Quebec nursing student on the brink of giving up after dealing with provincial nursing exam
Posted October 17, 2023 9:11 pm.
Last Updated October 17, 2023 11:36 pm.
A Quebec nursing student is on the brink of giving up on their dream, and they say they’re likely not alone. They’ve taken the Quebec nurse licensing exam five times and spent upwards of $6,000 in exam fees, tutoring, and hotel accommodations. CityNews has agreed to keep the student’s identity confidential.
“The moment that the feeling inside of me when you get the result, it’s awful. Like my soul shattered. It was like… you’re like, oh my God, I’m an idiot. I’m not a good nurse,” said the student.
“It’s destroying our lives. Really, that’s what it’s doing.”
This comes after just last week another student filed an authorization for a class-action lawsuit against the province’s nurses’ order due to their controversial licensing exam – which has seen a high failure rate and was recently found to be flawed.
“We literally have like a wall of brick in front of us. Like we can’t go any further. We’re stuck. That’s the thing. And I don’t think that’s fair to any of us.”
They say despite working and studying hard – not being able to clear this flawed exam is stopping them from advancing in life – without a stable job, they can’t save up to buy a home or start a family. Three of their friends are also in the same situation.
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“I don’t know how it is possible that I can’t figure out to pass an exam while I’m working as literally as a nurse. Let’s say that way. Let’s put it that way because it is what it is,” said the student.
A report tabled earlier this month from a commissioner tasked with ensuring fairness in entry exams to Quebec’s professions concluded Quebec’s nursing licensing exam was to blame for high failure rates.
“I’m losing money, but I want to be a nurse. I just want to be a nurse as quickly as I can so I can go back to university. Because at this point, I had been in university for a year and I didn’t have my paper that says I’m a registered nurse. And if you don’t have that paper, you can’t continue.”
The commissioner is asking to recalculate the marks of several previous exams, including the one in September 2023 – which this student says was their one last shot – they are now anxiously waiting for the results – hoping the fifth time’s the charm.
“After I had been in CEGEP for three years, I had one year of university. And then to get told by the OEQ, you’re not competent. You’re not good enough. I’m sorry, you failed. And then the next morning, you wake up. Seven morning, you go back to work with your patients.”
