Are you angry about the NMC OSCE???

[WrigleyRN]

I wonder if there is anyone out there who, like me, who has been slogging through the NMC application process and has taken or will take the OSCE? Are any of you ANGRY about the OSCE? I am.

Those of us applying to be registered in the UK have been put through the ringer, been vetted in every way imaginable (references, one year of practical experience required, education hours, training hours, IELTS, etc), and the fact that they add a practical test on top of that is just redundant, unnecessary, and a huge waste of time and resources for everyone. Especially amid the UK nursing shortage, when they should be facilitating the immigration of well-qualified nurses, not hindering us!

I recently took the OSCE and failed the skills section for absolutely bogus and arbitrary reasons. But before finding out that I had a "partial fail", I initially came out of that test feeling confident, like I had done well, and there is no way they would judge me to be an incompetent nurse. But despite my feeling that I performed well, I also emerged from the test simultaneously angry and frustrated, for having just committed 5 weeks of my life to stressing, floundering through disorganized, overabundant study materials on the Nile website, and traveling across the world... all for a test that clearly has nothing to do with assessing a nurse's competence. All the OSCE succeeds in testing is our willingness to jump through meaningless hoops and pay excessive fees!

The fact that we are subjected to this psychological roller coaster is infuriating... especially from an organization whose bedrock is the holistic caretaking of all people!

And why the exorbitant fees? Why do we have to repay the fee if we sit again for the test? Exactly whose pockets are we lining? The whole thing just rubs me the wrong way.

I'm just appalled at what I and others have been through with the OSCE. I plan to appeal my test result and also lodge a complaint both with the University of Northampton and the NMC, who are the controllers of the OSCE. If anyone is interested, I will share what I write, and I encourage ANYONE who is frustrated to write to the NMC and make yourself heard!!!

[nurse_cardio]

"The fact that we are subjected to this psychological roller coaster is infuriating... especially from an organization whose bedrock is the holistic caretaking of all people!"

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for putting that into words.

This entire process of registering as Nurse in the UK is just lengthy, drawn-out..and as regimented as NMC is, its just unfair for NON-EU Nurses who are obviously more qualified that those who are from the EU.

Hope everything goes well for all of us!

[TSwiftRN]

The more I think about it the more I think NMC really don't actually care. They have gone out of their way to make the process so hard. Additionally, if you do fail twice they close your application and you need to do your application again. This means resubmitting all of your documents, getting your references again etc. Why on earth you would need to do this when nothing has changed is beyond me - this is what makes me think they really don't care for international nurses.

[jenkt]

Oh. My. God. This thread is so in-line with how I feel right now. THANK YOU WrigleyRN for describing this disgusting process so eloquently.

I, too, failed the first OSCE in June for absolutely ridiculous reasons. I was so upset I wasn't going to take the exam again given the cost it is to do a full-resit (another 1000 pounds are you kidding me??!!). I have decided I will try again but after that, I have different plans for employment.

I am a great Canadian nurse with excellent references. We are highly respected and very well trained in Canada. Not the same can be said for nurses here - the longer I live here the more I learn about how awful the working conditions are and how nurses are treated. The nursing here is not any more special than it is elsewhere in the world. This process has made me question why I ever became a nurse and whether I am good enough. I hate the University and the NMC for this.

I have written a formal complaint to UoN and then to the NMC. The responses were so generic and hardly addressed my complaint. I have taken the complaint to stage 3, just for the heck of it. I feel good knowing I am using more of their time and resources. I had written a formal complaint to the NMC regarding the assessment stage already, I should have known it would only get worse moving on to the OSCE stage.

Please, if anyone wants to get together in person, or need a letter/statement from me to add to a bunch of letters to an MP or journalist let me know via email (below). A family member of mine will be writing to the health minister. The more letters the better!

Also, if anyone is willing to answer a couple of questions I have about the medication administration station in the OSCE I would be SO grateful if you could email me at

[email protected]

Wishing you all the best in the future!

[gen88]

Great post, let us know how you get on. I've been in the process for a few years and have sent off a few complaints in the past about other application complications, but yes their replies are very generic, bordering on condescending. I think escalating the complaint to the highest level within the NMC would be worth it as you are doing, because I reckon most people just 'stop' fighting it after the first response.

The secretary of state for health has a poor reputation amongst the NHS/clinician community and I suspect, given he is tied up in all the NHS-funding/junior doctor contract fiasco, the problems with NMC would be last on his list. But it could be worth going to the media/local MPs, or any other nursing lobbyists?

Oh. My. God. This thread is so in-line with how I feel right now. THANK YOU WrigleyRN for describing this disgusting process so eloquently.

I, too, failed the first OSCE in June for absolutely ridiculous reasons. I was so upset I wasn't going to take the exam again given the cost it is to do a full-resit (another 1000 pounds are you kidding me??!!). I have decided I will try again but after that, I have different plans for employment.

I am a great Canadian nurse with excellent references. We are highly respected and very well trained in Canada. Not the same can be said for nurses here - the longer I live here the more I learn about how awful the working conditions are and how nurses are treated. The nursing here is not any more special than it is elsewhere in the world. This process has made me question why I ever became a nurse and whether I am good enough. I hate the University and the NMC for this.

I have written a formal complaint to UoN and then to the NMC. The responses were so generic and hardly addressed my complaint. I have taken the complaint to stage 3, just for the heck of it. I feel good knowing I am using more of their time and resources. I had written a formal complaint to the NMC regarding the assessment stage already, I should have known it would only get worse moving on to the OSCE stage.

Please, if anyone wants to get together in person, or need a letter/statement from me to add to a bunch of letters to an MP or journalist let me know via email (below). A family member of mine will be writing to the health minister. The more letters the better!

Also, if anyone is willing to answer a couple of questions I have about the medication administration station in the OSCE I would be SO grateful if you could email me at

[email protected]

Wishing you all the best in the future!

[Amberley, BSN, RN]

I am also very angry right now. My friend failed the OSCE twice and she is at the edge of being sent back home because she is on a tier 2 visa. This is so wrong. I don't know what we can do but we really need help as fast as possible. This same NMC reduced the English requirements to 6.5 when someone like me have been having 6.5 for 6 times and was lucky to get 7 at last. All the wasted years and all. So if we come together to keep complaining they can at least listen. My friend just failed BLS in her 2nd attempt and now have to wait 6 months to retake everything. They only want her to do the reapplication which is going to take another 3months getting all the documents and costing the same fee all over again.

[TSwiftRN]

Hi Wrigley, are you interested in trying to mobilise a bit of a group to complain to the NMC and also bring it to jouranlist and MP's attention? I really want to get a few people together to try and combat this ridiculous exam.

[TSwiftRN]

I completely agree with the sentiments expressed by the OP. All nurses trained outside of the UK and EU must pass not one, not two, but three exams to earn the privilege of working as nurse in the UK. There is the IELTS exam to prove proficiency in English, followed by a computerised test (CBT), and lastly the in-person skills test which has the reputation of failing candidates for pedantic reasons unrelated to their professional competency. For first-time OSCE-takers, there is a 49% pass rate. The competency of a nurse trained in Spain or Hungary, with a rudimentary command of English is not measured by these three exams prior to receiving a pin, which of course means that a Romanian nurse with two years of experience who is not fluent in English has a significantly shorter, less challenging path to employment in the UK than an American nurse with an MSN and 15+ years of experience. In that way, there is a lack of uniformity as it pertains to standardising entry requirements. While I can understand the responsibility a professional licensing body must undertake in order to protect the public, I challenge the gross disparity that exists in the vetting process between EU and non-EU candidates. On a more positive note, it appears that 99% of the candidates who retake the OSCE pass the exam, and, the NMC has been known to overturn decisions after reviewing a reasonable appeal. The OSCE is unlikely to stay around for much longer given the harsh criticism received and maybe it is more palatable an experience to think of it as a sort of practice run in a nursing 101 skills lab. Perhaps OSCE candidates should just try once more, and not give up after a first trial, because even if they choose not to work in the UK after all, it is still an accomplishment to complete the difficult journey and earn a place in yet another country's registry.

Hi Green_Grass, my understanding from some agencies and the NMC is that they are in a bit of a shock that this is even an issue so I don't know that it has received the criticism that it deserves!

[shulace]

Hi there - thank you for the reply. I respect your experience and your perspective on this. I know you have seen a lot in your time as an IEN.

However, I completely disagree with you. I, and all of us, do have the right to speak our minds if we feel we are trapped in an unjust system.

The fact that other countries like Canada may have more extensive and expensive vetting requirements doesn't justify the NMC's requirements. It only shows that perhaps Canada is the most out of touch with reality, and needs the biggest overhaul of all.

I understand a governing body like the NMC wanting to safeguard the public, and it is their duty to do so. However, it is also their duty to ensure their licensure requirements are valid and fair... Neither of which the OSCE is.

As far as validity is concerned (and this is an important factor for a nursing organization whose bottom line is evidence-based practice), where is the literature that points to this test being an accurate (or even barely sufficient) determiner of competence? I would implore them to publish any literature they have used in the creation of this exam that shows it tests what it is supposed to test: a nurse's competence or lack thereof.

In my case, because I didn't vocalize one line in my skill station, though it was obvious I had done the skill according to guidelines, they failed me. After all my years of applying, my years of practical nursing experience in acute care, my education, the theory test, the passing of all the patient journey aspects of the OSCE.... They will fail me and judge me to be incompetent based on the fact I didn't vocalize one line??? This is unfair, illogical, and insulting.

Mind you, they have informed me I can resit the skills stations. This means they are generously allowing me to fly across the world, pay the excessive fee, pay for accommodation, take PTO from work... And try again to carry out these skills that could potentially be memorized and mimicked by anyone.

I will not be participating in a resit. I have more self-respect than that, and honestly, don't desire to work in a country where well-qualified, experienced nurses are "welcomed" in this way.

I am in a unique position to voice my opinion because I don't actually need to work in the UK. I just thought it would be a cool experience... unlike some of the other nurses taking the OSCE who must work in the UK due to a spouse living there, or whatever reason. I feel empowered because I, for one, am not beholden to the NMC. Thus, I feel I can and should speak up on behalf of everyone that feels intimidated by the NMC and doesn't want to rock the boat and potentially become a target for dismissal.

I know there is already a movement of nurses who are trying to have the NMC do away completely with the OSCE. This is not a new idea. I just didn't know to what degree it had been voiced in an online forum yet. And I wanted to plant the seed here in the minds of competent nurses from around the world that... Things could change if we speak our minds. In the years to come, the NMC can and should grant licensure to qualified RNs without subjecting them to an invalid, redundant, meaningless OSCE.

Preach it! I completely agree with you.

I haven't had the chance to go through OSCE but based on what you said, just because of one line.. that's ridiculous.

I can however relate to your point with regards to the fees being charged left and right. The need for nurses and the willingness of internationally educated nurses to make the move to the UK is being taken advantage of to make profit, not just in the UK but everywhere else. I have felt this way for sometime now but never really found a venue to vent.

[nurse012345]

Hi i just want to ask if you know someone who's appeal was granted? Did they change their decision?

[kiriann]

No my appeals haven't been granted.

I have had nothing but heart ache from this whole process.

I am going to go to Australia now to work. Much better working conditions and far better pay.

[Andrei15]

Hi! I just took the examination and it was one hell of an experience. í ½í¸±í ½í¸±

[nurse_cardio]

Hopefully the ONP will be reinstated. Just wishful thinking :)