Canadian Registered Nurse Examination: June 2010 – May 2015

CRNE Reports & Statistics

Each provincial or territorial nursing regulatory body in Canada is responsible for ensuring that the individuals it registers as nurses meet an acceptable level of competence before beginning to practise. The level of competence of registered nurses in all provinces and territories except Quebec is measured, in part, by the CRNE.

Statistics on CRNE writers provide not only useful information about the candidates’ performances but also a snapshot of new nurses ready to enter the Canadian nursing workforce. The CRNE is required for all nurses registering in Canada except for those in Quebec, and it is usually the last requirement nurses meet before achieving licensure.

Candidates writing the CRNE consist of Canadian-educated new graduates and internationally educated nurses seeking to be registered in Canada for the first time. The following reports provide statistical information on nurse candidates who have written the CRNE, including numbers, demographics and success rates. They may be of particular interest to policy-makers, analysts, health human resources planners, educators and researchers. The National Report also identifies the top source countries of internationally educated nurses for the calendar year.

The CRNE National Report describes all candidates who wrote the CRNE during the last examination cycle (June 2008, October 2008 and February 2009 examination sittings). For details on the contents of this report, click here.

CRNE Jurisdictional Reports describe candidates in a given jurisdiction who wrote the CRNE during the last examination cycle (June 2008, October 2008 and February 2009 examination sittings). As these reports may contain confidential information, they are not publicly available and must be requested from a jurisdiction’s regulatory body. For details on the contents of these reports, and jurisdiction contact information, click here.

The CRNE Nursing School Program Reports describe candidates who were educated by a particular nursing school program and who wrote the CRNE in a given reference period. The reports can be produced either for an examination cycle or for an individual examination sitting, and are available only to nursing schools who request them. For details on the contents of these reports, and how to order, click here.

CRNE Bulletins

CRNE Bulletins keep you informed about the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination and provide a snapshot of new nurses ready to enter the workforce. The latest statistical bulletin (#12) provides information on the candidates who wrote the CRNE in the 2008 calendar year. Bulletin #13 keeps you informed of issues related to the CRNE and of the upcoming changes, such as the revised list of competencies and blueprint (French and English versions of the exam combined), as well as comparisons with previous years’ data. Previous bulletins provide information on such topics as:

the revised list of competencies and the examination blueprint;
the process to develop the exam and the people who make it happen;
the steps involved for the preparation of exam results; and
updates on the LeaRN CRNE Readiness Test.

To view these bulletins (downloadable PDF files), please click here.

CRNE National Report

General description

The CRNE National Report describes the candidates writing the CRNE during an examination cycle. The latest report covers the 2008-09 examination cycle, during which time candidates were given three opportunities to write the CRNE: June 4, 2008, October 8, 2008, and February 4, 2009. The report contains the following information:

Executive Summary

Section I: Methodology used to collect and validate the CRNE data. At the end are definitions of CRNE terminology and a glossary of statistical terms.

Section II: National summary statistics. These statistics are separated into data on writers of the CRNE and writers of the French-language version, l’Examen d’autorisation infirmière au Canada (EAIC). The statistics include the following data:

numbers and percentages of first-time and repeat writers by jurisdiction
numbers and percentages of first-time and repeat writers who passed or failed the exam
average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed as a percentage for first-time and repeat writers
numbers and percentages of first-time writers by location of education
pass rates for first-time writers by location of education
numbers of female and male first-time writers by location of education

Section III: Categorized data on writers of the CRNE and the EAIC. This section contains the average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed as a percentage of first-time writers only for the following blueprint categories¹:

taxonomies (cognitive and affective domains – 4 categories)
competencies (4 categories)
health care recipient (3 categories)
client age (5 categories)

Parts of Sections II and III are further subdivided in two groups of writers: Canadian-educated and internationally educated.

Ordering the CRNE National Report

The CRNE National Report can be ordered from CNA for a fee of $100 plus applicable taxes by using this order form.

The currently available national report is based on data from the 2008-09 examination cycle.

CRNE Jurisdictional Reports

CRNE Jurisdictional Reports describe the candidates in a given jurisdiction writing the CRNE during an examination cycle. The latest report covers the 2008-09 examination cycle, during which time candidates were given three opportunities to write the CRNE: June 4, 2008, October 8, 2008, and February 4, 2009.

Important: CRNE Jurisdictional Reports are not publicly available. Rather, they are produced solely for the respective jurisdictions, as they may contain confidential information. If you would like to receive a copy of a particular jurisdictional report (or information out of one) you must request it directly from the regulatory body in that jurisdiction (click here for contact details). That organization will identify what information, if any, can be shared with you.

CRNE Jurisdictional Reports contain the following information:

Section I: Methodology used to collect and validate the CRNE data. At the end are definitions of CRNE terminology and a glossary of statistical terms.

Section II: Summary statistics on candidates writing the CRNE in the given jurisdiction. These statistics are separated into data on writers of the CRNE and writers of the French-language version, l’Examen d’autorisation infirmière au Canada (EAIC). The statistics include the following data:

numbers and percentages of first-time and repeat writers
numbers and percentages of first-time and repeat writers who passed or failed the exam
numbers and percentages of first-time and repeat writers who passed or failed presented by jurisdictional nursing education program
average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed in percentages for first-time and repeat writers

Section III: Categorized data on writers of the CRNE and the EAIC. This section contains the average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed as a percentage of first-time writers only for the following blueprint categories:

taxonomies (cognitive and affective domains – 4 categories)
competencies (4 categories)
health care recipient (3 categories)
client age (5 categories)

Most of the results in Sections II and III of the Jurisdictional Reports are subdivided into three groups of writers: those educated in the given jurisdiction, other Canadian-educated and internationally educated writers.

CRNE Nursing School Program Reports

General Description

CRNE Nursing School Program Reports describe the candidates who were educated by a particular nursing school program and who wrote the exam in a given reference period. Initially, the intent was to produce these reports annually, that is, to have Examination Cycle Reports covering the results of all examination sittings in a given year. However, several programs have expressed interest in receiving reports relating to a specific examination date, that is, an Examination Sitting Report. As a result, nursing school programs have the option of specifying which of these two report styles they would prefer.

Important: CRNE Nursing School Program Reports are not publicly available. Rather, they are produced solely for the respective nursing school programs, as they may contain confidential information.

Both types of CRNE Nursing School Program Reports contain the following information:

Section I: Methodology used to collect and validate the CRNE data. At the end are definitions of CRNE terminology and a glossary of statistical terms.

Section II: Summary statistics on the graduates of the given nursing school program, candidates educated in that jurisdiction and other Canadian-educated first-time writers. Where applicable, statistics on the graduates are presented separately for writers of the CRNE and writers of the French-language version of the examination, l’Examen d’autorisation infirmière au Canada (EAIC). These summary statistics include the average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed in percentages. This section also presents performance information by the following CRNE blueprint categories:

taxonomies (cognitive and affective domains – 4 categories)
competencies (4 categories)
health care recipient (3 categories)
client age (5 categories

Section III: Statistics on first-time writers who failed. This section is included only if the number of failed candidates is sufficient according to privacy requirements (i.e., five or more failed candidates). Performance statistics on the program-educated first-time writers who failed the exam are presented alongside performance information on the program-educated writers who passed the exam. The statistics include the average, minimum, maximum, median and standard deviation of the scores expressed in percentages.This section also presents performance information by the following blueprint categories:

taxonomies (cognitive and affective domains – 4 categories)
competencies (4 categories)
health care recipient (3 categories)
client age (5 categories)

Ordering CRNE Nursing School Program Reports

As a gesture of appreciation, CNA will provide one free report to programs from which one or more faculty members have volunteered in a CRNE development or marking activity in the previous calendar year. For example, if a nursing school program submits a request in 2009 for a report based on an examination sitting (from any year), the report will be provided free of charge if a faculty member volunteered in 2008. At the time the report is mailed out, CNA will advise whether it is being provided without charge or as a billable item.

Recommended Schedule for Ordering CRNE Reports

Type of Report	CNA Receives Data (estimated)	Recommended Period for Placing Your Order	Mail-out Period (estimated)
Examination Sitting Report: June writers	September	June-September	mid-October
Examination Sitting Report: October writers	January	October-January	mid-March
Examination Sitting Report: February writers	May	February-May	mid-June
Examination Cycle Report (all writers)	Data compiled in June	February-May	late June
Back orders (examination sitting or cycle reports)		Back orders can be submitted at any time; however, current orders for sitting or cycle reports will take precedence	as completed
Please note: When completing an order form, you will be asked whether or not you would like the same report to be generated automatically on an annual basis (pending sufficient data). Responding ”Yes” to this question will eliminate the need to re-submit an order for the same report in the future.

CRNE Nursing School Program Reports can be ordered from CNA for a fee of $75 plus applicable taxes by using this order form.

CNA is pleased to be able to make the detailed information included in these reports available to nursing school programs. For further information, please contact Peter Smith at psmith@cna-aiic.ca or 1-800-361-8404, ext. 347.

References

^1. Blueprint for the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination, June 2005-May 2010 can be ordered from the CNA bookstore at www.cna-aiic.ca.

Home Nursing in Canada Canadian Registered Nurse Examination: June 2010 – May 2015 CRNE Reports & Statistics