Aussie nurse studying NCLEX

[susieok]

hi... i've been given the ok to sit my NCLEX exam recently9went thru vermont state board) and had a few questions. i'm looking at sitting it in Sydney late March. i am doing it by myself, as couldn't commit to OGP- as i'm travelling sth america for 4-6 months in april and they needed me to be in Australia whilst everything is organised! also... a little scared of signing the contract knowing the exit fee is so great. haven't completely ruled them out though. anyhoo, my questions are:

1) has anyone else done the exam in sydney?

2) what study materials did you end up buying? (there seems to be so many options- Kaplan/Saunders etc) would you want to sell your old ones to me???

3) i was looking at studing for a solid 10 weeks... is this a bit ambitious of me? do i need more time to prepare?

4)do US nurses get paid penalty rates for nites/weekends/pub hols? if so... what % on the base rate?

i'd be interested to hear any info, as have read thru some posts and know a few aussie people, username 'augigi' etc, are/have been in the same boat.

thanks in advance!

[NeenersRN]

hi... i've been given the ok to sit my NCLEX exam recently9went thru vermont state board) and had a few questions. i'm looking at sitting it in Sydney late March. i am doing it by myself, as couldn't commit to OGP- as i'm travelling sth america for 4-6 months in april and they needed me to be in Australia whilst everything is organised! also... a little scared of signing the contract knowing the exit fee is so great. haven't completely ruled them out though. anyhoo, my questions are:

1) has anyone else done the exam in sydney?

2) what study materials did you end up buying? (there seems to be so many options- Kaplan/Saunders etc) would you want to sell your old ones to me???

3) i was looking at studing for a solid 10 weeks... is this a bit ambitious of me? do i need more time to prepare?

4)do US nurses get paid penalty rates for nites/weekends/pub hols? if so... what % on the base rate?

i'd be interested to hear any info, as have read thru some posts and know a few aussie people, username 'augigi' etc, are/have been in the same boat.

thanks in advance!

Hi Susie,

I will be applying to the California Nursing Board to see if my course meets the requirements to sit the NCLEX. However, I believe that I will need to take the Obstretrics and Pediatrics professional development course from Deakin University via distance learning. Is this what you took to fulfil the requirements. Can you please advise how long it took for the Nursing Board to process your application and which state did you apply to. Also, was it easy to organize clinicals as I was told that we would need to find them ourselves. Sorry, for so many questions but there isn't much information out there and everyone seems to be giving different answers. Thank You

[susieok]

I went through the Vermont State Board and it took approximately 4 months to process back in 2004/5. I did go through Deakin Uni to make up my paeds/obstetrics, that took about a year i think. The pracs were hard to come by... it was hard work, but finally got a placement. Best bet would be to ask around, maybe at the hospital you're already employed in. Although saying that, my hospital was unable to facilitate me, so i went about an hr north. Depending on where you live, you'll just have to put the word out there. hope this helps.