Starting Monday, nursing grads in Nova Scotia will be given an unlimited number of attempts to pass their final exam.
Under previous policy, nursing grads in the province used to have a maximum limit of three attempts to pass the national test known as the NCLEX-RN. If they failed, the only way to become a registered nurse would be to re-do their entire nursing degree.
Denise Ross, a nursing grad, said she's happy with the new policy.
"I woke up this morning and I was still smiling," she told CTV Atlantic. "I feel like it's going to make a huge difference."
Registered nurse Amber Shute had to take her final exam three times. She said she's glad future grads will have unlimited attempts.
"It really sets you back, so I just wanted to make sure that nobody else had to go through what I went through," she said.
The College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia made the decision to scrap the three-attempt limit. The college said it no longer requires the limit to ensure public safety, because the exam is a computer adaptive test. That means the test changes every time someone takes it.
"The design features and security features of the new exam means that no one writes the same exam twice," Heather Totton of the college said. "That ensures that the exam is truly measuring the graduate's ability to practice nursing safely."
The province's nurses' union had been calling on the college to make the change to the examination process. Now, both agree that once a grad passes the test they are competent, no matter how many times they have to try.
Nova Scotia is the fourth province in Canada to give nursing grads unlimited attempts to pass the NCLEX-RN. New Brunswick made the change last year, and Alberta, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador also recently decided to make the change.
With a report from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell
