Concern over nursing exam increases after first year results come through

A new entry exam for nurses is creating a divide between the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union and the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia.

The college just released their results from a new computer adaptive testing exam that was administered to nursing students across Canada last year.

The number of people that are failing the test on their first attempt is a figure that isn’t sitting well with the union.

“Twenty-five per cent of the nurses that wrote failed on their first attempt — which is 95 nurses. Which is 25 per cent of the new grads in Nova Scotia failed on their first attempt at writing this exam,” said Janet Hazelton, the president of the NSNU.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Twenty-five per cent of the nurses that wrote failed on their first attempt — which is 95 nurses. Which is 25 per cent of the new grads in Nova Scotia failed on their first attempt at writing this exam," said Janet Hazelton, the president of the NSNU.

The exam that’s been phased out carried an extremely high first time pass rate of over 90 per cent.

It was a pen and paper exam that was done over two days on select dates throughout the year.

The new test gives graduates the opportunity to write at any point throughout the year, when they feel ready.

New test is more accurate: College

The college feels the new exam is a more accurate way of assessing the skill sets of grads.

“We need to make sure that before we give a person a licence to practice nursing we have to assess that they’re competent to do so. Passing this exam is one of the ways that we assess that competence,” said Heather Totton, the director of professional conduct and registration services at the College.

Hazelton, however, feels that the first year results are a clear indicator that the system is failing future nurses.

“I don’t remember the stress around the exam that there is around it now, I don’t remember. We went in, we wrote, I guess we just assumed we were going to pass because we knew our stuff and we had a written-based two-day comprehensive exam,” said Hazelton.

While the college acknowledges that there has been a drop in first attempt pass rates, they say its important to consider the combined pass rates of the first and second attempts.

“What we see in this report is that of all the graduates who did pass last year, taking into account all of their attempts, 99 per cent of people who passed the exam, passed within their first or second attempt,” said Totton.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "What we see in this report is that of all the graduates who did pass last year, taking into account all of their attempts, 99 per cent of people who passed the exam, passed within their first or second attempt," said Totton.