Dealing with the CRNBC

The CRNBC is the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia. They're the regulatory body of nurses in this province.

The forms for IENs are located here:
http://www.crnbc.ca/downloads/FormIntl.pdf

However, before you fill the forms out, you need to make sure that you're eligible. The eligibility criteria are located in detail at http://www.crnbc.ca/downloads/InterntalRegPrep.pdf

Here's the eligibility requirements, summarized:

1. English
For IENs, this usually means an English test of some sort. The most common one I've seen is IELTS due to it being accepted in many countries. CELBAN is the English test specifically for Canadian nursing, but it's more expensive.

More details about the English requirement are at http://www.crnbc.ca/downloads/501.pdf

2. Registration
A very important point: You must be a Registered Nurse in the following places:
a) Where you got your nursing education
b) Every place where you have worked as a nurse

This almost disqualified me, as only Filipino citizens can be registered nurses in the Philippines. (Thank God for dual citizenship.)

Oh, by the way, the CRNBC will also check if you've ever had disciplinary action against you as a nurse.

3. Education
The CRNBC only deals with those who were trained to be RNs. Doctors, PNs, nursing aides, etc will not be accepted unless they go back to school specifically for nursing.
Also, the nursing education you've completed must be post-secondary level (i.e. college or university). High school education doesn't count.
Finally, your nursing education must have covered the following topics: medicine, surgery, mental health, maternal health, and children’s nursing. If you didn't cover all of these, you may need to take a qualifying or completion program.

4. Nursing Competence

Directly from the CRNBC:
In the past five years, have you completed at least one of following:
• worked as a registered nurse for 1,125 hours
• completed a nursing re-entry program
• graduated from a basic nursing education program

So, if it's been at least five years since you've graduated from nursing, and you haven't practiced at least 1,125 hours (over five years), you will probably have to go back to school.

5. Criminal Record

Obviously the CRNBC doesn't want to have criminals treating clients.

That's basically it. You need to fulfill all of these requirements before the CRNBC will process your application. And of course the application fee needs to be paid (over $200 Canadian).

Update: ianebreech has stated that all June 2006 passers of the Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination must obtain a certified true copy of certification from either the Professional Regulation Commission or the Department of Labor and Employment stating that you've retaken (and passed) Test III and V. From his pre-assessment letter:

Before we can continue assessing your application for practising registration, we require the following:
A copy of your retake scores for the PRC's nursing exam. CRNBC applicants who passed the June 2006 Phil national nurse exam will be eligible to proceed with their CRNBC application by retaking and passing the compromised Tests 3 and 5 with a passing score of 75. Confirmation of the passing scores must be submitted directly to CRNBC from the PRC.

Thanks iane.