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 :)

Hi, can anyone tell me what are CNO's next steps for an applicant who gets a 'somewhat comparable' result from nnas?

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Hi, can anyone tell me what are CNO's next steps for an applicant who gets a 'somewhat comparable' result from nnas?

Which school did you complete your nursing education? And which country?

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Are the next steps dependent on school of nuring and country where educated, I was educated in the Caribbean, some persons from my country got comparable also.

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Are the next steps dependent on school of nuring and country where educated, I was educated in the Caribbean, some persons from my country got comparable also.

They aren't directly dependent, but I would argue that NNAS over the last year has been asked to 'adjust' the way they do the assessment, which has resulted in more people getting "comparable" and "somewhat comparable". In the beginning, nobody got "comparable", not even US educated applicants. Those educated in US schools that were approved by CNO got 'non-comparable'! Now, many US and UK, and some Caribbean educated applicants get "Comparable" and many more of those get "somewhat comparable". Miraculously, all of a sudden their education is good enough!? Be glad you applied when you did. If you were earlier, you would have received "non-comparable".

So, next steps are, once you apply to CNO they will take some time to review your NNAS Advisory Report etc. Then they will send you a letter that asks for some detailed information on your nursing work experience. You will need to ask your employer to complete some paperwork. The idea is for them to get a sense of whether the work you do as a nurse (or have done in the previous 3 years) is enough proof that your education is equivalent to that of a Canadian educated nurse.

From there, they will evaluate that, and either say that you have proven you have equivalent education so have met the education requirement. Or, they will ask you to sign up to do an OSCE, which is called IENCAP, held by a company called Touchstone Institute. The exam is $500 and held in Toronto. It consists of 12 stations of acting patients which you need to assess, while being evaluated by nurses. The second half of the day is a multiple choice exam.

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone from your particular school got "Comparable". There have been some cases of that. Also some cases of people who graduated from the exact same program who were asked to do IENCAP and others were not--they were passed straight through to licensing after providing job description information. So just stay aware of what's happening with everyone else too, because the system is not reliable or fair. Hopefully that changes.

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NNAS are just bunch of crooks and a service who made a business out of all the Nurses in Canada. Nursing authorities should look into this and never turn a blind eye.

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... Nursing authorities should look into this and never turn a blind eye.

I agree with you but nursing authorities are the ones who created NNAS!! They helped design the assessment and everything! They also ignore people who express complaints to them about the process by saying "NNAS is a separate organization so we don't have any control over it. Call NNAS if you have a problem with them".

It's BS though, because all the provincial nursing regulatory bodies came together to create NNAS. They are the ones who agreed to have a US company assess comparability to Canadian nursing education. They also had influence over the assessment because last year when it finally came out that the assessment wasn't finding anyone to be comparable, even US educated applicants, and once it became an issue at Council meetings etc, all of a sudden people miraculously started getting "comparable" and "somewhat comparable". Nursing authorities are deep into NNAS. It's sad.

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Thank you RN_Pro for the wonderful information,

I have two more questions:1) Does NNAS accept visa debit for online payment or credit card only? 2) Has anyone ever applied to NNAS straight out of nursing school before? I have already contacted CNO regarding this matter an I was informed that my clinical practicum is good for three years as evidence of safe practice. I'm not sure how to work this into my online application with NNAS, I'm stuck at the employment form. You see, I cannot stay back in my country at this time for payed employment experience because of my Canadian residency obligations, I havent done enough days in Canada for my PR renewal.

Thank you

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Okay, I just called customer service and got some of my questions answered. I was told they only accept credit card payments and I should skip the employment form.

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@Roses101

Yes, the employment form won't apply in your case. The only problem you will have potentially, depending on which country you were educated in, is that when you get a "non-comparable" or "somewhat comparable" result from NNAS, the next step will be for CNO to ask you to provide information on your nursing work experience to help prove that your education is equivalent to that of a Canadian-educated nurse. You won't have experience, so you are more likely to have to do OSCE. This is good for you to know ahead of time so that you can study for it and prepare to pay the $500 fee for the exam.

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Okay, thanks for your response.

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Hello,

My wife is about to get her PR in Canada and is now thinking about applying to NNAS for a evaluation. She has a Bachelor of Nursing in Philippines which she completed about 7 years ago. She worked as a nursing aide over 5 years ago. My question, when we apply through NNAS, what should she apply for, we are thinking RPN. Also what are her chances of getting back a good response. I am just starting to research this and it seems that they don't fully recognize the Philippine courses. I ask because we don't want to waste $650 applying for this if she just should take a course here to accomplish the same thing. Can anyone shed some light into the process of this and guide us in the right direction? Thank you!

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@joeythecat

Quite a few of the IENs who were educated in the Philippines or India apply to be assessed by nnas for both practical nurse and registered nurse. It is not a waste of money to be assessed by nnas, because even if she needs to take an IEN bridging program, the only way she can be accepted into a bridging program is through a letter of direction from the provincial regulatory body.

Is her work as a nurses aid licensed or unlicensed? If her past work is not considered equivalent to a licensed/registered practical nurse, her work experience will not count as proof of recent nursing experience. In most provinces nurses must show proof of recent nursing experience in the category they are applying for (PN or RN). If an applicant does not have proof of recent experience, the regulatory body will give them a letter of direction requiring them to go to school.

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