My NCLEX dilemma need help

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hi, i graduated my bsn this year 2012 in the philippines and i am a dual citizen (filipino/u.s citizen). i was not able to take my local boards due to time constraints. they told me to re-oath that i am filipino and have my voter's i.d before i could take the exams. that is why i missed to take it this coming june 30 and july 1

the problem

now my problem is.. my best friend is encouraging me to stay with her in california and prepare for my nclex as well. but i just learned of it's strict requirements. and it will consume a lot more time before obtaining my eligibility.

the options

1.) and now i have heard that illinois and oregon can process your eligibility in an average of 1 month and from my peer's personal experiences plus the ces that will took about 10 weeks (which is not bad after all)

2.) aside from staying california, some of my relatives told me to stay in new jersey or in new york. new york is also an option but i learned that it will take about 1 year for the eligibility but atleast there are lots of job opportunities in there (do you think so?)

my present situation

i think we will be leaving in august after our school requirements (tor and cali requirements) are done. but i am still thinking about applying in oregon since it is quite near in california.

goal

my goal is to earn a license so i could work as an rn or even an lpn. or any work just to make myself productive.

and i am looking forward to join the air force and be a military nurse.

1.) while im at the philippines should i prepare my requirements in oregon as well?

2.) should i pursue my application in california? and while waiting do you guys think of other job opportunities offered? is this the practical thing to do?

3.) or stay in new york get a job, and while the licensing in new york is quite long then should i take my license in illinois?

sorry for this long message, i need wise advices based from your personal experiences. your replies is very appreciated.

-confused-

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

NY, NJ and CA area all very tight job markets. So even getting licensed will not help you get a job as an RN without experience working as a nurse. You won't be able to become an LPN in NY or NJ as you have not graduated from a school of practical nursing.

Have you tried reading the numerous threads in the World > Advice on Immigration forum regarding issues with obtaining a license as an RN in CA for internationally educated nurses? There are many issues and many Filipino and other international nurses are being denied. Remember, you are not applying for NCLEX but applying for licensure as a nurse. Passing the NCLEX is only one step on the road to becoming a licensed nurse in the United States.

Be certain to check the requirements for licensure in the states that you are interested in as several require a license to practice nursing in the country that you were educated in. Since you are a dual citizen you should already have a social security number and rights to work within the United States (barriers to many non-citizen/non-permanent resident internationally educated nurses)

Best of luck in your dilemma.

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Specializes in Mental Health/Substance Abuse.

Have you looked into getting licensed in the compact states? I am licensed in Arizona and that gives me the ability to work in something like 13 other states. Here is the link https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc.htm.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
Have you looked into getting licensed in the compact states? I am licensed in Arizona and that gives me the ability to work in something like 13 other states. Here is the link https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc.htm.

However NLC is only valid if you are a permanent resident of the state that is participating in the nursing license compact. If you live in CA and have a AZ license your license will only be valid in AZ since you do not have a permanent AZ residence. However if you move to AZ, your license will be marked as valid in the NLC and you can then travel to other compact states to work with your license. Handy for travel nurses and nurses who live on the boarder of a NLC state.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

NCLEX can to taken anywhere in US and in overseas locations. Issue you have is deciding which state will accept your credentials as fulfilling their nursing education program requirements along with ability to obtain a nursing position due to tight job markets in most popular areas for IEN immigration: California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey..

Due to increased accuity of patients in hospitals, concerns regarding overall quality of RN education programs, decreased pass rates of IEN nurses and flood of applicants, increased scruitiny on QUALITY of nursing care provided to state residents, increased # of nurses with some state boards of nursing are more strictly enforcement of existing regulation.

Most notable is that clinical experiences must be concurrent with classroom instruction; Phillipine education programs require specific # cases to be performed in various aera of practe and may occur after end of clinical instruction.

International Nursing forum has many threads that may help you make this decision.

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thank you very much for your reply. Yes, I have learned of the requirements needed in Cali and Oregon. Isn't my BSN degree in the Philippines is not an exemption for learning a month or so of practical nursing ? so that hopefully I would take the written exams to measure my competency. and you are right, I know that Nclex is not just the step for acquiring NCLEX.

well, my cases would be a problem in cali because I got my OB cases when I was 3rd year which will be incongruent for them because I learned my Maternal Nursing during my 2nd year. Hopefully, my application in California will run smoothly since I just graduated this year with improved clinical hours.

and as for Oregon, nursing education must be evaluated by a CES, prior to obtaining eligibility. What I am concerned most is the long months of waiting for eligibility and etc. Since being a nurse Is what I learned to be, I am very eager to work in the health care team.But now that you told me that being an RN does not assures instant job, do they also accept volunteers? to gain experiences or rather join the military.?

Thank you for your reply :)

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
thank you very much for your reply. Yes, I have learned of the requirements needed in Cali and Oregon. Isn't my BSN degree in the Philippines is not an exemption for learning a month or so of practical nursing ? so that hopefully I would take the written exams to measure my competency. and you are right, I know that Nclex is not just the step for acquiring NCLEX.

well, my cases would be a problem in cali because I got my OB cases when I was 3rd year which will be incongruent for them because I learned my Maternal Nursing during my 2nd year. Hopefully, my application in California will run smoothly since I just graduated this year with improved clinical hours.

and as for Oregon, nursing education must be evaluated by a CES, prior to obtaining eligibility. What I am concerned most is the long months of waiting for eligibility and etc. Since being a nurse Is what I learned to be, I am very eager to work in the health care team.But now that you told me that being an RN does not assures instant job, do they also accept volunteers? to gain experiences or rather join the military.?

Thank you for your reply :)

Practical nursing programs are not month or so they are one to two years in length with more emphasis on clinical skills than most RN programs and a different scope of practice. While there is crossover, that is why in NY and NJ passing any registered professional nurse program is NOT considered equivalent. In these states, ad others, only graduates of practical nursing programs are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN and become licensed as an LPN.

California is one of the few states with an alternate "challenge" method of entry to practical nursing for military corpsman and others who have equivalent education but the LVN license is only valid in CA and not eligible for reciprocity to other states. You can check the CA BVNPT website for details on the other methods I believe alternate education is method #3.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Advice on Immigration forum,

Most states require CES or some other form of course assessment and most on average takes 2-4 months due to time it takes to get transcripts etc from nursing school.

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Ms.Angela....if you do apply into CA, you must also pass the local NLE nursing exam and licensed in the PH. It's a CA BON requirement, check it out in their website.

Try NV also, but just so you know any out of state RN license cannot be endorsed back into CA, as they will need your transcripts to be reviewed.

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Ms Angela,

If you are thinking US Military - they require a BSN from an approved NLNAC or CCNE which most overseas schools don't have.

Where do you plan to live ? That is where you should apply.

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