Questions about IEN Registration with CNO

Silverdragon102, BSN · May 12, 2011

As far as I am aware both for PN and RN Canada requires you to be locally registered and locally licensed in the country where you did your training

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · May 12, 2011

Your post has been moved to a thread of its own in the International Forum. All of your questions and concerns are related to immigration and have no bearing on actual nursing in Canada thus this post does not belong in the Canadian Forum. Please refer to the pink banner at the top of the Canadian Forum page for details.

1. You did not attend a Practical Nursing education program (I understand they do not exist in the Philippines) so you must apply as an RN, at least until CNO has done their assessment of your credentials.

2. Regardless of which track you follow, you MUST obtain registration in the country where you were educated. That is non-negotiable. That means you must write the NLE and pass, then register as a nurse in the Philippines. After all, if you're not registered in the country where you were educated, how will CNO know if you're even eligible for Canadian registration?

3. If you are planning to use Canada as a stepping stone to the US, expect some people to take offense at that. You will need to prove you were registered in the Philippines to become registered in the US, although some states may allow you to write the NCLEX without that.

JPBL · May 12, 2011

thanks janfrn..are you a filipino? did you also had your assessment from CNO?

by the way, what do you mean by this? sorry I'm a newbie in this website.

Your post has been moved to a thread of its own in the International Forum. All of your questions and concerns are related to immigration and have no bearing on actual nursing in Canada thus this post does not belong in the Canadian Forum. Please refer to the pink banner at the top of the Canadian Forum page for details."

and still some questions- i read in the CNO website that one of the requirements is registration or eligibility for registration from the jurisdiction where I obtain my nursing education..- what do they mean by this?

I'm not using canada as a stepping stone-in fact I want to work here..going to the US is just a plan..not yet sure about that.

thank you so much!!!

Silverdragon102, BSN · May 12, 2011

thanks janfrn..are you a filipino? did you also had your assessment from cno? if you check janfrn's posts you will see that she is a well experienced canadian nurse who is canadian
by the way, what do you mean by this? sorry i'm a newbie in this website.
your post has been moved to a thread of its own in the international forum. all of your questions and concerns are related to immigration and have no bearing on actual nursing in canada thus this post does not belong in the canadian forum. please refer to the pink banner at the top of the canadian forum page for details." as per the banner at the top of the canadian forum any questions relating to an international nurse looking at registering in canada posts need to be posted in the international forum. the canadian forum is just for canadian related nursing issues and not many canadian nurses will be aware of the process that ien have to go through
and still some questions- i read in the cno website that one of the requirements is registration or eligibility for registration from the jurisdiction where i obtain my nursing education..- what do they mean by this?
i'm not using canada as a stepping stone-in fact i want to work here..going to the us is just a plan..not yet sure about that.
thank you so much!!!

answered in blue

generally provincial colleges of registered nurses require you to be licensed in the country where you took your training. cno may accept you if you have eligibility to sit nle however the only ones that can really answer this is the cno

JPBL · May 12, 2011

thank you so much silverdragon for the infos.:)

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · May 13, 2011

I'm not using canada as a stepping stone-in fact I want to work here..going to the US is just a plan..not yet sure about that.

That sounds like a stepping stone to me. "Oh, I'll just go to Canada and work for awhile, make a bunch of money and then I'll go where I really intended to go all along... the US."

CarribRN · May 13, 2011

You will not be able to register with CNO as an RN if you do not have a license in the Philippines. Local license from your country of origin is a requirement in Ontario when registering as an RN. Now, should you decide to register as an LPN, my friend who is a BSN graduate in the Philippines but not licensed as an RN (he did not take the local board exam because he decided to leave the country and work abroad after graduation), was made eligible by CNO to take the RPN exam. CNO told him that since he is a BSN graduate that he should be eligible to take the RPN exam. Last week, he received the application for RPN exam from the CNO.

Catch here is my friend was able to obtain an RPN license in another country where he is working right now as a practical nurse. Maybe that helped him get the approval from the CNO.

PiRN · May 14, 2011

:tinkbll: I just want to correct the information above about not being able to register as RN here in Ontario if you are not registered as RN in your country of BSN education.

I recently attended an information session on how to become a nurse here in ontario facilitated by the CNO, healthforce ontario and CARE.

According to them, requirement number 5: Registration or eligibility for registration in the jurisdiction where you completed your nursing program. Even if you are not registered as RN in your country of BSN education you can able to meet the 5th requirement as long as you can show a proof of eligibility to the CNO to take your country's national exam for RN (e.g. PHILIPPINES - NLE), this is for them to assess if your BSN education is really legislated in your country.

JPBL check this url: http://www.cno.org/en/become-a-nurse/new-applicants/international/requirements-for-becoming-a-nurse-in-ontario/

Best of luck :)

PiRN · May 14, 2011

Hello..I just want you to share my situation right now. I just graduated my BSN from the philippines this april 2011. i am already here in ontario as an immigrant. Currently I am just waiting for my credentials to be sent to me from the philippines as some of it should be passed along with the application forms which I requested from CNO. I'm having a hard time thinking of what position to apply for my asessment: RN or RPN? I'm worried that if I apply for RN they will not recognize my BSN and tell me to study from the start all over again as I dont have my philippine nursing license..so Im planning to apply for RPN. which is better..?
and will the CNO require me of philippine nursing license? i'd still don't know what to do next- do I still need to take the local NLE?
Some people tell me I don't need it while may aunt in the US told me that I need it to have NCLEX someday and work there??.
I'll appreciate all your comments regarding this.thank you so much.:)

:tinkbll: If in the case that your final assessment to the CNO required you to do the bridging program, don't be afraid. I myself, I believe that having the bridging program comes with lots of benefits. One of them is you can be more confident as you do, for the health settings here in Canada is very different to other country.

REMEMBER: its easy to have a nurse license here in Canada as long as you have the equivalent education as an IEN to practice as a nurse here, but its hard to maintain it, if you don't have the right knowledge, skills, judgment and attitude as a professional, competent, therapeutic Nurse. :)

CarribRN · May 14, 2011

:tinkbll: I just want to correct the information above about not being able to register as RN here in Ontario if you are not registered as RN in your country of BSN education.
I recently attended an information session on how to become a nurse here in ontario facilitated by the CNO, healthforce ontario and CARE.
According to them, requirement number 5: Registration or eligibility for registration in the jurisdiction where you completed your nursing program. Even if you are not registered as RN in your country of BSN education you can able to meet the 5th requirement as long as you can show a proof of eligibility to the CNO to take your country's national exam for RN (e.g. PHILIPPINES - NLE), this is for them to assess if your BSN education is really legislated in your country.
JPBL check this url: http://www.cno.org/en/become-a-nurse/new-applicants/international/requirements-for-becoming-a-nurse-in-ontario/
Best of luck :)

I stand corrected. You are right on this one. Must be an RN or at least an eligibility to take the local board would suffice the #5 requirement of the CNO.

dishes, BSN, RN · May 14, 2011

JPBL

I agree with PiRN's advice to apply for RN, your education may or may not be considered equivalent but the only one way to find out is to apply. I don't know what credentials you are waiting to be sent to you in order to pass along to the CNO, but if it's your transcripts, then you must ask your nursing school to send the transcripts directly to the CNO, otherwise, the CNO will not accept the transcripts.

As for your lack of registration in the Philippines, if/when the CNO requires proof that you are eligible to be registered, they will give you a form to send to PRC, and PRC will send it directly to the CNO http://www.cno.org/en/become-a-nurse/new-applicants/international/requirements-for-becoming-a-nurse-in-ontario/requirement-5/requirement-5-b/

dishes