Assessment of nursing degree from the Philippines

mjcanada · Dec 4, 2011

The fee structure changed in July 2011 at NorQuest. Now 2400 approx for non residents. Perhaps you should contact CIIP office in Philippines and become a client. They offer a lot of advice and assistance. Als look at lng term nursing homes such as Christensen development, or Excel and see if they will sponsor you to comeover as a health care aide until (under the foreign worker program). Then you will wowrk as a health care aide, begin the challenge program by distance coming in to write the exams by appointment ( there are 3 exams covering multipe courses) and then competing any full courses by distnace. The last course in the program is a 7 week preceptored practicum. The you write the national exam. You will still be a foreign workerthough, So you may want to come in to Canada as a landed immigrant on your own. the email for CIIP is www.newcomerssuccess.ca Right now jobs as LPNs ( RPNS in Ontario) are scarce, although if you go to a more rural location in Alberta then you may have more luck. Same with most provinces, they are looking for LPNs in the rurual arreas. Look on the Alberta Health Services site, CLPNA site under employment and google nursing homes in Alberta, and look at their HR tabs. Do you have famiy or friends here in Alberta? It is important to have support when you come as it is hard moving to a new country on your own. Also, there may be jobs in the arctic, under the government of the NWT or Iqauluit on the eastern artci side of the country. I worked up north first in a medical outpost in the high arcic in Resolute Bay and then Grise Fiord.Actually met my husband up there. Then I worked as a nursing educator in Yellowknife for 5 years, before moving to Edmonton. Actually I really enjoyed the nursing experience in the high Arctic. Whe did you graduate from nursing? Which university? Hav you been working as a nurse? These are impportant questions that will determine hoe mush course credit you get, and how many courses you will be permitted to challenge, igf you do apply to NorQuest college in Edmonton.

Anne12 · Dec 5, 2011

Thank you so much mjcanada! That's a big help for me. I checked out the CIIP website and registered. Thank you so much for that link, there are a lot of consultancy agencies here and I am reluctant to avail of their services before because I heard of too many cases of fraud.

A healthcare aid job will be fine as a start, I really would want to work while completing the program to be able to sustain my stay there, and that is what I am most worried about. I don't have an immediate family in Canada, I just have some distant relatives but I don't think they will be very helpful to me since I am not very acquainted with them. I lived in Japan independently for quite sometime and I know how difficult it is to be moving to another country on their own. I am not very familiar about how everything goes around the arctic areas, but I will start to research about it.

Do you advice that I seek employment first and just enroll in the PN course when I am all settled there already? I graduated last 2008 but only had 3 months experience of volunteer nurse in the hospital that's why I am really eager to start my nursing career again. One more thing, is the cost of living in Alberta high?

mjcanada · Dec 5, 2011

It is hard to say - I think that if you have a job to come to it is better. Either way you will have to credential as a LPN in Alberta, by taking the PN Refresher program( challenge process , courses and practicum). As the program can take up to a year( depending on how well you do in the challenge exams, and how much advance credit you get in the initial transcript assessment), you will probably want to work as a health care aide while you are doing it. The cost of living in Alberta is high compared to the Philippines.

karrielove2004 · Dec 7, 2011

hi anne, how is it going,, hows your application

Anne12 · Dec 7, 2011

hello karrie, I requested the college for the application forms and guidelines. I still don't know if I am eligible to enroll because in one of their emails to me, they said that they require a band score of 6 or higher for IELTS, but in the attached file they require specific scores for each of the component. I only got 6.5 in writing but the rest are 7.5's and 8.5. I asked them about this and I am still waiting for their reply. How about you? have you lodged your application already? how did it go?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Dec 7, 2011

Quick reminder to post only in English as per the Terms of Service of the site. I have deleted a post that was mainly in Tagalog

mjcanada · Dec 7, 2011

The academic version is required by post secondary institutions, so take that version.

karrielove2004 · Dec 7, 2011

sorry.. next time it will be purely english terms. :-)

cesz · Jan 26, 2012

Hi, does anyone know if taking the PNLE (Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam) is required to be able to pass the evaluation/assessment from the CNO applying for RN/RPN? I am a Canadian Citizen, not really going to work here in the Philippines but I studied here for my BSN degree. Should I still take the local boards before I send my application to the CNO?

please help, thank you.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jan 26, 2012

License is required by the province, so if you can sit it then you will need to sit it, if you can't then you need to speak to the CNO and ask what is required

mjcanada · Jan 27, 2012

In Alberta and most other provinces, RN registration in the country of origin is required to be assessed for credentialing as a Registered Nurse in Canada. Currently in Alberta an IEN who has completed a BSN in the Philippines but has not written board exams, can enroll in a post secondary program to credential as an LPN, as s/he will write the CPNRE and gain the LPN designation if successful. Generally the 4 year BSN from the Philippines is considered roughly equivalent to a 2 year nursing diploma, as the first 2 years of university in the Philippines are assessed as the last 2 years of high school in Canada ( IQAS)

This may change in the future if / when the CLPNA in Alberta takes over the assessment of IENS for entrance to a challenge, SEC process or credentialing program. In completing assessment of transcripts and other documents, post secondary institution is interested in the educational credential ( BSN) in assessing for possible credit and challenge opportunity.

It is best for immigration purposes for you to get the board exams and the RN designation, as it will permit you to apply to the RN association for assessment. Without the RN registration you are not eligible to be assessed by the RN professional regulatory body.In summary, there is a difference in how a post secondary university or college will assess your educational transcripts (based on credit weight, mark, content, number of years since graduation etc) as opposed to a professional regulatory body which will assess number of theory and practice hours in various realms such as medicine, surgery, pediatrics, maternity mental health nursing.