Hi All
Ive been watching this forum with a mixed emotions since I submitted my NNAS application back in April 2016. Its been great to see other peoples journey through the process and I thought it might be useful to share mine.
I'm an RN, trained and registered in the UK and first obtained registration in 2004 (fortunately this meant no English Language test needed).
NNAS process:
NNAS registration 22nd April 2016
NNAS fully acknowledged receipt of all documents and application 'ready for review' 23rd June 2016 (6-8 week expected timescale for completion of the report)
I had not had my report completed by week 10 (4th September 2016) therefore made contact via customer services who informed me that there was a significant delay due to high volume of applicants and inability to meet demand
NNAS report completed 01 October 2016 - 14 weeks after they had received all of the information they require (see below for main findings)
ENTRY TO PRACTICE REQUIREMENTS PERCENTAGE FULFILLED
ETP 1: Professional Responsibility & Accountability 57.50%
ETP 2: Knowledge-Based Practice 54.71%
ETP 3: Ethical Practice 51.50%
ETP 4: Service to the Public 45.33%
ETP 5: Self-Regulation 77.50%
ETP AVERAGE CURRICULAR PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTOR
57.31 % Somewhat Comparable
Unfortunately although there is a slightly more detailed breakdown of how these 'scores' are determined, the actual criteria by which the NNAS assess are not available publicly (I have asked a number of times) so it is difficult to know exactly where the NNAS believe there are deficits/shortfalls in IEN's education being comparable to Canadian nurse education. Also there are some discrepancies in my report based on the evidence they received, the number of theory hours in my nurse education, the title of my degree and the patient populations from at least one of my employers is incorrect. Read through your report in detail. I had made a complaint early in the application process and was able to coordinate directly with one of the evaluators to address problems with the way NNAS were dealing with and acknowledging receipt of documentation (they failed to acknowledge my ID verification for 6 weeks and employment information for 5 weeks despite me having proof that they had received it). Had I not done this, I might still be waiting for them to acknowledge this. Also when I spoke to the NNAS customer services team on week 10 of the application being evaluated, I insisted that the evaluator contacted me when they started to review my information, which she did and was very helpful. I found that submitted questions via the NNAS correspondence system on the application portal was next to useless. I submitted around 10 questions which they never answered and never had a response within their published timescales. However, speaking directly with customer services was always much easier to get a sensible response and resulted in things moving forward.
My main advice would be to get your various bits of evidence submitted as quickly as possible, and as close together as possible so that you can more easily monitor when they receive things. Ensure that you walk your school of nursing through exactly what is required of them (the more information the better), same with employers and current registration authority, if possible, ask everyone to send you copies of what they intend to submit on your behalf so you can ensure they've done it right - my school of nursing and one of my past employers would have got it horribly wrong. Have everything sent by courier - the US postal system is not particularly reliable when things arrive from overseas, they lost 2 of my documents to the ether, NNAS accepted contact directly from the employers who issued these pieces of evidence ad allowed them to send electronic copies directly to a named evaluator. Don't waste your time submitting questions via the application portal, call customer services directly with queries and keep a close eye on timescales, if they miss one of their own deadlines, speak to customer services sooner rather than later as I get the impression that he who shouts loudest gets heard fastest!
I have now applied to CRNNS and away their assessment of my application (fingers crossed its favourable). Good luck to everyone currently going through the process and everyone about to apply.
