NNAS experience?

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Does anybody have any experience with NNAS? So far, I've read the site but it would be great to hear from people who have gone through the process :)

Hello everyone,

I have a question. Is it worth it to do the NNAS? I also a registered Nurse but i am not in Canada. Has anyone have ever done this? applying to NNAS outside Canada? please help

Not sure I'd say it's 'worth it', but it's a necessary step in order to become licensed in Canadian provinces. There is no way around it, even though most people know the result before they even make their payment. I would definitely begin the process outside of Canada and not move here until you have a good idea of how this will work out...unless you have an endless pot of money, it could get very expensive to move here first, start the NNAS process (could take over a year) and not be able to work as a nurse to financially support yourself through this process. After NNAS you will likely have other things you'll beed to go in order to get a license. More courses, exams, or paperwork from previous employers etc. It is an exercise in patience, resilience and at times anger management, which I think is best done at home surrounded by family and familiarity.

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Hello everyone,

I have a question. Is it worth it to do the NNAS? I also a registered Nurse but i am not in Canada. Has anyone have ever done this? applying to NNAS outside Canada? please help

Yes, I have done NNAS, NCAS and the majority of my CRNBC application from outside Canada. I am still in the UK and we will not be moving to Canada until I am scheduled to start the 1 year bridging program, which will likely be another 18 months away. My husband and I are both employed here, and I am working as a RN in the UK. We won't be moving until as late as possible in order to minimize the amount of time we will be living on one salary, as well as to minimize the amount of time I am out of RN practice. It is not at all detrimental to be starting the process from outside Canada :-)

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Hi everyone. Has anybody here have already taken the Competency based program? :) We started the courses this monday and I am a little bit overwhelmed about the Scholarly course. Can you guys give tips how to go about this course?Thanks in advance

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Hi everyone. Has anybody here have already taken the Competency based program? :) We started the courses this monday and I am a little bit overwhelmed about the Scholarly course. Can you guys give tips how to go about this course?Thanks in advance

I don't know anyone who has taken the competency based program, but want to say that it is not unusual to feel overwhelmed when you first start taking an education program and online programs can be even more overwhelming.

Try to focus on one step at a time and give yourself positive feedback for every step you take, for example read one article/chapter of your assigned readings, then pat yourself on the back and say good for me, I read the chapter. Next write some notes and say 'good for me, I made some notes on the readings'. If you take a step by step approach the information will to start to sink in and pretty soon you will start to synthesize the course material.

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I have a question:

I am an internationally educated nurse from the Philippines and an RN. I took the 2-year PN program in ON and now I'm an RPN. I'm currently holding a temporary license as I have to write CPNRE in January. I was hired at a hospital and currently working there.

I was wondering if I do the NNAS assessment for my RN, do you think my Canadian education + international degree + current employment will give me a favourable result for NNAS? I mean, I wish it would reinforce my application at least to get a Somewhat Comparable or Comparable result.

Any thoughts?

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I have a question:

I am an internationally educated nurse from the Philippines and an RN. I took the 2-year PN program in ON and now I'm an RPN. I'm currently holding a temporary license as I have to write CPNRE in January. I was hired at a hospital and currently working there.

I was wondering if I do the NNAS assessment for my RN, do you think my Canadian education + international degree + current employment will give me a favourable result for NNAS? I mean, I wish it would reinforce my application at least to get a Somewhat Comparable or Comparable result.

Any thoughts?

Your experience won't be included in the NNAS assessment so this won't have any impact on the result. NNAS states on their website that you should not submit anything other than documents related to your international education. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS! Submit the syllabi from your Canadian RPN education as well. Since NNAS forwards all of the education documents on to CNO, you want to make sure that is included in the package when they forward anything on. Anything you send to NNAS will be forwarded on, even if it isn't assessed by them. CNO will consider everything in the package and may decide to, for example, ask you to take IENCAP rather than ask you to take more courses (just as an example). So while it is most likely that NNAS will say your nursing education is not comparable, or if you are lucky, somewhat comparable to Canadian RN education based on the syllabi from the school you attended in Philippines, CNO may give you an easier time once they see you are an RPN who took RPN courses in Canada.

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Hi,

I'm a newly registered nurse in the Philippines curently living in Canada as a PR. I applied to NNAS 2 days ago and based on what I have read in this forum, I expect to have a very slim or no chance at all to have a comparable result from NNAS. If a non-comparable results comes up, I just want to get ideas on what are my options to take after that? Also, can I apply to both RN and LPN group for assessment in NNAS at the same time? I'm just thinking that if they don't accept me as an RN, I might have a chance to be LPN instead. Thanks...

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Thanks for the words of encouragement! I was thinking it too. Told myself, I'd rather go back to school and learn the system than just waiting for a result which would tell me to go back to school. I was asking some people and they said my Cdn education won't even matter. You're the first person to tell me otherwise. Although, at the back of my mind, I'm going to gamble.

Your experience won't be included in the NNAS assessment so this won't have any impact on the result. NNAS states on their website that you should not submit anything other than documents related to your international education. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS! Submit the syllabi from your Canadian RPN education as well. Since NNAS forwards all of the education documents on to CNO, you want to make sure that is included in the package when they forward anything on. Anything you send to NNAS will be forwarded on, even if it isn't assessed by them. CNO will consider everything in the package and may decide to, for example, ask you to take IENCAP rather than ask you to take more courses (just as an example). So while it is most likely that NNAS will say your nursing education is not comparable, or if you are lucky, somewhat comparable to Canadian RN education based on the syllabi from the school you attended in Philippines, CNO may give you an easier time once they see you are an RPN who took RPN courses in Canada.
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Hi,

I'm a newly registered nurse in the Philippines curently living in Canada as a PR. I applied to NNAS 2 days ago and based on what I have read in this forum, I expect to have a very slim or no chance at all to have a comparable result from NNAS. If a non-comparable results comes up, I just want to get ideas on what are my options to take after that? Also, can I apply to both RN and LPN group for assessment in NNAS at the same time? I'm just thinking that if they don't accept me as an RN, I might have a chance to be LPN instead. Thanks...

You will likely get 'non-comparable'. I've only heard of one other Philippine educated nurse getting 'somewhat comparable' or 'comparable' (can't remember which it was but I remember being surprised). The licensing body you apply to after you get your NNAS result will direct you as to what to do next. They may ask you to provide information on your nursing work experience or they may ask you to sign up to complete OSCE. So unfortunately you will have to wait and see what they say next, and that will take a while, since NNAS can take up to one year and then the licensing body takes a bit of time to send you a letter. If you are applying in Ontario, they are experiencing some serious delays.

Yes you can apply to both RN and LPN/RPN. In fact, I often think that this NNAS system was partially set up to increase the supply of RPN/LPNs. Highly educated yet paid less. But each person has to decide what is their priority and what is right for them and many people have applied to LPN/RPN as well, even though they are RNs.

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Hi guys,

Just wondering, was anyone aware that the evaluators at IENCAP will be volunteers?!?!?! Quite honestly, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the posting from CNO (on Facebook, Nov 24) asking for volunteer nurses to assess/evaluate IENs at IENCAP. In addition to being volunteers, evaluators are only trained once, the night before the exam date. That's the only training they undergo! Aside from being a RN in Ontario without restrictions etc, they need only have 6 months of nursing work experience within the last 3 years. And it doesn't have to be clinical experience. So technically those taking the test in the new year could be evaluated by RN's who spent 6 months writing nursing policy from Jan-June 2015. I do not see how this as a fair or valid assessment whatsoever, especially considering Canadian educated nurses are evaluated by nurses who are paid and obligated to keep up with current practices as well as current nursing evaluation practices. I just can't believe this...it's embarrassing. Would this be acceptable for physicians to be assessed this way during an OSCE?

I know, all RNs should have a full understanding of entry-to-practice competencies etc, etc. But let's be honest: not all do, depending on the work they do, and it's human nature not to treat volunteer work the same as paid professional employment.

What do you think about this? Thoughts?

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@RN_Pro, Touchstone is the employer and it seems examiners are paid for their work as the examiner positions are listed on Touchstones website under 'Work with us'. Touchstone does not ask for volunteers to conduct the exams. It is confusing because CNO is disseminating information on behalf Touchstone and on CNO's website it is listed under the volunteer section (maybe the webdesigner considered the volunteer section to be best spot for the information?).

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It states:

Ontario Registered Nurse Examiners are needed to help assess internationally educated nurses seeking registration in Ontario. Find out if you are eligible to volunteer as an examiner and how to apply.

I also have concerns with the fact that the training is so incredibly minimal.

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