Accreditation

The Filipino Nurses Support Group can help you to become accredited as a Registered Nurse in British Columbia. FNSG offers workshops on the step-by-step process to become accredited and is producing a handbook on the accreditation process. Contact FNSG for more information: (604) 255.6870.

Step 1: Contact the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia.

Step 2: Complete the RNABC form and have it notarized. Provide proof of identity: birth certificate, passport, immigration papers, etc. Include a form authorizing a criminal record check.

Step 3-6 can be completed in any order...

Step 3: Fill in form and send it to your school to request transcripts of nursing education. Your school will complete it and send it directly to RNABC or you can ask someone to get it from your school and send it to RNABC. RNABC assesses if the school is equivalent to Canadian schools. This has been no problem with schools from the Philippines.

Step 4: Fill in form for verification of registration. This is official confirmation that you were registered as a nurse in the Philippines. Send to the Professional Regulation Commission.They send it back to RNABC. You must have active/current membership a PRC, before PRC will process your request.

Step 5: Professional experience record: fill out with volunteer or practice hours as a nurse. RNABC will contact these facilities for verification. (1125 hours are needed within the past five years, unless you have just graduated. If you do not meet this qualification, as many do not because of working as domestic workers in Canada and other countries, you will need to take a Nursing Refresher Course.)

Step 6: You need to take an English test: the TOEFL / TSE or the IELTS.

Step 7: If you have met all the RNABC requirements, paid the exam fee and are waiting to take the registration exam, you can apply for an Interim Permit which lets you practice as a graduate nurse. You will need an employer who agrees to supervise / employ you in order to qualify for an Interim Permit. FNSG can help you to find an employer to get an Interim Permit.

Step 8: You must meet all other RNABC requirements before you can take the nurses' exam. There are four exams a year in January, June, August, and October. You must pre-register. FNSG offers review biweekly sessions to prepare for the exams.

If you have not graduated within the last five years OR worked 1125 hours within the last five years, the RNABC requires that you take a Nursing Refresher Course. This course can be taken through the Open Learning Agency or Kwantlen College.It is approximately 9 months full time or 18 months part time. With OLA, you should be able to start within one month. Kwantlen has a 2-3 year waiting list, so apply as soon as possible. Private companies are taking advantage of the long waitlists for these refresher courses by setting up expensive private courses.