Passing scores in the voluntary special nursing exam retake, administered last year simultaneously with the June and December Nurse Licensure Examinations, is not just a U.S. CGFNS VisaScreen requirement afterall as Canada's British Columbia also requires the same from June 2006 nurse applicants seeking licensure and employment in British Columbia.
The Department of Labor (DoLE) and the Professional Regulation Commission have always maintained that failing or simply not taking the voluntary special nursing exam retake will not affect the status of the license of June 2006 nurses as the voluntary exam retake was simply meant to enhance their "employability" abroad.
The Labor department, on its website, added that those who failed will simply not qualify for U.S. VisaScreen Certificate issued by the US Commission on Graduates of a Foreign Nursing School (CGFNS).
The DoLE statement is correct but not entirely accurate as failing the special retake also meant disqualification from prospective licensure and subsequent employment in Canada's British Columbia.
This was learned by Pinoy R.N. after a nurse who applied for licensure in the Canadian province shared with this blogger a copy of the letter by the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC) requiring the submission of passing scores in the special retake prior to being made eligible.
The nurse added that a few other Canadian provinces also have the same requirement.
Out of the 17,821 examinees who passed the compromised June 2006 Nurse Licensure Examination, only 9,927 nurses successfully passed the special retake of the nursing board exams administered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in June and December last year.
Some of the June 2006 Nurses opted not to retake the exams in the hopes of seeking employment elsewhere like Canada as the special exam retake was largely viewed back then as a U.S.-only requirement.