National Nursing Assessment Centre NNAS

[iblessed]

Not clear what action CNO will be taking though regarding this new development.

ATTENTION: Ontario applicants with no nursing work experience

I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware that CNO has made changes as a result of the Council meeting held in September 2016. Ihadn't noticed until today that these changes were posted on the CNO website two weeks ago.

Prior to Sept 2016, those without nursing work experience were not usually able to attempt the IENCAP. They were asked to complete more education to fulfill the competencies identified by NNAS. The changes made as of September 2016 allow those without nursing work experience to also attempt the IENCAP in order to prove their knowledge, skill and judgement is equal to that of a Canadian nursing degree graduate.

For those with nursing work experience, CNO will also look at that--your job descriptions and other documentation regarding your work, in order to determine if there is evidence within those documents to show you have met one or more competencies that NNAS said you are missing.

These two things can help to prove you meet the education requirement. The change applies to all applicants who have an application that is currently OPEN.

 

[RN_0001]

Not clear what action CNO will be taking though regarding this new development.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. It was CNO who decided to make these changes.

 

[RN_0001]

Hello dalej I am new just going to apply to nnas I am also a ncy graduate. What did you receive on your nnas status?

Educated in New York State?

 

[J.]

I got somewhat comparable and i received my degree from the philippines. And i am eligible for nclex

Hello Everyone,

My name is J. from Alberta. I finished Nursing in the Philippines and currently working as an LPN (Practical Nurse) for almost 5 years since 2011. I did finish my NNAS assessment and Celban and will be scheduled for SEC assessment. I got somewhat comparable from NNAS though. My query is that if their are review materials that can be utilized for this purpose and just an idea about General SEC assessment? Thank you very much. Your response is appreciated.

 

[RN_0001]

I got somewhat comparable from NNAS though.

Congratulations on receiving "somewhat comparable" !! Which school did you get your nursing degree at in Philippines?
I am in Ontario so don't know anything regarding the SEC, but I have heard from colleagues and such that it is generally a fair assessment.

 

[J.]

Hi RN_0001,

I did finish in a State University in the Northern part of the Philippines. I think it is a fair assessment too. Actually, CARNA send me a reply stating that my courses has been equivalent to RN in Canada. However, I was still required to undergo for General SEC assessment as such they explained that my safe practice expired as an RN even though I was working as a LPN from 2011.

Having a somewhat comparable report, I think I got that result considering that I took 5 subjects at George Brown College there in Toronto and continued them online while working here in Alberta. Unfortunately, I was not able to go back in there to finish the remaining 2 subjects required.

 

[vivon]

I am officially a Registered nurse in Ontario!! I couldn't believe my eyes when i received the email from CNO! It has been a tough journey and i wish everybody the best in this process. My timeline is as follows:

Jan 2016: started NNAS application
May 2016: NNAS application completed
November 2016: Received 'somewhat comparable' from NNAS. Applied to CNO and CARNA
December 2016: CNO states education met and requests job description
January 2017: CNO requests registration application, payment and police criminal background
February 2017: Received my registration number

I completed my education in USA so i did not have to do NCLEX. I also had my police criminal background check at hand since i have been working as PSW to help pay my bills. I received an email from CARNA last week offering me a temporary license but i stopped my application with them. I am so glad to have completed this journey and i wish everyone the same.

 

[canada11]

Congratulations - great news indeed

I am officially a Registered nurse in Ontario!! I couldn't believe my eyes when i received the email from CNO! It has been a tough journey and i wish everybody the best in this process. My timeline is as follows:

Jan 2016: started NNAS application
May 2016: NNAS application completed
November 2016: Received 'somewhat comparable' from NNAS. Applied to CNO and CARNA
December 2016: CNO states education met and requests job description
January 2017: CNO requests registration application, payment and police criminal background
February 2017: Received my registration number

I completed my education in USA so i did not have to do NCLEX. I also had my police criminal background check at hand since i have been working as PSW to help pay my bills. I received an email from CARNA last week offering me a temporary license but i stopped my application with them. I am so glad to have completed this journey and i wish everyone the same.

 

[needscoffee]

hi! I'm a newbie here. I would like to get information about the NNAS. my NNAs status is ready for review for almost 11 weeks. how long before they release the advisory report? and as I was reading some of the blogs about their reports. does it depends on the syllabi the school sent to them? or how they decide for the report?
thank you very much!

 

[canada11]

syllabi of the school is the major factor. Its takes generally 8 to 16 weeks

hi! I'm a newbie here. I would like to get information about the NNAS. my NNAs status is ready for review for almost 11 weeks. how long before they release the advisory report? and as I was reading some of the blogs about their reports. does it depends on the syllabi the school sent to them? or how they decide for the report?
thank you very much!

 

[RN_0001]

or how they decide for the report?

Yes @canada11 is right, it's the syllabi that is the most important component. They go through your syllabi and look for key words that also appear in Canadian nursing syllabi to determine whether you are non-comparable, somewhat comparable, or comparable. Only very few people have received comparable though. Where did you get your nursing education? Seems like some from the US are getting somewhat comparable, although many from the US are getting non-comparable.

 

[needscoffee]

syllabi of the school is the major factor. Its takes generally 8 to 16 weeks

thank you for that information Canada11. so that means I maybe going to wait another one month for it.

 

[needscoffee]

Yes @canada11 is right, it's the syllabi that is the most important component. They go through your syllabi and look for key words that also appear in Canadian nursing syllabi to determine whether you are non-comparable, somewhat comparable, or comparable. Only very few people have received comparable though. Where did you get your nursing education? Seems like some from the US are getting somewhat comparable, although many from the US are getting non-comparable.

I had my nursing education in the Philippines. oh that's why they asked more syllabi when my school sent only few pages as I remembered.so that means the hospital experience is not that important.
thank you RN_0001

 

[allyexa]

I am officially a Registered nurse in Ontario!! I couldn't believe my eyes when i received the email from CNO! It has been a tough journey and i wish everybody the best in this process. My timeline is as follows:

Jan 2016: started NNAS application
May 2016: NNAS application completed
November 2016: Received 'somewhat comparable' from NNAS. Applied to CNO and CARNA
December 2016: CNO states education met and requests job description
January 2017: CNO requests registration application, payment and police criminal background
February 2017: Received my registration number

I completed my education in USA so i did not have to do NCLEX. I also had my police criminal background check at hand since i have been working as PSW to help pay my bills. I received an email from CARNA last week offering me a temporary license but i stopped my application with them. I am so glad to have completed this journey and i wish everyone the same.

Congratulations - great news indeed

Congrats! I am wonder if you did a 4 year BSN program or a ASN/BSN combo? As well, did you give your school any special instructions when they sent in the syllabi? I'm curious how some schools in the USA are getting somewhat comparable ratings, and others are not. Did you have any experience as a nurse in the USA before your NNAS application?

 

[RN_0001]

...I'm curious how some schools in the USA are getting somewhat comparable ratings, and others are not. Did you have any experience as a nurse in the USA before your NNAS application?

Unfortunately the NNAS assessment is not a good measure of nursing knowledge, skill and judgement. It's merely an expensive scan through nursing course syllabi for key words that match Canadian curriculum verbatim. The assessment is done by American non-nurses so I suppose we can't expect it to be any better than it is at assessing how well international educations compare to Canadian education. I think this is why some American educated nurses are getting "non-comparable". Although, I have noticed that since the CNO meeting in September where they discussed the fact that there are issues with the NNAS assessment, they have been giving some American educated nurses "somewhat comparable" and even a few "comparable". The problem is, there are so many American educated nurses who received their NNAS Advisory Report before September 2016 who are still stuck dealing with the consequences of a "non-comparable" report.

Nursing work experience doesn't come into play for your NNAS assessment. It only comes into play after you have taken the next steps recommended after the NNAS assessment--which is usually the IENCAP (OSCE). This exam costs $500 and is required by those who had "non-comparable" reports to demonstrate your nursing knowledge, skill and judgement. If you pass that, and then pass NCLEX-RN (if you have already completed NCLEX-RN in the US or Canada you won't have to do the exam again), the CNO will ask for your nursing work experience, including job descriptions of current and former nursing jobs. That's where nursing work experience becomes relevant---way down the line. Of course, having nursing work experience certainly will help during the IENCAP as completing the OSCE part of the exam will be more relaxed if you've worked in that type of setting before.