Nearly 38% of candidates for the practice of the nursing profession (CEPI) have decided not to take the examination of the Order of Nurses of Quebec which will take place on Tuesday. They preferred to postpone their test, as allowed by the OIIQ. Last September, a quarter of CEPIs chose not to take the controversial test, the failure rate of which had reached record highs a year earlier.
According to the OIIQ, 1,931 CEPIs are registered for Tuesday’s test. Among them, 804 are not on their first try. Many CEPIs, however, chose to pass their turn this time: 1,162 took advantage of the possibility of not taking the test in March and “consolidating their knowledge,” indicates the OIIQ in an email to Duty. The public health network will therefore be deprived of these potential new nurses in the coming months. CEPIs can carry out many tasks in the field, but not all of those carried out by a nurse.
The professional order examination has raised many concerns among the CEPIs since September 2022. The success rate then rose to 51.4% among candidates who took it for the first time (19.5% among graduates outside Canada). Following this large number of failures, the commissioner for admission to professions, André Gariépy, carried out an investigation; he had reported last May the “flaws and [les] fragilities” of the ordeal.
Since then, the Office des professions du Québec has appointed a “supporter to the OIIQ”, the former Ombudsman Marie Rinfret. Last September, the pass rate for the exam reached 69% among candidates who took it for the first time.
The CEPIs will have more time on Tuesday to complete their examination, as was the case last fall. In anticipation of the test, the OIIQ has also put in place other flexibility measures by allowing, for example, those who are in a situation of failure an additional attempt, “even if this has the effect of exceed the maximum number of planned tests.
The OIIQ recommended in February to CEPIs not to wait for the arrival of the NCLEX-RN, a test used in the United States and elsewhere in Canada, to take the professional exam. He indicated that its implementation is suspended “for an indefinite period” due to “work to improve the current admissions exam”.
Reaction from Sonia LeBel
Asked to comment, the office of the minister of Sonia LeBel indicates that it continues to monitor the situation “closely”. He recalls that an independent evaluation expert “supervises the grading of exams” and that Marie Rinfret “ensures that the OIIQ follows its action plan to rectify the situation concerning admission to the Order and to modernize the college nursing training program”.
At “current time”, it is indicated, the OIIQ is “collaborating”. “We need all qualified nurses in the health network,” underlines the firm in a written statement. We need their expertise to improve access to quality care for the population. »