In 2022, the pass rate of all those who took the September exam for the first time was 51.4%, one of the lowest ever. As of 2018, the success rate is typically between 71% and 96%.
To explain these findings, OIIQ Admissions Director Chantal Lemay had questioned the pandemic-related restrictions that candidates were facing this year, affirming that the composition of the exam questions from previous years has not changed have.
However, in a first progress report on his investigation, published on Wednesday, Commissioner André Gariépy says the unusually low success rate has prompted him to test two hypotheses: does the investigation have methodological flaws? And has the candidate’s training adequately prepared them to pass the exam?
“At this stage of the investigation, it is premature to comment on the causes of the low pass rate for the September 2022 exam and the training of the candidates. »
— A quote from an excerpt from the Office of Professional Licensing Commissioner’s investigation
The commissioner does not specify the nature of these elements of concern, but does point out that his team is analyzing the information more closely to establish it [leur] Impact on candidate results.
He also reiterates that the analysis of the hypotheses that would explain the low pass rate in the OIIQ exam leads to the conclusion that the candidates have probably suffered prejudice on their way to professional integration.
In Quebec, every second nurse has a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Photo: Getty Images
In his 20-page document, he recommends several urgent measures to help candidates, including postponing the next exam session, scheduled for March 2023.
Based on current knowledge of the exam situation and with concerns to be further investigated, it would be unwise to require every candidate to appear at the next exam session, the Commissioner said.
It also recommends taking precautionary measures for the more than 200 candidates who failed the last exam a third time and were disqualified from being admitted to the profession.
“In the context of tensions among health workers, it would be unfair to permanently disqualify candidates who failed a third time at the September 2022 session.”
— A quote from an excerpt from the Office of Professional Licensing Commissioner’s investigation
The Commissioner proposes to allow these people to take another exam and return them CEPI (candidate to practice nursing) status, which will allow them to work in the field temporarily, maintain and consolidate their skills, and receive contributions to health and social services.
The survey is “encouraging” for students.
The commissioner for admissions to the professions, who does not want to grant an interview until the conclusion of his ongoing investigation, says other progress reports with recommendations could be released without waiting for a full and final report.
The commissioner and his team bear in mind the urgent need for all parties to understand what happened and clarify the prospects for the future, the document concludes.
Responding to this report, a nursing student who failed her first attempt at the OIIQ professional exam did not hide her relief.
The exam in September was very difficult. […] It would be really good to wait for the investigation to be completed and to postpone the exam scheduled for March, Bénédicte Savard tells Radio-Canada and hopes that the postponement will not affect her academic career.
I’m really happy to see that the commissioner determined that there was damage. For us this is a big step. […] It’s really encouraging to see that [l’enquête] keep going, she added.
The office of Health Minister Christian Dubé responded by email and said it would read the analysis before making any further comments.
Of course, we hope that the Order of Nurses of Quebec will seriously consider the recommendations. We all want to recruit more nurses to our network, this is our top priority and we will do this by working with all our partners.
Documents rejected at Radio-Canada
In the margins of the investigation by the Commissioner for Admission to Professions, Radio-Canada has in recent weeks attempted to obtain numerous documents from the OIIQ through the Public Entity Documents Access Act.
For example, we wanted to consult the copies of the exams since 2020 to assess the content development with experts.
In its rejection response, the OIIQ specifically relies on Section 40 of the Act, which states that “a public body may not transmit a test designed to provide a comparative assessment of a person’s knowledge, skills, competences or experience until the end of the use of that test”.
The concept of discretion, which can be rejected with the expression, occurs several times in the Document Access Act.
The restrictions are far too numerous, not very specific and leave a wide margin of discretion that does not allow decisions to be made solely in the public interest, said the president of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec at the end of April. , Me Diane Poitras, while examining the funds.
In addition, we would like to receive a copy of the documents showing the plans to change the CEPI exam since January 2022.
Whilst we retain the minutes and opinions of the OIIQ Professional Examination Committee and the minutes of the OIIQ Board of Directors in relation to your request, we are not required to provide them as we do not retain them as part of the exercise of professional control within the meaning of Article 108.1 of the Code of Conduct, replied the person in charge of access to information at the OIIQ.
Papers submitted to the independent commissioner of the Office des professions du Québec were also rejected because they were likely to reveal the substance of an investigation or affect an ongoing investigation.
In collaboration with Daniel Boily and Jacaudrey Charbonneau.