International Nurse, Canadian Registered Nurse Examination (CRNE), and Nursing In Canada

By http://www.skybluecross.org/

Thinking about working in Canada as a Nurse?


If you are a foreign-trained nurse who wants to find employment in Canada, you have chosen the right career. Starting a new life in Canada can be a challenge, especially in these hard economic times, but you have the advantage because Canada is greatly in need of skilled nurses. To become a registered nurse in Canada, you must first achieve a minimum score on an English proficiency test (such as the CELBAN or IELTS) and pass the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination (CRNE). The CRNE is a seven-hour-long test which measures 190 competencies (abilities) necessary for safe and effective nursing practice in Canada.



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 a 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.

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.



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



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 test 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.