Nearly a quarter of candidates for the practice of the nursing profession (CEPI) will not submit on September 18 to the controversial examination of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ). They chose to take it in March 2024, when the OIIQ planned to adopt a new test format, used in the United States and elsewhere in Canada. Future Quebec nurses have not waited: they have already passed the American test given in New Brunswick and British Columbia.
Mélanie Bélair Domenech, who holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing, failed the OIIQ exam in September 2022, like nearly half of the CEPIs who were also taking it for the first time. She quickly turned to British Columbia’s professional body, the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM), to take the American test (known as NCLEX-RN). She succeeded in April in a venue in Montreal. Two weeks later, the new member of the BCCNM obtained her Quebec license, after following two online training courses from the OIIQ.
According to her, the long administrative procedures with the BCCNM were worth it. To make life easier for CEPIs wishing to follow in her footsteps, she participates in a Facebook group called “Québec-Canada NCLEX Study”, which has nearly 1,250 members.
“When you take the OIIQ exam, you can’t know if you’ve passed it, even if you’ve studied a lot,” says Mélanie Bélair Domenech. Just this stress, I didn’t want to relive that. » She feared not being able to practice in Quebec if she reached the maximum number of failures in the OIIQ exam.
“The fact that I took the NCLEX still opens doors,” adds the clinical nurse at the McGill University Health Center. I can work anywhere in Canada. » She says she does not intend to renew her license with the BCCNM.
A Quebec nurse, to whom The duty spoke and who passed the NCLEX-RN given by the Nurses Association of New Brunswick in April, plans to leave Quebec in a year or two to work in the United States. She wishes to remain anonymous since she works for a Montreal integrated health and social services center.
The OIIQ test has been in the news for a year, due to the high failure rate of future nurses. In an investigation report made public in the spring, the commissioner for admission to professions, Mr.e André Gariépy, reported that the OIIQ examination held in fall 2022 contained “flaws and weaknesses”. Its reliability was “low” and its validity “affected,” he wrote.
Since then, the OIIQ has announced its wish to use the NCLEX-RN starting next year. He also put in place various measures, such as the possibility of taking the test in March 2024 rather than in September. According to data obtained from the OIIQ, nearly 950 CEPI have chosen to postpone their exam until next spring. Some 3,145 CEPI registered for the September 18 exam. Of these, 562 failed in March. The OIIQ indicates that the test will be the “same exam corrected according to the same standards” as that given previously. However, the candidates will have 30 minutes more to do so, it is specified in an email. “Certain recommendations of the Commissioner, in particular with regard to the establishment of the passing score, have been applied since the March 2023 examination,” we recall.
One week before the test, stress is starting to mount for many CEPIs. “Everyone is talking about it, everyone is stressed, everyone doesn’t know what to expect”, summarizes Élizabeth Carbonneau, a CEPI at the Suroît hospital, located in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
The future nurse, who has completed a technical degree in nursing, will try her luck for the first time on September 18. “Of course I would like that, like everyone else, to pass it,” remarks Élizabeth Carbonneau, who has just started a bachelor’s degree in nursing. “But I tell myself that there are so many people who sink that, if I sink, I know that it will not necessarily define me as a future nurse. »
According to the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), many CEPIs have postponed their exam to March 2024 because they have run out of time to study in recent weeks. The union explains that the future nurses have spent their summer working “at least 40 hours a week, but certainly more”.
The NCLEX-RN is also debated
Asked Friday about the examination of the Order, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, indicated that his colleague Sonia LeBel as well as the Office des professions du Québec were following the matter closely. The Canadian Press revealed earlier that the adoption of the American exam for March 2024 was unrealistic. The Office of Professions, which must approve it, would be far from being enthusiastic about the idea of adapting the American test. Mr. Dubé doesn’t seem to either.
“We said that we were not very comfortable with their approach of seeking the American exam for all sorts of reasons,” the minister said at a press conference. I expect that, in the coming weeks, there will be very clear comments from the Office of Professions. » In New Brunswick, the French version posed a problem for French-speaking candidates.
At the OIIQ, it was pointed out that, even if the Order expressed the desire in May to use the NCLEX-RN “quickly”, “the work involves the contribution of external partners for which we have no control over the time limit “. “If the deadline were to be pushed back, we would inform the stakeholders as quickly as possible,” we assure.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) emphasizes that “in the context of the current labor shortage, the MSSS is counting on [la venue de] new nurses”. He encouraged healthcare facilities to offer “additional preparation activities” for the exam.