NNAS experience?

Published

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 :)

Touchstone said they will decide the next exam dates at their next board meeting. However, they would not say when their next board meeting is. Normally, a Board of Directors funded with public dollars must disclose this information, but they do not.

According to Touchstones Institute's annual reports their fiscal year ends March 31st, that means the Board of Directors has to make operating decisions sometime before the budget comes out April 1st. I am just speculating but I think Touchstone Institute may have to prepare for the possibility that they will not receive adequate funding from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to cover their upcoming operating costs for 2017 and they may have to cut expenses. The OSCE is very labour intensive I can't help but think there are more cost effective way to assess IENs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks dishes. Just wondering, what makes you think they will not receive adequate funding?

Touchstone is run like a business, similar to how NNAS is, so I think start-up funds may have made sense but continued operating costs would be a stretch. And if I am to be completely honest, I don't feel as though public dollars should be poured into Touchstone because they do not operate as a public organization. I find there is a lot of hostility from staff when asked for basic information. They will not disclose any basic info or stats whatsoever, and say that as a private company they are not required to. The NNAS process has certainly guaranteed business for Touchstone for the next however many years though. I agree, there has to be another way to assess IEN's!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@CDN_US_educated_RN

Touchstone's annual report showed 60% of their funding was from the MOHLTC and only 9% of their funding is from candidates, if Touchstones loses government funding, they will have to charge candidates massive fee increases. I think there may be a reduced budget because the province of Ontario has a 300 billion dollar deficit and the Ontario deficit reduction plan is to reduce all MOHLTC funded budgets.

I also think the lag time from CNO advising IENs that they need to undergo an assessment and completion of the OSCE due to Touchstones lack of test dates, may be a barrier for some IENs to obtain timely registration. If an IEN loses their opportunity to become licensed because their proof of recent experience runs out while waiting to undergo the OSCE, how is it fair? If you look up the four principles of the fair access to registration act on the fairnesscommissioner ca website you will see what I mean about fair and timely registration practices.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

CNO was earlier taking 1 year to assess your educational qualification. After outsourcing it to NNAS, it has been reduced to 2 to 4 months after they receive all documents .Though,they still are lazy as it takes them 3 to 4 weeks just to acknowledge document has been received from the courier delivery time.

Touchstone on the other hand , can not even decide on the exam dates well in advance. My Application is with Touchstone since Sep 2016, and no exam dates are available. It appears it may take at least 6-9 months . In contrast, in UK , University of NorthHampton is conducting OSCE and charging GBP 992 . The University currently has the capacity to run approximately 4000 individual tests per year. Dates are available throughout the year. That's close to CAD 1600.. I don't mind paying for it if i save my time which turns out to be several months. This subsidy is killing us as well as wasting Tax payers money in terms of nurse shortage. Only advantage goes to TOuchstone who earn money.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@Tabss, I think Touchstone is able to decide the IENCAP test dates up until February of each year, but after that, they need to wait until they know what their April-March budget is before scheduling test dates. Many hospitals in Ontario have their fiscal year end in March and employers implement hiring freezes and layoffs close to the fiscal year end, so I can understand why Touchstone may not be able to schedule tests for the 2017-18 fiscal year at this point.

I don't think increasing the IENCAP fees from $400 to $1,600 CDN will cover Touchstone's operating costs because the current fees only cover 9% of Touchstone's operating costs, quadrupling the fees may only result in covering 36% of the operating costs. I'm not even sure increasing the fee to $4,000 will result in ability to have the IENCAP available throughout the year, as the OSCE is very labour intensive and as a result cannot be held frequently. I think a less labour intensive test, similar to the new Nursing Community Assessment Service in British Columbia (NCAS bc) may be a better way to assess IENs in the future.

Just to clarify, there isn't a shortage of RNs in Ontario at this time, as budgets are being cut, RNs are being let go. 'Since 2015, over 1,500 RN positions have been eliminated in Ontario' (nursesknow ona org)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I agree, the lag time will definitely be a barrier. In fact I think I have read on some forums that people have had to forget their "Canadian pipe dream" because of it. Certainly unfair. I'm very familiar with the Office of the Fairness Commissioner. One thing I do feel that is missing in their conceptualization of fairness is the actual assessment process, in both NNAS and IENCAP. NNAS for example, standardizes the assessment so everyone is, in a sense, assessed the same, and has access to the assessment. But the assessment itself is entirely unfair and essentially fake. But this isn't captured in their definition of fairness. They also assume that equality = fairness and in my opinion that isn't the case at all. I don't think that a "one size fits all" approach to assessing nursing education is fair or accurate.

I'm certainly glad the OFC exists though! It's at least a start and they have put forward a lot of valid suggestions/recommendations to CNO.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

If that is the reason they don't post more test dates, I just wish that when contacted, Touchstone explained this. It would be a lot easier and give a greater sense of transparency if they did...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Even if NNAS has reduced the wait time for some people as compared to the old system, my issue with it is that the whole NNAS assessment of your nursing education is essentially fake. Before you even pay the fee, NNAS knows your education will be found "non-comparable", because it's set up that way. Nobody who received their nursing education outside of Canada has received a "comparable" NNAS report. So really, NNAS should merely be a repository for all of the transcripts, graduation certificates, etc but not bother to ask people to pay for assessments that aren't real because they are set up in a way that if terminology is not verbatim to rubric, it will not pass. The process should be that everyone automatically goes to Touchstone, which is what is happening anyway.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@CDN_US_Educated_RN, There have been a few US educated nurses whose education was deemed comparable by NNAS according to another forum (Canada visa NNAS). Also, there is an AN thread entitled 'Can citizen deemed comparable by NNAS, rejected by CNO'.

Not everyone can be referred to Touchstone, if an IEN never worked as a RN, they need to do IEN bridging program see the thread entitled US IEN applying to CNO by ZB-RN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@dishes .. you missed a major point for financial calculation & i.e Touchstone also conduct Assessment Program KCAT, IGOEE NAC along with IENCAP. In addition they also have CELBAN Centre within Touchstone.Eventually, there overall operating cost would be more than double as that of UK examiner. Moreover, in UK after you fail first attempt,charges becomes GBP 500 for the second attempt.

Its true , NNAS appears to be an expensive Education repository with no added advantage. WES is doing almost the same evaluation exercise with half the cost in 1 week.

Whatever , the flow would be , simply allow anyone who wanna take OSCE. No need to get referral from CNO. Atleast applicant can process application in parallel to NNAS and save time.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What is the reason for an IEN to do an assessment through WES? It is not an assessment that is accepted by the regulatory bodies. The only assessment that is accepted is the NNAS assessment, because it contains the entry to practice competencies, which is one of the main areas that the regulatory bodies want assessed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@dishes...what I mean is that .... almost same kind of assessment is done by WES ...They even convert grades in to North American system for educational institutes & regulatory bodies. My point is , if they can do it with half the cost & in fraction of time then NNAS can do the same.

NNAS is so lazy that they take 3 - 4 weeks, just to acknowledge that document has been received.Because of their 6 months long process , my OSCE exam will be somewhere in mid of 2017 , otherwise it could be in late 2016. I am still not in Canada & doing all this from my current workplace. Imagine if I would be in Canada, how much stressful it would be as my 3 years safe practice would expire in 2018 if my last working day be 31-Dec-2015. Currently I m still working,

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion