According to the two nurses, the training they received at the Université de Moncton prepares them much better for the exam of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ), than for the NCLEX exam, used in New Brunswick since 2015.
The NCLEX exam is used in the majority of Canadian provinces, with the exception of Quebec and the Yukon. Candidates who take the exam in French have a lower pass rate on the first attempt than candidates who take it in English, in particular because of the preparatory material, which is mainly available in English.
Irène Duguay, who works at Résidences Inkerman Inc in the Acadian Peninsula, and Katia Daigle, now a nurse at the Edmundston Regional Hospital, chose nursing thinking they would have a job without problems. They had heard about the labor shortage in the profession in New Brunswick.
Katia Daigle graduated from Université de Moncton in nursing in 2019. She failed the NCLEX exam 8 times.
Photo: Radio Canada
I had good grades and it was a safe bet, I told myself that I would not miss work
remembers Irène Duguay.
After four years of study, the two students prepared to take the NCLEX exam. And that’s where things got tricky.
Katia failed the exam 8 times, while Irene tried unsuccessfully to pass it 10 times.
” I love my job. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. But if I had known all that I was going to have to go through to get there, no, I would not have made the choice to become a nurse. »
Both mothers, these nurses found themselves in an impasse. They had to find a solution to make ends meet, but didn’t want to leave behind a job that had become their vocation.
I felt really demoralized. It’s hard on self-esteem. I told myself that I should not be cut out to be a nurse. […] I couldn’t finish my maternity leave, find myself out of a job and go back to working minimum wage again…I have a bachelor’s degree
says Katia Daigle.
University ‘not preparing’ female students for NCLEX
Like other students in the province’s French-language nursing program, Katia Daigle and Irène Duguay lament that NCLEX exam preparation materials are only available in English.
I did my baccalaureate in French. I am not bilingual. I understand English, but we are talking about medical terms. We had no French subjects to study
laments Irene Duguay.
Two nurses from New Brunswick had to pass the exam of the Order of Nurses of Quebec to practice in their province.
Photo: Radio Canada
Both nurses felt that their training had not prepared them adequately to pass the NCLEX exam.
” [L’examen du Québec] was not easy, but it represented much more of what I had learned in my baccalaureate. There wasn’t a disease that I didn’t know about, there wasn’t a medicine that I didn’t know about. I never felt like this the 10 times [avec l’examen NCLEX]. »
Take the Quebec exam to work in New Brunswick
Katia Daigle and Irène Duguay learned of the possibility of taking the exam for the Ordre des nurses du Québec (OIIQ) speaking with other colleagues who had also had difficulty passing the NCLEX exam.
Katia Daigle and Irène Duguay passed the exam of the Order of Nurses of Quebec the first time.
Photo: Radio Canada
Both decided to give their dream one last chance by taking their exam in Rimouski, Quebec. Irène Duguay succeeded on the first try in September 2020. Same scenario for Katia Daigle, a year later.
I was really happy. I’ve never been happy like this
says Katia Daigle.
But passing the exam in the neighboring province means doing some administrative pirouettes on the way back. To have the right to return to work in New Brunswick, they had to go back and forth between the two professional associations.
Katia Daigle says she performed well during her four years of study at the Université de Moncton.
Photo: Radio Canada
It was an extremely slow process. [J’ai dû passer par] many calls, many papers, but in the end [la démarche] was worth it
explains Irène Duguay.
Both claim that if they had been informed earlier of the possibility of taking the practical exam in Quebec, they would not have tried the NCLEX exam a dozen times as they did.
Irène Duguay estimates that the costs associated with ten attempts at taking the NCLEX exam, which is given in Fredericton and Halifax — registration fees, travel, hotels, work leave — amount to at least 10 $000.
A repeating scenario
Katia Daigle and Irène Duguay report that other students who have failed the NCLEX exam contact them because they are thinking of taking the Quebec exam.
Katia Daigle does not mince her words.
” I find it awful. We did clinical internships. We passed our internships. We got our diploma. I find that deplorable. There is a shortage of manpower, we need nurses, they make it very difficult with the NCLEX. »
Irène Duguay finds it hard to understand that nurses with whom she studied are not on the labor market today. [L’AIINB] insists on keeping this exam, and I don’t understand why. Honestly, [le Nouveau-Brunswick] don’t do enough to keep his nurses.
In response to our interview requests, theNANB replied that she recognizes the possibility for New Brunswick nursing graduates to take the Quebec exam. This possibility has existed for many decades, long before the adoption of the NCLEX-RN exam. Graduates are all informed of this possibility by NANB
.
The NCLEX-RN exam has been used in New Brunswick since 2015.
Photo: Radio Canada
As for the province’s Department of Health, spokesman Bruce Macfarlane says theNANB translated into French preparation documents for the NCLEX exam.
However, he points out that it would be preferable that our nursing graduates can take the NCLEX exam and get registered in New Brunswick first, rather than having to do it in another province, as it adds a step to their registration process
.
In Quebec, it is said to be aware that graduates from elsewhere in Canada, who do not have the authorization to practice in their province, choose to take the examination of theOIIQ.
The college is unable to say how many New Brunswick students take an exam in Quebec each year, but believes that these graduates constitute only a small number of registrants.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca