Americanizing Canadian Nursing: Nursing Regulation Drift

Abstract

Recent regulatory changes mean Canadian nurses are writing a US-based entry to practice exam and a US company is assessing credentials of internationally educated nurses (IENs) for Canadian registration. This paper asserts that this policy direction has significant consequences for Canadian content and integrity of education programs, francophone parity in testing, and the future of primary health care and health system reform. Furthermore, writing a US exam means Canada is at risk of losing nursing human resources to the United States while trade agreements endanger Canadian nursing intellectual property.

Keywords

• NCLEX-RN exam
• nursing self-regulation
• entry to practice
• nursing education
• nursing human resources
• francophone nurses
• francophone health care
• health system reform
• health care quality
• nursing role