Frustrating CNO process for IENs

[kakeru]

I'm an internationally educated nurse and have had extensive experience in nursing from my homeland and internationally. I'm on the process of assessment in CNO for RN registration. I'm also a new immigrant in Canada looking for a better future for my family and aiming for career advancement. However, ironically, CNO might have mislead me into a chaotic process of registration.

I was assessed to undergo OSCE through CEPHEA to determine if I have gaps in nursing practice. I am resigned that I will definitely have identified gaps especially in regards to Canada's nursing practice which I'm not quite familiar with. However, what ****** me off is that CNO seems to have no idea on how to help the IENs fill in the gaps. Imagine a friend of mine who recently been assessed with 3 gaps among the many criteria and after which was lost what to to next. She was given a list of colleges and universities to inquire from and guess what?? The were no particular pathway or courses available to specifically fill in the gaps. There is however, a bridging program at York university which takes 20 months to finish and accepts only 50 candidates per school year. Talk about the backlog of IENs who wanted to get in! it's hundreds or probably thousands! Other colleges offer courses too by the way, then you need to push through university. So in total that will take you three years to finish.

I understand that Canadian nursing system is different and I am most willing to conform with what is needed. However, it's really insulting to IEN's to pay for an OSCE assessment then be left without a clear tract of what's going to happen if we fail. No offense but I've worked for 15 years internationally and I don't think that I have to study for 20 months more so 3 long years to be an RN in Canada. Nursing is nursing regardless of where we came from. It's basically caring with few tweaks of technical differences from place to place. And personally, I think, it should not take 20 months or more to learn and conform with the differences. So frustrating!!!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

OK, I just see this thread as a bashing even when truth is being said.

I am a IEN that has been here since 2008. I had to jump through hoops to meet requirements for Nova Scotia and it took me a year do and this included me having to travel to Halifax to to sit exams (6 in total) during the winter months mainly and took over 2 hours to drive. Did I complain.... No... and I wasn't the only person doing it. Met a couple of other UK nurses with similar experience to me and that was over 15 years each. We all knew that if we wanted to work as a RN then we had to meet the requirements. I also then had to rush and sit CRNE so I didn't have to sit a refresher course but if I had to I would have done it. I was lucky that the college of RN had information enabling us to do these courses but there was a charge and the charge had been met by NS government due to the shortage of nurses at that time but that coverage was due to finish and I would have still been ok to pay it as I accepted that it had to be done. I am not sure what the IEN's have to do now in NS but what I do know is they have to complete a 3-5 day assessment depending on what is decided once transcripts are reviewed.

Should the colleges be responsible to provide these courses.... no but they should be able to discuss with local universities ways to make these courses available to IEN's without making it a means of making money... I have seen many posts from IEN's who have sat some form of assessment and all have had to sit some form of course/s to meet requirements and this I find strange as I would expect some that would pass. Maybe they are the ones that don't post who knows but all we see are ones that don't.

IEN's with experience can not be compared to Canadian new grads.... Most employers will or may accept previous experience when looking at pay scales... this happened to me but that was more of a surprise rather than an expected thing. The employer can and will pay whatever they feel is merited

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Did you know that IENs who have longer & more extensive experience are being offered higher salaries compared to the newly grads of Canada? That means length of experience matters my dear. (Emphasis added.) How is that any different with being assessed for entry-to-practice in Ontario?

Once again you're confusing regulation with something unrelated - employment. Regulatory bodies DO indeed consider experience, only insofar as that experience may have filled in educational gaps noted in school transcripts. That's why some IENs are offered OSCE/SEC/CCA assessments instead of being told flat out that they don't qualify. Other than that, experience really isn't important to the Colleges. They care about whether a candidate meets the minimum competencies expected from newly-graduated nursing students embarking on their entry to practice.

Employers, on the other hand, are looking for experience - after ensuring the candidate is registered and has met those minimum competencies for entry to practice, of course. Experience may or may NOT be considered when placing an applicant for employment on the pay scale, depending on what their collective agreements permit and also whether they're satisfied with the documentary evidence the applicant provided. Reciprocal agreements are in place between the provinces and territories that all experience will be credited for persons moving between provinces. Collective agreement language is typically weighted on the Employer's side. For example, "When an Employee has experience satisfactory to the Employer, the Employee's starting salary shall be adjusted as follows: Experience prior to a five year lapse will not be recognized. All experience satisfactory to the Employer shall be recognized on a one-for-one basis, up to the top increment in the salary scale. If the Registered Nurse has completed a nursing refresher course within the past 12 months, the Employer will recognize experience that is more than five years old." So it's not a slam dunk for those who have no work experience in Canada.

As for tone... the emphasized part of your quoted post is just a tad patronizing, don't you think? The door swings both ways.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

We are well aware of the challenges you face as an IEN. Many Canadian educated locally trained LPNS and RNS have been facing challenges finding work for years. All of the major health authorities have been eliminating positions and there aren't enough jobs for anyone.

The CNO and other regulatory bodies have no reason to speed up their process because there isn't a nursing shortage.

[dayandnight]

Try applying to other provinces such as BC or Alberta. You can always transfer your license to Ottawa afterwards, and SEC may be harder or as similar to OSCE but refresher courses for BC and Alberta are usually up to one year, so as long as you don't do that horribly you can still get your license after a year of refresher courses

[vjjaa]

ofcourse! if CNO is able to find the gaps then they should be able to give the way to fulfill it...

[dayandnight]

I know it might be hard, but consider relocating. The CNO's IEN processing is notorious for being very unorganized, tardy and incoherent in their decisions (some IENS get their English exempted by letters of recommendation, others don't have to take OSCE because they took some courses whereas some can't). BC has a better system and they have shorter refresher course periods (only 1 year max). I work in a unit where new IENS in their refresher courses have their clinicals, and they end up getting a casual job straight out of refresher program and after taking their NCLEX. I've seen many of them succeed and do well and end up working as charge nurses in many units.

I'd say try other provinces. Job prospects will be better anyways. Ontario nurse refresher courses, which I'll say this now, you probably WILL have to take because they make everybody take it now, is 2 years and if you are unlucky, you'll get the 4 year refresher sentence. Other provinces have it better. Nowadays you really have to look around for opportunities for your family. Apply to multiple provinces and see where you stand. Relocate, take the refresher course and then settle as a nurse.

[IEN-Jun]

Hello, Kakeru, I was in the same frustration and thanks to share your comments on the OSCE. Yes, I agree that CNO might be lack of qualified staff to figure out the real gaps and then they sold out the duties to some business organizations like NNAS and the Touchstone Institute to do their jobs. I doubted whether the staff who gave us evaluation are professional qualified enough. How is your progress now? I like your insightful sharing, and maybe our IENs should raise a collective evidence to the CNO or the fairness commission. JH

[IEN-Jun]

Because the institutions have the gap to understand the Canadian nursing content too. Do you agree that the NNAS and the Touchstone Institute should have attended training before they got the job offer from the CNO? I have 12 years clinical experience working as a RN and 12 years teaching experience working as a nursing lecturer, and the NNAS lists all competency gaps for my case. Jun

[IEN-Jun]

You might be right. For the financial reason, the hospital and the nursing managers actually control their staffing to save the money. While the nursing leaders and researchers keep shouting to resolve nursing shortage for the safety of public, it might be true as well. You see that they had to live with a continuing nursing shortage. The shortage will became a resource or evidence to help their survive, such as the annual financial support for their educational institutions and research projects from the government to resolve nursing shortage and retention issues. Someone live on the someone's suffering, which depends on who has the power.

[IEN-Jun]

It's really insulting to IEN's to pay for an OSCE assessment:yes: What do you mean "I am resigned" . OSCE might be good for training program for the IENs to get familiar to the Canadian work environment, but it is silly as a further evaluation for the IENs. I think it is the way the CNO want their educational institutions own more students tuition fee. Everyone will be happy except our IENs!

[IEN-Jun]

so sad and I agree

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

IEN-Jun, you do realize that this thread is two years old already and kakeru, the original poster, has not posted anything to this site in almost that long, right?

OSCE is used by NNAS and the colleges of nursing to evaluate ON THE JOB learning to see if the assessed educational gaps in formal education have been filled. How is it "insulting" to be expected to pay for an assessment of your knowledge and skills? Is the regulatory body supposed to just take your word for it that you're educated and have the necessary skills to function as a regulated health care professional in a country where you did not receive your education or experience? Before even reaching the stage of an OSCE, the curricula of the various schools you've attended will have been compared to that of a Canadian school. Equivalence is fluid, but there are standards which MUST be met.

I have trouble understanding the virulence of some opinions posted to this site when it comes to legislated - yes, health care professionals must meet standards that are LEGISLATED by the government - regulation. I might have less difficulty with it if a poster had been actively recruited to fill a job no one else is qualified for, only to be faced with roadblocks such as these. But when someone voluntarily seeks both professional accreditation and employment somewhere new, there should be an expectation that there will be some proving of oneself along the way. NNAS and CNO are only doing the job they've been mandated to do.