USA RN moved to CANADA - waiting to get RN license

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Hey guys,

Just recently got sponsored by my spouse to move to Canada, and now I've been living in BC, Canada for a few months.

I've applied for NNAS (national nursing assessment service). I've got around 4 years of acute care nursing experience and a BSN. I heard I don't need to take the exam again because Canada is on NCLEX now.

Anything I should be doing while waiting? Studying?

Any future tips on where I should be applying to later?

Thanks for any insight!

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BC is a big province. Which hospitals are near you.

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Burnaby Hospital, Eagle Ridge Hospital, Royal Colombia Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital.

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@jayrome27

Welcome to Canada!

What to expect: Your NNAS advisory report will come back as "non comparable" to Canadian RN. You will then be directed to apply to your board of nursing in BC. They will then send you a letter telling you what you are required to complete in order to be eligible for licensure. It is likely that they will require you to do some sort of OSCE or complete additional education. It is correct that you will not have to write NCLEX-RN again as the exam is the exact same in Canada as in the US.

In the meantime, I would try to find out if there are any legitimate OSCE preparation courses that you can take. In Ontario we have HealthForce Ontario which runs a one-day prep class. Prep courses will better outline what to expect and in most cases will even have practice scenarios for participants to complete in order to get used to that type of exam. Read up on the entry to practice competencies. Refresh your memory on assessments etc.

Hope this helps.

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In BC, IENs were previously tested by a substantial equivalent competence assessment, (see SEC information video on CRNBC website). However, they are switching from SEC to a new assessment entitled national community assessment services, (see NCAS BC website). The NCAS has fewer simulations than Ontario's OSCE and although the NCAS is new, I anticipate that it will be easier for IENS to schedule test dates, will be less labour intensive for the providers and the pass rates may be better than the OSCE pass rates because the NCAS has two simulations with mannequins and two simulations with standardized patients, whereas the OSCE has 12 simulations with standardized patients.

jayrome, the CRNBC holds information sessions for IENs about the registration process, look on their website for the 2016 schedule.

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