Quebec nurses exam success rate for September was 63 per cent, up from 45.4 per cent in fall 2022

The Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ) has released the results of it controversial nursing entrance exam, held on Sept. 18, 2023.

In a press release issued Wednesday, the OIIQ says out of the 3,081 candidates who took the exam, the success rate for first-time candidates was 69 per cent and the overall success rate was 63 per cent, representing 1,940 nurses who passed.

In a report tabled in October a commissioner tasked with ensuring fairness in entry exams to Quebec’s professions, found the OIIQ’s exams was at fault. Commissioner André Gariépy called on the OIIQ to get to work to fix the exam including “the flaws and weaknesses of the exam. Its validity, its reliability and the establishment of its passing mark.”

It was the results of the fall 2022 entrance exam to the profession that prompted Commissioner Gariépy to launch an investigation. Less than 45.4 per cent of candidates had obtained a passing grade.

The OIIQ says the passing mark of 56.77 per cent – for this September’s exam – was determined by a group of 50 nurses, OIIQ experts and a measurement and evaluation expert appointed by the Office des professions du Québec (OPQ).

“The OIIQ attaches great importance to the future of the profession and of the nurses who will follow. It is committed to improving the professional entry examination process as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that the Quebec population can benefit from the maximum number of nurses able to practice and provide safe, quality, humane care in the field,” said Luc Mathieu, R.N., and President of the OIIQ, in the same press release.

The OIIQ says in the months leading up to the exam, candidates had free access to exam preparation tools, including the list of themes and the table of specifications used to select questions.

This cohort also had exam preparation and knowledge consolidation activities, in collaboration with the Quebec Ministries of Higher Education and Health and Social Services, the Direction nationale des soins et des services infirmiers, and the nursing departments of various health care institutions.

The OIIQ says candidates who don’t pass the exam may keep their right to practice as candidates for the nursing profession, and carry out professional activities reserved for nurses to support teams in the healthcare network.

Unsuccessful candidates will also be able to sit the next exam session.

As part of the process of improving the nursing admission exam, the OIIQ says it is working with the Office des professions du Québec and its partners, to implement the recommendations of the latest report by the Commissioner.

The OIIQ says it is working to develop a short-term action plan to improve its professional entrance exam.

Adding that because the OIIQ team is also participating in the modernization of the college nursing program led by the Quebec Ministry of Higher Education, which will be used, among other things, to produce an analysis of the nursing profession to be available in spring 2024, the OIIQ intends to complete this work before pursuing any reflection on the NCLEX-RN exam. It is therefore suspending its actions in this area.

Last spring the OIIQ had announced that the order would rely on the NCLEX-RN exam starting next year. This acronym refers to the National Council Licensure Examination for RN, which is the examination of the national committee for access to the nursing profession. This is the exam used in the United States and elsewhere in Canada to obtain a license to practice.