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.
|