Source: New Quebec nursing exam will likely be delayed

MONTREAL – The chances that the Order of Quebec Nurses (OIIQ) will adopt a new nursing exam by next spring are slim. According to the Canadian Press, the Office des professions du Québec (OPQ) is far from enthusiastic about the idea of adapting the American exam known by the acronym NCLEX-RN.

Last May, in response to a damning report by the Commissioner of Admission to the Professions, the order announced its intention to drop its own exam and adopt the American national test. The NCLEX-RN is also used in several Canadian provinces to assess the competence of nursing candidates.

According to the timetable evoked at the time of the announcement, the OIIQ planned to hold a final test with its own format on September 18, 2023, then adopt the American format in the spring of 2024. However, this scenario seems unrealistic.

In order to proceed with this major change, the order has filed a request to amend the “regulation respecting other conditions for the issuance of a nurse’s permit”, the Office des professions has confirmed.

This request must be the subject of a legal analysis, as well as an evaluation of “the appropriateness of the desired measure and the accompanying draft regulatory text”, it adds. It’s this part of the process that seems to be getting in the way.

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According to a well-informed source, the OPQ raised doubts about the relevance of translating and adapting the U.S. national exam to the Quebec context. The only known experience with a French translation of the NCLEX-RN is in New Brunswick, where it proved so disastrous that the Société de l’Acadie and the Fédération étudiante du Campus universitaire de Moncton sued the profession’s governing body in the Atlantic province.

Even if the format is adapted, they will still have to determine a course of action to eventual implementation, which could take many months, even a few years.

The OPQ has reportedly requested additional information from the OIIQ following the submission of its application, and some responses are still pending.

The office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, to whom the Office des professions reports, believes that recourse to NCLEX-RN “is not a short-term solution”. The Minister is following the situation very closely, and this option “must be the subject of serious analysis to ensure that the examination applies to the Quebec context”.

In an e-mail, the OIIQ states that “for the time being, the file is following its course” and that “should the deadline be postponed”, stakeholders will be informed “as soon as possible”.

According to the OIIQ, “the work involves the contribution of external partners for whom (it has) no control over deadlines”. The order says it will comply with the deadlines imposed by the Office des professions, but the objective remains the spring of 2024.

In his report on the the low pass rate for the September 2022 OIIQ exam, the Commissioner of Admission to the Professions raised methodological flaws and weaknesses. He also offered possible solutions to improve the exam, and warned against the temptation to import a foreign format.

“An examination is more than a technical assessment tool; it includes the professional standard and is built around it. The exam also reflects a vision of the profession against which we want to assess a candidate’s aptitude,” writes André Gariépy in his report.

He adds that a proper assessment must take into account the practice context, network organization, reserved activities, training received and legal frameworks.

He warns that using a tool designed abroad would mean “losing part of the control over the professional standard itself and the vision of the profession”.

Taking all these issues into account, the Commissioner stresses the importance of approaching such a major change with caution.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on September 8, 2023.

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