The differences between Americans and Canadians is a
favourite topic of debate north of the 49th parallel. Although our two
countries certainly have their own quirks, in the end there are more
similarities between the US and Canada than differences. This is something
that’s reflected in the NCLEX-RN, which replaced Canada’s former CRNE nursing entry-to-practice
examination in January 2015.
Though the health-care systems in Canada and the US are of
course different, the NCLEX-RN, which both countries’ new nurses must write, is
the same. With the NCLEX’s roots in America—having been the standard there
since 1994—what does this mean for Canadian nurses?
With any change comes apprehension, and PRIMED’s two-day
intensive NCLEX-RN prep course addresses this head on. PRIMED knows that in
addition to the nursing knowledge base needed to pass the test, there are a few
things to know about the NCLEX-RN itself before sitting down to write it.
First off, you can rest easy: Canadian nurses have had a
hand in shaping the NCLEX-RN to make sure Canadians taking the test don’t come
up short, and Canadian-based nurses will continue to shape the exam by sitting
on future item development panels.
All of our classically Canadian spellings and phrases—imperial
vs. metric measurements, color vs. colour, car vs. canoe—have been accounted
for, and won’t mean the difference between a right and a wrong answer. For the
country’s French-speaking nurses, the translation of NCLEX-RN questions is looked
after not just by professional translators, but is checked for context by (clearly
very clever) bilingual Canadian nurses.
However, since there is no content difference between the
NCLEX-RN administered in the two countries, Canadian test takers need to be
aware of the different approaches to care between the Canadian and the US
systems. That’s why PRIMED’s exam prep instructors are here to help you build
up a strong knowledge of these differences—which simultaneously reinforces all
you need to know about practice as a nurse in Canada.
Most can agree that an update to the CRNE was long overdue,
and the NCLEX-RN, with its fancy computer adaptive testing, brings Canada’s nursing
entry examination happily into the twenty-first century. Taking the same
NCLEX-RN north of the border as south in many cases even means one less hurdle
in getting licensed to work in America, which is great for any nurses hoping to
do a bit of work-led travel.
The NCLEX-RN exam and its format is overall a win for Canadian
nurses—it just requires a pinch more knowledge of how our neighbours to the
south approach practice.
PRIMED will make sure you’re up to speed on all the
new factors the NCLEX-RN brings, including learning more about how our nursing
pals down in America do what they do.
