Canadian becoming a nurse practitioner in the USA

[ltaylo64]

Hi,

I am a canadian student and will be graduating with a bachellor's degree in medical science. I am interested in becoming a nurse practitioner and I am particularloy interested in working in the USA. I want to enter into an accelerated nursing program and then complete a nurse practitioner program but I am not sure if it would be best todo this is the USA or in Canada.

I am wondering how difficult it would be to transfer canadian credentitals to the USA or if it wouldbe easier if I attend school in the USA in the fist place

I am just afraid that if I train in the USA and have trouble getting my credential converted into Canadian ones I would end up not being able to work in either Canada or the states. Does anyone have any advice?

-Leanne

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

I'm going to start out by saying that some of the information I know are second hand sources and from years back when I worked in the midwest with Canadian colleagues.

You can go to NP school in the US and seek recognition in Canada as a nurse practitioner. However, you must bear in mind that the equivalency of education only applies to a few of the US-based NP specializations and that it would also depend on the Canadian Province you seek equivalency to. In Ontario for instance, the Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner program is equivalent only to the Family Nurse Practitioner program in the US. The PHCNP is the bulk of NP programs in Ontario. I have known graduates of US FNP programs who were able to get certified in Ontario as PHCNP's.

There are Adult NP and Pediatric NP specializations at University of Toronto so the role must exist in that province but the way the US system is set up, the Adult and Pediatric NP tracks are split into two separate tracks - either Acute Care or Primary Care, something the Ontario System doesn't distinguish in their programs. That could be a problem if one is attempting to transfer a US based Adult or Peds NP certification to the Ontario counterpart.

On the other hand, transferring Canadian credentials to US standards can also be tougher if not impossible. ANCC, one of the largest national certification board (for FNP, ANP, Primary Care PNP) require applicants for certification to have graduated from a CCNE or ACEN accredited program with no exceptions made for APRN applicants. AANP, the other large national certification board (FNP, ANP) also requires the same for certification applicants (see pages 8-9 on the Candidate Handbook).

CCNE accredits US based undergraduate and graduate nursing programs with the exception of one international program based in Lebanon (? go figure). ACEN accredits US based undergraduate and graduate nursing programs with the exception of one international program in Scotland (? again, go figure).