National Nursing Assessment Centre NNAS

[Fpm800]

• My fiancé and I moved from the USA to Canada about a year ago. Today she just received her NNAS final review which showed that her nursing schooling is compatible with Canadian nursing school. She has already passed the NCLEX and worked in the USA. I know that the next step if for her to apply to the CNO (we live in Ontario). From the USA she has a bachelor in science nursing.I'm looking for some advice on how the next steps are likely going to go. I read through this post (https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/) which gave me some information it also confused me based on many different answers. She hasn't worked officially as a nurse in close to 3 years or it the 3 years mark could have just passed. I bring this up because on the posting I linked up it mentioned that this may be a big issue but I was not sure if the people were saying it was going to be an issue for the NNAS Review (which is now completed) or for when applying to the CNO.
• My questions are:
• Will the CNO give her trouble as she hasn't worked in 3 years as a nurse.
• If yes for the first questions then what will likely happen? Is she going to be forced to go back to school or do a bridging program.
• Is taking an OSCE going to be necessary for her?
• Will she have to take the NCLEX again?

1. 
   Any information /advice would be greatly welcomed so we can plan the next few years of our lives based on whether she's going to be a bow to get her RN license any time soon.
   Thank you.

 

[RN_0001]

• My fiancé and I moved from the USA to Canada about a year ago. Today she just received her NNAS final review which showed that her nursing schooling is compatible with Canadian nursing school. She has already passed the NCLEX and worked in the USA. I know that the next step if for her to apply to the CNO (we live in Ontario). From the USA she has a bachelor in science nursing.I'm looking for some advice on how the next steps are likely going to go. I read through this post (https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/) which gave me some information it also confused me based on many different answers. She hasn't worked officially as a nurse in close to 3 years or it the 3 years mark could have just passed. I bring this up because on the posting I linked up it mentioned that this may be a big issue but I was not sure if the people were saying it was going to be an issue for the NNAS Review (which is now completed) or for when applying to the CNO.
• My questions are:
• Will the CNO give her trouble as she hasn't worked in 3 years as a nurse.
• If yes for the first questions then what will likely happen? Is she going to be forced to go back to school or do a bridging program.
• Is taking an OSCE going to be necessary for her?
• Will she have to take the NCLEX again?

1. 
   Any information /advice would be greatly welcomed so we can plan the next few years of our lives based on whether she's going to be a bow to get her RN license any time soon.
   Thank you.

Where did your wife obtain her nursing education?

Yes she will have problems not working as a nurse for 3 years.
They will ask her to do OSCE. If she passes OSCE she will likely be okay and get licensed. If she doesn't, she will have to do additional education. OSCE is booked until the end of 2019 so she will not be able to do the exam until 2020 at the earliest (if all other paperwork is in order and CNO invites her to do the OSCE).

 

[Fpm800]

Where did your wife obtain her nursing education?

Yes she will have problems not working as a nurse for 3 years.
They will ask her to do OSCE. If she passes OSCE she will likely be okay and get licensed. If she doesn't, she will have to do additional education. OSCE is booked until the end of 2019 so she will not be able to do the exam until 2020 at the earliest (if all other paperwork is in order and CNO invites her to do the OSCE).

She took all her education from the USA. She first got her RN license (associates degree) then she went for her BSN (bachelor of science in nursing). The three year time time is because she had to go back to school again because she was with a student visa in the USA. When she went back to school she got a second bachelor's degree in psychology.

 

[RN_0001]

She took all her education from the USA. She first got her RN license (associates degree) then she went for her BSN (bachelor of science in nursing). The three year time time is because she had to go back to school again because she was with a student visa in the USA. When she went back to school she got a second bachelor's degree in psychology.

She is lucky she is applying now and not two years ago! Two years ago absolutely everyone got "non comparable" from NNAS, even those who were educated at a US university that was previously accepted by CNO up until NNAS started. It was pure hell for all. People fought for change and finally NNAS is giving some "comparable" results. Glad it is working out for her! Her biggest problem though will be not practicing for over 3 years. Is there any way she can go back to where she has a license in the US and work for a while as a RN?

 

[Fpm800]

She is lucky she is applying now and not two years ago! Two years ago absolutely everyone got "non comparable" from NNAS, even those who were educated at a US university that was previously accepted by CNO up until NNAS started. It was pure hell for all. People fought for change and finally NNAS is giving some "comparable" results. Glad it is working out for her! Her biggest problem though will be not practicing for over 3 years. Is there any way she can go back to where she has a license in the US and work for a while as a RN?

Unfortunately going back to the USA is not an option for her at the moment. She was there in a student visa and when she graduated she either had to go back to school again (to get a higher degree than bachelor ((she wants to become a nurse practitioner with pediatric concentration)) or leave the USA. We thankfully got our PR for Canada so we moved to Canada. If she was able to return to the USA how long would she have to work to make the CNO happy?
It seems that you have a lot of experience with this stuff. So I will ask, her next step is to apply for the CNO. Will they be doing their own separate review (asking this because after reading this thread that what the impression I got)? If they say she has to take the OSCE, can she just bypass that step and go straight to what they would make her do in case she took the OSCE and didn't pass? She wants to go back to school to review her skills anyway so there is no point of waiting to take the osce if she feels like she won't pass. Any advice would be greatly helpful.

 

[RN_0001]

Unfortunately going back to the USA is not an option for her at the moment. She was there in a student visa and when she graduated she either had to go back to school again (to get a higher degree than bachelor ((she wants to become a nurse practitioner with pediatric concentration)) or leave the USA. We thankfully got our PR for Canada so we moved to Canada. If she was able to return to the USA how long would she have to work to make the CNO happy?
It seems that you have a lot of experience with this stuff. So I will ask, her next step is to apply for the CNO. Will they be doing their own separate review (asking this because after reading this thread that what the impression I got)? If they say she has to take the OSCE, can she just bypass that step and go straight to what they would make her do in case she took the OSCE and didn't pass? She wants to go back to school to review her skills anyway so there is no point of waiting to take the osce if she feels like she won't pass. Any advice would be greatly helpful.

I don't think she can bypass the OSCE because that identifies which areas, if any, she needs to improve on. When they identify which areas, then she will focus on those in her schooling. I'm not 100% sure though so it is always best to ask CNO (if you can get ahold of them which is near impossible, but if you have a day off, call in the morning and wait on hold).
CNO doesn't identify an amount of time that would make them happy. I wouldn't do less than 6 months though personally.

 

[Fpm800]

I don't think she can bypass the OSCE because that identifies which areas, if any, she needs to improve on. When they identify which areas, then she will focus on those in her schooling. I'm not 100% sure though so it is always best to ask CNO (if you can get ahold of them which is near impossible, but if you have a day off, call in the morning and wait on hold).
CNO doesn't identify an amount of time that would make them happy. I wouldn't do less than 6 months though personally.

Alright. Thank you for all the advice. I'll try contacting the CNO on Monday. If I'm able to speak with anyone then I'll update this posting so people will have the information available at a future date if they need it.

 

[Ausnurse]

Hi all, Just thought i would share some random info: I spoke with lady tonight who is living in Alberta, she did her 3 year nursing degree in New Zealand- (no maternity, same as Australia) NNAS gave her somewhat comparable for most and some not comparable, CARNA gave her a comparable and she is eligible to sit the NCLEX without any bridging courses.

 

[Fpm800]

I don't think she can bypass the OSCE because that identifies which areas, if any, she needs to improve on. When they identify which areas, then she will focus on those in her schooling. I'm not 100% sure though so it is always best to ask CNO (if you can get ahold of them which is near impossible, but if you have a day off, call in the morning and wait on hold).
CNO doesn't identify an amount of time that would make them happy. I wouldn't do less than 6 months though personally.

So I was able to speak with the CNO today and this is the information they gave me. The lady reminded me several times that she does not have my file in front of her and that she is not the person who does an assessment. However, she did say that in most cases if all my schooling was done in the USA AND NNAS deemed my schooling "comparable" with Canadian schooling then my only issue will be my practice hours as my fiance has not practiced in the last year. I asked her whether I would need to take the OSCE and she said that it's likely that I won't have to take the OSCE (she once again mentioned she doesn't have my file in front of her) but will have to take a few classes to make sure I can fulfill the practice hours requirement. She told me to apply for the CNO and that I should receive some type of info stating that they have received the application (about 15 business days) then I will receive a letter stating what classes I need to take. She mentioned twice that I do not need to complete a whole nursing program since NNAS deemed my schooling comparable. Let's hope she was correct with all this information she gave me.

 

[Ien 2012]

So I was able to speak with the CNO today and this is the information they gave me. The lady reminded me several times that she does not have my file in front of her and that she is not the person who does an assessment. However, she did say that in most cases if all my schooling was done in the USA AND NNAS deemed my schooling "comparable" with Canadian schooling then my only issue will be my practice hours as my fiance has not practiced in the last year. I asked her whether I would need to take the OSCE and she said that it's likely that I won't have to take the OSCE (she once again mentioned she doesn't have my file in front of her) but will have to take a few classes to make sure I can fulfill the practice hours requirement. She told me to apply for the CNO and that I should receive some type of info stating that they have received the application (about 15 business days) then I will receive a letter stating what classes I need to take. She mentioned twice that I do not need to complete a whole nursing program since NNAS deemed my schooling comparable. Let's hope she was correct with all this information she gave me.

Hi
I was thinking the same when i read your story. She doesnt need to take osce. For RN safe practice requirements either she has to work or volunteer as rn for atleast 400hours or do some courses and clinicals.

 

[Fpm800]

Hi
I was thinking the same when i read your story. She doesnt need to take osce. For RN safe practice requirements either she has to work or volunteer as rn for atleast 400hours or do some courses and clinicals.

I really hope you are right. This would save us time and money as taking the osce is what she really doesn't want to do because of the wait time she would have. But can I ask where are you basing this information from? Personal history or something else?

 

[Ien 2012]

I really hope you are right. This would save us time and money as taking the osce is what she really doesn't want to do because of the wait time she would have. But can I ask where are you basing this information from? Personal history or something else?

Hi
Few of my friends had the same situation. Some went back home and did rn practice and few did additional education here to extend safe practice.

 

[Fpm800]

Hi
Few of my friends had the same situation. Some went back home and did rn practice and few did additional education here to extend safe practice.

Thank you so much for the info. Hopefully she falls under the same category and is able to just go back to school to get safe practice ours. Since it has been 3 years since she practiced she wanted to do that anyway. Do you know how long your friends had to go back to school for?

 

[kulbirkaur]

Hey,
From what I have been reading roughly 8 or more weeks.
The NNAS have just received all my uni stuff now and is being authenticated. Then I’ll be in the waiting game also.

Where did you study??

Monash university i did Master of Nursing practise it says ready for review do you know as a australian nurses do we have to do NCLEX exam

 

[RN_0001]

So I was able to speak with the CNO today and this is the information they gave me. The lady reminded me several times that she does not have my file in front of her and that she is not the person who does an assessment. However, she did say that in most cases if all my schooling was done in the USA AND NNAS deemed my schooling "comparable" with Canadian schooling then my only issue will be my practice hours as my fiance has not practiced in the last year. I asked her whether I would need to take the OSCE and she said that it's likely that I won't have to take the OSCE (she once again mentioned she doesn't have my file in front of her) but will have to take a few classes to make sure I can fulfill the practice hours requirement. She told me to apply for the CNO and that I should receive some type of info stating that they have received the application (about 15 business days) then I will receive a letter stating what classes I need to take. She mentioned twice that I do not need to complete a whole nursing program since NNAS deemed my schooling comparable. Let's hope she was correct with all this information she gave me.

That's great news! I'm surprised the fact that she hasn't practiced in 3 years is not a problem. It has been a problem for everyone else so far. But I'm glad she likely won't have to do OSCE.