not hear anything back from them till Sept 2012 they sent me a letter stating that if I did not receive my registration by Dec 2012 I would need to write the Jurisprudence exam, so I wrote it in August 2013 and pass. They did not send me any new information even though I was calling them on a regular basis to find out what was happening with my application all they would say is that they were still doing their assessment. In Sept of 2013 they sent me a letter stating that I needed to register for the OSCE Evaluation and that if I did not my application would get cancelled, so I registered and did the OSCE in May 2014. In Sept 2014 they sent me another letter stating that there are Competences that I need to achieve and I could not find any University to do this except York University that charge $13000.00 for a two years nursing school and their waiting list is very long and I am not prepared to go back to do a nursing course when I already have a degree and a current registration in the UK where I am at the moment working. I too was working as PSW under other RN direction when I am a nurse myself.

You are working as a RN in the US so does that mean you already did the NCLEX exam? if so what is the problem with CNO I don't understand. They told me that my file will be kept open till next year for me to submit proof of Competences and then wait for another assessment process. I feel what they are doing is very unjust to us nurse but there is nowhere to go to get any justice.

iblessed

 

[iblessed]

Hi friends,

So after almost 15 weeks NNAS has finally issued my advisory report as NON COMPARABLE :-\
I am so dissapointed.I will however apply to CARNA and see what they tell me.I will probably have to go thru SEC examination wich is fine with me as i know i am ready for it.I am not scared of the examination itself and i am confident i will do well if i am given the chance to take it.
My biggest fear is that they will not give me a chance to.

Has anyone with a non comparable report applyed to any of the regulatory bodies and got their assessment back?Please please pease share...it would be of great help to know that altough NNAS found our curriculum to be not comparable to the Canadian one we can still get a chance to prove that we do have the knowledge,ethics and skills to practice in Canada.

Oh my God,what a "great" way to start the weekend.

Please anyone that might be able to help share your story...I already know that if you get comparable or somewhat comparable you are fine but what about the ones that get non comparable? Is this it? Is it over for us?


Respectfuly,

Nursero.

Hi Nursero sorry to hear of the NON COMPARABLE report but see what the nursing board say when you contact them and you can apply as a LPN as well if you choose to. All the best and keep us posted

 

[nursero]

Hi iblesed,

Thank you.
I will let you all know of CARNA's assessment.

All the best to you too.

 

[Brent22]

Hi. I am curtently waiting for my Advisory report from NNAS. Anyone from Baguio here? I have also written CGFNS if they could use the same documents for the NCLEX/CGFNS US since it is the same organization doing the assessment for both.

 

[iblessed]

Hi. I am curtently waiting for my Advisory report from NNAS. Anyone from Baguio here? I have also written CGFNS if they could use the same documents for the NCLEX/CGFNS US since it is the same organization doing the assessment for both.

Hopefully that would work in your favour if they do. All the best to you Brent22

 

[Eann]

Hello po! Ask ko lang po kung meron po sa inyo nag undergo ng sec as lpn in alberta? And kung meron po familiar sa conditional license na binibigay nila? Thank you po.

 

[Nirvan]

My spouse is Nurse. She has done 3 years PCL and 2 years BN. We will be moving to canada in about 6-7 months from now. I am a physiotherapist and have done my WES credential assessment. She will also be needing some kind of credential for her to get nurse job. I wanted to know what to do. Should we do WES or NNAS? If someone could guide me I would start the process ASAP.

 

[YA]

Hello YA. In march of 2012 I applied to CNO and had submitted all my documents as was stated in their letter to me, I did not hear anything back from them till Sept 2012 they sent me a letter stating that if I did not receive my registration by Dec 2012 I would need to write the Jurisprudence exam, so I wrote it in August 2013 and pass. They did not send me any new information even though I was calling them on a regular basis to find out what was happening with my application all they would say is that they were still doing their assessment. In Sept of 2013 they sent me a letter stating that I needed to register for the OSCE Evaluation and that if I did not my application would get cancelled, so I registered and did the OSCE in May 2014. In Sept 2014 they sent me another letter stating that there are Competences that I need to achieve and I could not find any University to do this except York University that charge $13000.00 for a two years nursing school and their waiting list is very long and I am not prepared to go back to do a nursing course when I already have a degree and a current registration in the UK where I am at the moment working. I too was working as PSW under other RN direction when I am a nurse myself.

You are working as a RN in the US so does that mean you already did the NCLEX exam? if so what is the problem with CNO I don't understand. They told me that my file will be kept open till next year for me to submit proof of Competences and then wait for another assessment process. I feel what they are doing is very unjust to us nurse but there is nowhere to go to get any justice.

iblessed

iblessed,

Yes I am an RN in the US. I already did my NCLEX and CNO wave it. So I don't have to write it again. According to CNO they are assessing my education to make sure it is comparable with Canadian's. I completed 2 bachelors degree in the US. BS in Health Studies w/ minor in Psychology and BS in Nursing. I am already in a Master level program completing my Nurse Practitioner degree in the States (right across the border). I am so overqualified to be an entry level RN so I don't know what takes so long for them to process my credentials. They are dragging it because they are too many nurses applying but the nursing shortage in Canada is significant. I am an american citizen so I can work in the states. However driving over an hour is not fun. If only they tell me how long the process would take I would make plan and consider moving closer to the border but their lack of transparency is unbelievable.
I can't believe what they have done to you. I don't blame you, who wants to go through more education when you already have a degree. I think they are a terrible organization and we applicants needs to raise our voices. I have personally thought about going there in person and hire a civil/immigration Lawyer. I am a Canadian citizen too , marrying a Canadian, and I have rights to be treated equally fair as they do with their local graduate nurses.
Anyhow, I read about this organization CARE (Center for internationally educated nurses). http://care4nurses.org/. You should give them a call and navigate their website.

Regards,
YA

 

[YA]

My spouse is Nurse. She has done 3 years PCL and 2 years BN. We will be moving to canada in about 6-7 months from now. I am a physiotherapist and have done my WES credential assessment. She will also be needing some kind of credential for her to get nurse job. I wanted to know what to do. Should we do WES or NNAS? If someone could guide me I would start the process ASAP.

NNAS. Canada won't accept your WES evaluation for nursing. They have a whole new process now for IEN and the first step is to submit your application to NNAS. I hope I helped.

YA

 

[Nirvan]

NNAS. Canada won't accept your WES evaluation for nursing. They have a whole new process now for IEN and the first step is to submit your application to NNAS. I hope I helped.

YA

Thanx for the reply. I have another question too. Well smone told me that Nepali graduate cannot apply for RN in canada. They have to join another course in canada after which they will be able to give their exam for RN. So if thats the case is NNAS still needed? Coz if you do a short course in Canada then I think it will be easier to apply for RN. Also if you have any idea about how long will that course last?
Regards.

 

[YA]

Thanx for the reply. I have another question too. Well smone told me that Nepali graduate cannot apply for RN in canada. They have to join another course in canada after which they will be able to give their exam for RN. So if thats the case is NNAS still needed? Coz if you do a short course in Canada then I think it will be easier to apply for RN. Also if you have any idea about how long will that course last?
Regards.

My recommendation is that you apply through the NNAS for both RN and RPN. Once you get the advisory report for both you can apply to the province you want to work. Every applicant is assessed individually and the result is not always the same. You can't do any bridging course without the authorization of the registration body. So no matter what you still have to apply to NNAS. Unless you want to do the four year undergraduate program in a Canadian university vs 20 months bridge program. If you are granted a RPN license at least you can work and have a decent job until you finish your RN courses but again everyone is different and you might get authorization to write for RN. You never know..

Good Luck,
YA

 

[sushicat29]

Hello,

It is amazing to see a lot of nurses wanting to bring their skills here in Canada. I am also one of those who are inspired to work here. I wanted everyone who are applying here to prepare themselves so as not to loose hope as well as patience since we all need it because it is a long process to register as a nurse in Canada. It is funny that sometimes when I go to interviews and I tell them that I do have 6 years of ICU background they still seem to question if I have the acute care skills of a entry-level Canadian trained nurse. Maybe because of the long process ( minimum of 2 years) you will start to doubt yourself if you did loose those skills so I suggest that if plan to come here process from where you are to continue your working experience. The only bad side is it is so expensive, I register when NNAS was not required and it cost me thousands of dollars already so I feel that this is another struggle to work as a nurse here in Canada.

Nursing anywhere in the globe has the same goals, it is caring and helping your patients get well. We only have different routines and protocols so I suggest that being flexible and adaptable should be one of the attitudes internationally educated nurses must have. When I first started working as a nurse, I was overwhelmed because of the new forms, equipments, etc.. but after that 1st day, everything was just easy. I was trained in a difficult area so handling other cases are just a walk in the park. However, for those who relied mostly on doctor's to fully assess their patients you will see the difference here since nurses run the show. Doctors rely on nurses to tell them most of the time what is wrong with their patients and listens to nurses suggestions.

Anyway, I just wanted to show you a glimpse of nursing here in Canada. I am still in the process of doing my RN registration after starting it last 2013. I am one of those lucky ones who are working as an LPN in an acute setting but it took me a lot of effort just to get where I am especially I live in Metro Vancouver. Goodluck to everyone and keep your hopes up!!

Sushicat29

 

[Nirvan]

Hi aashu241, I just looked at CNO website and below are the different ways they have stated that you can use to meet English proficiency requirement. Check it out and see if your situation qualifies. Also, feel free to call CNO customer service to ask them if the program you are studying qualifies you to be exempted from English proficiency requirement. Here in alberta, I know a lady who studied nursing in India and has been asked to provide English test results. I do not know any other details about the lady's case. Here is what I just copied and pasted from CNO website: hope it helps.

MEETING THE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENT

The majority of applicants to the College meet the language proficiency requirement in one of three ways:

by completing a nursing program in Ontario, Canada or another jurisdiction where:
theory and clinical instruction was provided in English or French
the primary language of the educational institution was English or French
the program was not an online or distance education program and
theory and clinical instruction was not completed exclusively through PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition)

by holding current registration with the College (or having held registration within the last two years) in the General, Temporary, Extended, or Special Assignment classes

by achieving the required benchmark scores on one of the language proficiency tests approved by the College.
Applicants who can't demonstrate language proficiency through their nursing program, registration status, or a recent language proficiency test must provide other evidence of language proficiency.

Hi TEF... Thanx for the information. Me and my spouse are from Nepal, but most of our curriculum are in English. We give written exam and viva in english. So my question is if we can prove that then are we exempt from giving ielts score? Also reading post from others I have one more confusion. If my spouse does not acheive the required score in Academic ielts that is 7 in each band then does that mean we should give another shot again before applying for nnas?

 

[iblessed]

iblessed,

Yes I am an RN in the US. I already did my NCLEX and CNO wave it. So I don't have to write it again. According to CNO they are assessing my education to make sure it is comparable with Canadian's. I completed 2 bachelors degree in the US. BS in Health Studies w/ minor in Psychology and BS in Nursing. I am already in a Master level program completing my Nurse Practitioner degree in the States (right across the border). I am so overqualified to be an entry level RN so I don't know what takes so long for them to process my credentials. They are dragging it because they are too many nurses applying but the nursing shortage in Canada is significant. I am an american citizen so I can work in the states. However driving over an hour is not fun. If only they tell me how long the process would take I would make plan and consider moving closer to the border but their lack of transparency is unbelievable.
I can't believe what they have done to you. I don't blame you, who wants to go through more education when you already have a degree. I think they are a terrible organization and we applicants needs to raise our voices. I have personally thought about going there in person and hire a civil/immigration Lawyer. I am a Canadian citizen too , marrying a Canadian, and I have rights to be treated equally fair as they do with their local graduate nurses.
Anyhow, I read about this organization CARE (Center for internationally educated nurses). http://care4nurses.org/. You should give them a call and navigate their website.

Regards,
YA

Hi YA, thanks for your reply. I totally agree with you and I would not recommend anyone to apply to CNO, I did because I did not have anyone to tell how horrible they are and all the money I spent with them is all for nothing. I did register with the Center for internationally educated nurses before I left the UK but did not get any help from them because I live in Northern Ontario, thanks for the info. I will be applying to NNAS this week as it seems the site does not work on the weekend I was trying today and nothing works so I will wait till Monday. Hope it works at night because that is when I finish work.

Anyway you will be ok, take care.

 

[iblessed]

Hello,

It is amazing to see a lot of nurses wanting to bring their skills here in Canada. I am also one of those who are inspired to work here. I wanted everyone who are applying here to prepare themselves so as not to loose hope as well as patience since we all need it because it is a long process to register as a nurse in Canada. It is funny that sometimes when I go to interviews and I tell them that I do have 6 years of ICU background they still seem to question if I have the acute care skills of a entry-level Canadian trained nurse. Maybe because of the long process ( minimum of 2 years) you will start to doubt yourself if you did loose those skills so I suggest that if plan to come here process from where you are to continue your working experience. The only bad side is it is so expensive, I register when NNAS was not required and it cost me thousands of dollars already so I feel that this is another struggle to work as a nurse here in Canada.

Nursing anywhere in the globe has the same goals, it is caring and helping your patients get well. We only have different routines and protocols so I suggest that being flexible and adaptable should be one of the attitudes internationally educated nurses must have. When I first started working as a nurse, I was overwhelmed because of the new forms, equipments, etc.. but after that 1st day, everything was just easy. I was trained in a difficult area so handling other cases are just a walk in the park. However, for those who relied mostly on doctor's to fully assess their patients you will see the difference here since nurses run the show. Doctors rely on nurses to tell them most of the time what is wrong with their patients and listens to nurses suggestions.

Anyway, I just wanted to show you a glimpse of nursing here in Canada. I am still in the process of doing my RN registration after starting it last 2013. I am one of those lucky ones who are working as an LPN in an acute setting but it took me a lot of effort just to get where I am especially I live in Metro Vancouver. Goodluck to everyone and keep your hopes up!!

Sushicat29

Thank you Sushicat29 for sharing, but it is difficult to registered in Canada and for thousands of nurses you have to first show that you are a landed Permanent Residence for your application to move to the next level. Plus not being able to work as a RN for two years or more you will forget how do some things because you are not practicing. What I would suggest for those who are able to even if it means leaving your family for 3-6 months if it is possible as it may not be for some, is to go back to your home country alone and continue to work in your roll as a RN till your registration is complete or apply for LPN/RPN in the mean time. Is your application for RN also in Vancouver.