USask NP Graduates Exceed National Average on Examination

University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Nursing nurse practitioner (NP) graduates must pass an approved licensing exam prior to registering and practicing as an NP. Approved examinations for registration vary depending on where a graduate wishes to practice as a nurse practitioner.

The Canadian Nurse Practitioner Exam (CNPE) (Family All Ages) remains the most common written exam, particularly in Saskatchewan. Other options include the Family NP examination with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC).

Recently, the College of Nursing learned there was a 90% pass rate for USask NP graduates* who wrote the AANP exam in the 2023 year.

“College of Nursing nurse practitioner graduates continue to score well on NP licensing exams, which is encouraging,” said Janet Luimes, NP program lead with the College of Nursing. “Not only did the writers pass the examinations, their scores also exceeded the national average in 2023.”

Dr. Louise Racine (PhD) is the College of Nursing associate dean research and graduate studies. She says everyone who is part of the nurse practitioner program should be proud of these results. “The Master of Nursing Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner program is our flagship graduate nursing program and is highly sought after. We have a large number of applicants from across Canada and applications keep increasing year over year.”

To ensure NP graduates are educated to provide safe, competent, quality care and meet the criteria for licensure through a national certification exam, College of Nursing NP programs are regularly reviewed by the College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS) regulatory body. In 2022, the NP program received the highest level of approval possible from the CRNS – a seven-year program approval.

*for those graduates who chose to disclose their results to our program.