In the midst of a labor shortage in the health network, future nurses have to wait twice as long to be authorized to practice.
“It’s discouraging,” said Ann-Sophie Gauthier, a bachelor’s degree student in nursing at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
The correction time for the exam of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ) has doubled this year, going from six to twelve weeks.
Nurses who graduate in CEGEP nursing need to pass this exam at the end of their technique to obtain their license to practice and fully begin their duties.
Without this certification, they must content themselves with remaining candidates for the practice of the nursing profession (CEPI). A CEPI nurse cannot practice without the supervision of a nurse, which puts additional pressure on health personnel. In addition, a CEPI cannot access certain positions and her training is slowed down.
“All we want is to take on more responsibility. There, we must be content to remain CEPI. I’m waiting for training for the operating room, but it’s delayed. It takes my result, ”explained Ann-Sophie Gauthier.
It’s the same story with several other CEPI nurses to whom QUB radio has spoken.
“We were told that the investigation was not supposed to penalize us, and there, we will wait 12 weeks. They know it’s the test of our lives,” lamented Juliette, another student, who wishes to conceal her surname.
- Via listen to our research journalist Florence Lamoureux describe the problems that future nurses face at the microphone of Philippe-Vincent Foisy:
A “prudent” measure?
The OIIQ explains that following the high failure rate in the last certification exam last September, the Commissioner for Admission to Professions launched an investigation. Because of this investigation, the director of the Office of the President of the OIIQ, Colette Ouellet, specifies that the Order prefers “to act with caution” and “to make additional validations”, which prolongs the correction time.
For his part, Commissioner Me André Gariépy believes that the current situation is the responsibility of the Order, and that he has given no instructions regarding the correction of the exam.
For now, the students we spoke to feel like they “have to fight” to do their job. By denouncing the situation, they hope that their voices will be heard by the Order, and that they will have their results in a much shorter time.
