It has taken me over two weeks to calm down enough to write. My first interaction with the CNO was 20 months ago. At that time I received a list of requirements and I knew that proving proficiency in English or French was something the CNO requires to obtain an RN license. Sometime last year when my lists of pending requirements started coming in, I began asking about the language requirement. It was given a brush off with comments like, you went to a US university, you are a US citizen, it won't be a problem.
Fast forward to March 2013 when I received my CRNE results, they came with an updated list of requirements still to be met. One of the three things on the list was my language proficiency. I immediately phoned the CNO regarding this issue. I was given instruction by the customer service person who told me to write a letter that requested that my US education be used to prove my proficiency. I mailed the letter immediately.
Fast forward 5 weeks. I received a reply letter from my assessor at the CNO. She informed me that I had to have my university send a letter that states: 1) The primary language used at the university was English 2) That my course work was taught in English 3) That my clinical instruction was in English. To say I lost it would be an understatement. I called and left a message as it was late in the afternoon. I was on the verge of tears and I was very careful with my tone and choice of words but I am sure that my upset was apparent. I did not sound angry, just crushed. I asked the assessor to please call me back the next day.
When she called back she seemed very annoyed with me. She told me that as of January 2013 the requirements had changed. The new requirements state that your educational institution must answer the questions listed above to satisfy the language requirement, no matter what. Even though I had been working with them since September of 2011, and that all of my paperwork was in before January of 2013 there was no grandfathering in for those people. I am not sure why an applicants passing the CRNE in either language is not enough proof of proficiency, but it is not.
I was told by my assessor that she was "doing me a favor" by only requiring the letter from the university and not requiring all new transcripts from them. I shared my frustration that I had waited 5 weeks for her response, and that I have an employer waiting for me to begin to work. She didn't say she was sorry or offer any compassion for my frustration. I felt like I had done something wrong and as though I better be careful with how I speak to her seeing as she holds my future in her hands.
I immediately contacted the WVU School of Nursing and the dean sent the requested letter within a few days. As of yesterday I was informed that they received that letter, and that I have met all of their requirements for an RN in Ontario. My application is in the mail and I should receive it in the next couple of days. I can fax the completed form back to them and my RN license will be granted within 10 days.
What I find the most upsetting about this entire situation is that I have been asking for information. I have called and waited on hold, for literally hours, to ask what I am supposed to do. I have been polite despite the long wait times, I have had one goal which was to jump every single hoop. I just needed to be told what those hoops were and how to get through them.
Ontario acknowledges they need more nurses Just yesterday I saw an article about expanding the New Nurse Guarantee (I mentioned this in one of my first blog entries) to any nurse educated in Canada or its territories. As a US nurse I have different requirements to work than other international nurses, via the NAFTA agreement there is an understanding of the value of professional workers. The agreement should ease the free trade of professional services, and yet the process of becoming an RN in Ontario has been one of the most difficult I have ever experienced. It is difficult for no reason other than a whole lot of bureaucracy and an extremely outdated system.
I want to be excited but I am, to be honest, still afraid. Until I actually have a CNO number and my name shows up on the website, I will be afraid. I have tried to remain upbeat through all of this but I currently feel beat down. To say this has been an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. I maintain the knowledge being a nurse is a difficult process, but shouldn't the hardest part be going to university, taking exams, participating in 12 hour night shifts and still having to go to class in the morning and then taking your RN exam after graduation? It seems that the bureaucracy of the CNO has created a painful process for the new RN as well as an unnecessarily complicated process for themselves.
My next blog should finally be one of celebration. Fingers crossed!
Stephanie
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