(Montreal) The Commissioner for admission to professions recommends the postponement of the next examination of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ). He also proposes to grant a reprieve to candidates who have suffered their third and final failure of the exam.
In the wake of controversy over a disproportionate failure rate on the most recent entry-to-practice exam, Commissioner Me André Gariépy was tasked with investigating the reasons that led to this fiasco.
Last September, 51% of candidates who tried their luck did not obtain the pass mark of 55% on the exam.
At the time of the unveiling of the results, the OIIQ had blamed the context of the pandemic for justifying an inadequate learning or preparation framework for the exam for students in the various nursing programs.
By comparison, in the previous exam in March 2022, the pass rate was 71%. If we go back a little further, in September 2021, the success rate reached 81%.
On Wednesday, the commissioner published a progress report in the course of his investigation in order to submit two recommendations. In particular, he suggests postponing the exam scheduled for March 2023 so that we can first shed light on the results of last fall.
Me Gariépy notes that his work carried out so far reveals “worrying elements both on the examination and on the training of candidates”.
The starting point of his investigation is based on two hypotheses that could explain the impressive failure rate. On the one hand, either “the examination has methodological flaws” or on the other hand “the training of the candidates, or some of them, did not prepare them adequately”. A combination of the two factors could also be involved.
The Commissioner for Admission to Professions argues that “candidates have probably suffered harm in their career path”.
Recommendations
In his progress report, Ms.e André Gariépy affirms that “it would be imprudent to oblige any candidate to appear at the next session of the examination” before we know what went wrong last fall.
In addition, the commissioner recommends “precautionary measures” for people who have been excluded from the admissions process due to a third failure. More than 200 candidates would be affected by these measures.
“In the current state of knowledge on the situation, in the presence of concerns and in the context of pressure regarding the health workforce, it would be unfair to definitively exclude from the admissions process the candidates who had a third failure at the September 2022 session “, can we read in a quote attributed to Me Gariépy in the press release accompanying the progress report.
The commissioner proposes to give them another attempt at the next exam and to “restore the status of (candidate for the practice of the nursing profession)” until they can try their luck again.
The OIIQ did not wish to react to the publication of the progress report or to its recommendations. We say we want to take the time to read the document and discuss it internally before making a decision.
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