# CRNBC registration and SEC assessment- registered nurses



## Chelleycole (Feb 27, 2014)

Hello Fellow registered nurses in the UK and BC.

I am in hope that someone will be able to help. I will be sitting my SEC assessment in Kwantlen Polytechnic university in septemeber 2014. I have been asked to sit the 2 day general assessment. 
I am currently working my way through the information on the crnbc website for registered nurses. Nursing standards and professional standards.
I have been reading on other forums that most people fail the 2 day assessment and have to do some form of training whether that be online or placement in BC.
Am I right in thinking that mostly the reasons for failure are Canadian terminology or there other areas that uk nurses are likely to fail on. I am a adult trained nurse with over 10 years experience in various areas currently in elderly rehabilitation and community setting.
I was trained as a senior nurse advisor for NHS direct and have had various training on children, mental health and learning disabilities and maternity- does any of these areas come up in the general nursing 2 day assessment or is it purely adult.
any help would be greatly appreciated as I am getting very stressed that I am going to have to return to do a 1 year re entry programme and I have a 19 month daughter, husband and job to which I wouldn't be able to do this. Obviously I want to be as prepared as I can to stop that happening as we want to relocate to BC as soon as possible.
Many thanks Michelle


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I used to work in health care in the Metro Vancouver area (hospital setting, non nursing role) and from my experience within my department and what I've seen on the ward, I think that the main stumbling blocks to success for a new-to-Canada nurse are the Canadian terminology and the fact that a good number of new-to-Canada nurses are not necessarily from a region of the world where English is their first language (NHS England surely has the same issue(s), no?)... there has been talk of possibly implementing an English language proficiency requirement which has met with a good deal of "that's racist" type resistance and hasn't really been implemented (which, as an ethnic myself, I think is completely nuts... if a patient is coding and the doc is screaming out orders, if you can't understand _everything_ that is going on and being said, then you have absolutely _no_ business being on scene... it's bad enough if you can't understand every day conversational English on the job but when a patient is dying, there's just no excuse for it)

The first issue you should be able to overcome by revising Canadian terminology and the second issue shouldn't be a problem for you at all, given that you're from the UK and will have had your entire career conducted in the English language. 

One helpful hint would be to remember to include a review of Canadian generic pharmaceutical names as the drug names used in Canada can and often do differ from the BAN you will have been used to... acetaminophen is paracetamol, lidocaine is lignocaine, furosemide is frusemide, meperidine is pethidine etc etc... if you can source a Canadian reference for generic drug names (as opposed to a USA source), this would be helpful as well because drug names between Canada and the United States, whilst almost universally the same, also have some minor variations (my training was as a pharmacy technician, as if you couldn't tell  ).


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

One other thing I just remembered... if you're a keener and want to get to know Canadian drugs, you might be interested in looking at the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS)... it's the Canadian equivalent to the BNF, but unlike the BNF, it's big, it's blue, it's bulky, it's got small print and is published annually. You'll likely encounter it (or the online equivalent) on the ward (perhaps a year or two out of date) and has pretty much every drug available in Canada.

I


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## Chelleycole (Feb 27, 2014)

Thankyou for your reply, I'm struggling to find any reference books at the moment, it I search online they're generally from Canada or the US in which case take about 4-6 weeks to ship. We're flying to Vancouver on the 19th if September.! Do u know if any sites online or places Online that I am able to revise from?


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## Brockthebadger (May 11, 2012)

Lippincott's Canadian CRNE Exam Prep Schow, Elaine/ Murray, Christina
Is available on ebay's uk site. Ships from UK!
It may provide you with some example test papers etc.

Canadian Registred Nurses Association also has some study prep guides on their website.

Hope that helps


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## Chelleycole (Feb 27, 2014)

Thankyou very much


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## Brockthebadger (May 11, 2012)

From Derby! We emigrated from there to BC! I am a retired RMN! Good luck.


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## Chelleycole (Feb 27, 2014)

Can anyone help on advice of what to wear on the SEC assessment days. do i need to wear current uniform or is every day /normal clothes acceptable


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## Brockthebadger (May 11, 2012)

Don't know the answer. Dress casually and take a pair of scrubs and shoes just in case. Call or email them the day before is another thougt.


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## cvekowalska (Nov 25, 2014)

*Sec crnbc*

Hi Chellycole,
How did you go with the SEC assessment?

I am on the impression that all international qualified RN's need to sit the SEC, but I was wrong!
I received the decision from CRNBC and I an not being required to sit the SEC nor do any coursework!
All I need to do is to endorse my American License exam to them and pass the criminal check!


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