The Nursing Entrance Test in Canada the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam
The nursing entrance test for a registered nurse in
Canada is called the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam.
It is a comprehensive nursing exam that tests nursing knowledge within the Canadian context.
Becoming a registered nurse in Canada means you have to have a nursing license and you have to pass the nursing entrance test for
Canada in order to get that license.
There has been a an exam for entry to the nursing profession in Canada since the
first school was established in 1874. Originally each province administered their own nursing exam.
In the 1930's it was proposed that the different provincial standards for the registered nurse exam be
harmonized to a national standard and the Canadian Nurses Association passed a resolution that called
for a national nursing exam for all registered nurse applicants in the country.
The first national nursing entrance test for Canada was a US based exam that the CNA purchased from the
National League of Nursing. In 1966 the Canadian Nurses Association developed the first national
nursing exam. It was the first time that a national nursing entrance test was developed by and for
Canadian nurses. It was called the CNATS exam (Canadian Nurses Association Testing Service)
The CNATS exam tested the 5 traditional specialty areas of nursing. Maternity (obstetrics) pediatrics,
psychiatry, surgical nursing, and medical nursing were each tested separately in a 3 hour exam.
Upon graduation from nursing school a registered nurse applicant would sit the CNATS national
registered nurse exam over a 2 1/2 day period.
Today the Canadian health care system
requires public accountability. A nursing entrance test is one way to assure
the Canadian public that all candidates entering the
nursing profession,
are prepared to deliver safe, ethical and knowledgeable care in their interest.
See the explanation of the public protection mandate - Nursing Laws - Regulation of the Nursing Profession in Canada.
A nursing license can only be issued if all the criteria for the public protection mandate have been met.
In addition to passing the CRNE this will include:
successful completion of studies in a school that has been recognized to provide registered nurse education to the required standards
proof of proficiency in English if it is a second language (or even a third or fourth language!)
The contemporary nursing entrance test in Canada is called the Canadian Registered Nurse
Examination or CRNE. It is a comprehensive exam written over 4 hours and has about
200 multiple choice questions.
It is called a comprehensive exam because content is not separated out in different
specialties. This was done in order to more closely simulate the real client situations that a
registered nurse might encounter in daily practice.
Here is an example of such a situation:
A women was injured in a motor vehicle accident and sustained a fractured jaw and a fractured femur.
She is currently in hospital recovering from surgery to correct the orthopedic injuries.
The accident occurred when the family was travelling to visit relatives because they thought it
might help with the mother's post-partum depression.
Both her husband and her 6 month old son were killed in the motor vehicle
accident. The mother is now having difficulty with breast engorgement.
This case scenario highlights how a registered nurse would be required to use knowledge from
maternal/child nursing, psychiatric nursing, and surgical nursing in a single case and is typical
of the kinds of comprehensive questions that might be used in the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam.
Typically the case scenario questions on the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam will be written to
include a number of different concepts that the nurse must then recall and apply in order to answer the
questions. A case scenario will have anywhere from 3-5 questions.
You can expect up to 60% of questions
on exam to be case based.
The Canadian Nursing Entrance Test - the final step to becoming a nurse in Canada
Writing the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam (CRNE) is usually the final step to becoming a nurse in Canada.
You will not be allowed to sit the Canadian nursing entrance exam until all other criteria needed
to obtain the nursing license are met.
Once the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination is completed
successfully, you can register with the regulatory provincial nursing organization.
Internationally Educated Nurses
Some provinces require successful work experience to be completed before issuing the
provincial nursing license. (BC requires 250 hours). These hours can usually be completed on an
interim or
temporary permit until the results of the nursing entrance test are known.
See the definition of a temporary, interim or provisional permit Nursing License in Canada is Required for All Types of Nursing
If you are working on an interim or temporary permit and are not successful on the
Canadian Registered Nurse Exam your permit will be revoked and you will not be allowed to continue
to work as a nurse.
Comparison of the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam and the NCLEX exam in the United States of America.
Go from this page on the Canadian nursing entrance test to CRNE - description of the structural variables that affect the look and feel of the Canadian nursing entrance exam.
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