I need some help. I have been a RN/BScN for the past 2 years in a 28 bed ICU where I have received neuro, surgical and medical critical care experience. I am also in the process of obtaining my FNP. I met my Fiance in the States and the plan had always been to move to Ontario once he graduated from his medical residency (he is from the Toronto area). The process for him to convert his medical education/residency was fairly straightforward and transparent; I believe it took him a total of 4 months in all. I have been in the process, however, for over a year and there is no transparency or timeline provided. I am a Permanent Resident in Canada (that only took 5 months!) and have been going back and forth for work and school since July 2016. Needless to say I am frustrated and want to know if the end is anywhere in sight! Since I live in a city that borders Ontario, I know many Canadian nurses and professors and EVERYONE talks about how our education is more than comparable if not better.
For those of you not familiar with the process, here's a breakdown:
1. Obtain an advisory report from the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS). This is the 3rd party that "verifies" the internationally educated nurse's (IENs) credentials. It costs $650 USD. You must provide them documentation of your education (coming directly from your University/College), your current license (coming directly from the State where you received licensure), a letter of employment (coming directly from your place of work), and 2 different forms of notarized identification.
2. Call everyday to confirm progress, understanding that there is no wait time. I applied in early April 2016 and received by Advisory Report in December 2016.
3. Receive your report and cry a little (haha, not really). I say this because the process in which they assess is VERY subjective and if your school's curriculum does not use the correct terminology your education may be deemed as "Non-Comparable." The other categories are "Somewhat comparable" and "Comparable."
4. Apply to your regulatory body (in my case it was the College of Nurses of Ontario-CNO). The prices vary but are reasonable in comparison to the price of NNAS. I have heard people wait SIX months to hear back from them but luckily I received a letter from them after 3 weeks.
5. Provide additional information to the regulatory body if required. I say "if" but in my experience every IEN has had to provide something additional to them. It makes me question the purpose of NNAS. In my case I had to have a letterhead, sealed letter from my ICU manager outlining all that my job entails. They told me this was necessary because NNAS's report said my education was "Somewhat comparable." They already received a letter from my employer through NNAS but needed a more detailed description, I guess.
6. Successfully pass the Jurisprudence Exam (more $$$), which is the equivalent to nursing ethics in the US. This was open book, took about 3 hours, and was 150 questions.
7. Sit back and listen to the wonderful soundtrack that the CNO provides its listeners... I think I hum this in my sleep because hold times can be up to 1 hour. And, when you finally get through, the person on the other line is a customer service representative who basically tells you there is no timeline for your application and its still in the review process. THAT.IS. ALL.THEY. SAY. Like a broken record. I still call as much as possible, hoping they get annoyed with hearing my voice and put my case to the front of the line. Oh, and if you go to their headquarters (DT Toronto), they don't allow you to talk to anyone who knows what is going on, either.
So, it's April 2017 now, my 1 year anniversary of patiently (and sometimes not-so-patiently) waiting. I am trying to be optimistic but remain discouraged every time I have to cross the border, or stay in a rented apartment for over a week before returning to Canada so I can work and complete my clinical hours for school. I am so thankful for living close enough to do this, though! I can't imagine what it must be like for other IENs living overseas and beyond.
I read that by 2022 there will be a shortage of 66,000 nurses in Ontario. Why are they giving us such a hard time? Especially since their students are leaving Ontario to work and attend school in the US. I find the lack of transparency highly unprofessional and am hoping to take it further, whether or not I am ever granted a licence. The system needs to be changed and the public made aware of how they are treating their public servants.
Please provide any stories, advice and experiences you may have! :)
CNO is comparing the detailed job description to the competency gaps on your NNAS advisory report. Did you ask your manager to give you an additional copy of your detailed job description? If so, have you compared your competency gaps from your NNAS advisory report to your job description to see if there is proof that you are able to meet the competency gaps through your work experience?
Hey dishes I have a question,
If a current job description is considered by CNO to provide important information r/t competency, shouldn't that be something the NNAS application requires as part of the employer documents? It sounds to me like the colleges still have a ton of work to do to determine an individual IEN's competency- and it doesn't sound as though there is much confidence right now (from what I've read about the CNO meeting in Sept) in the validity/reliability of the Advisory Reports if they have to review all of the "non-comparable" results now...? I would really like to know if the colleges feel like NNAS is helping the process? Ok, I guess that's multiple questions, but I would like to know what you think!
I've written about this on another thread but just wanted to point out to you that there is an applicant who was educated in Pakistan who received a "somewhat comparable" NNAS Advisory Report and was not asked for anything further by CNO. She was considered to have met the education requirement was given permission from CNO to go ahead and take NCLEX-N.
I know you had mentioned that you were considering getting a lawyer involved, and while I don't think it will really make a difference if you do, this is something interesting to point out--that you, with a degree from D'Youville which was CNO-approved before NNAS was implemented, are non-comparable, yet someone with a degree from Pakistan is somewhat comparable and is able to move forward in licensing. Nothing against Pakistan, it's just that we know US nursing education is much more similar to Canadian, especially compared to Pakistan and many other countries. Meanwhile us US educated nurses are over here doing the IENCAP...waiting...stressing...
nicu_gal
25 Posts
Hey dishes I have a question,
If a current job description is considered by CNO to provide important information r/t competency, shouldn't that be something the NNAS application requires as part of the employer documents? It sounds to me like the colleges still have a ton of work to do to determine an individual IEN's competency- and it doesn't sound as though there is much confidence right now (from what I've read about the CNO meeting in Sept) in the validity/reliability of the Advisory Reports if they have to review all of the "non-comparable" results now...? I would really like to know if the colleges feel like NNAS is helping the process? Ok, I guess that's multiple questions, but I would like to know what you think!