the american dream: do not lose hope

[rookie_rn]

there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of posts here pertaining to the current immigration and economic situation of the us. in addition, the situation is also being played out in the media all over the world (i would think). with all of these information out there, i think most, if not all, foreign nurses are already aware of the sad realities of wanting to work in the us.

i got the following lines from the novel the alchemist by paulo coelho:

"... the soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness... to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation...

and, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

so, to all my fellow pinoy rns out there who are still dreaming of one day being able to work in the us as a registered nurse, don't lose hope. do not be discouraged. you will meet a lot of people who get pleasure from splashing water over the smallest ember of hope that you may have. but, no one could/should ever tell you that your dreams are beyond your reach.

in my opinion, we are all brothers/sisters in the world of nursing and we should be benevolent enough to welcome and help our colleagues on their way in as we, ourselves, may be on our way out.

ignis fraternum eterna est

(the flames of our brotherhood will burn forever)

[Hushdawg]

To clarify, the NCLEX does not give a score, just pass or fail. The average US nurse has a fail rate of 10% the Philippine nurse have a fail rate about 50%.

To train a foreign grad correctly in the US it costs $40K while a US new grad is $15k.

I think the cost ratio is a bit unfair to add to this discussion. Obviously there will be a higher training cost because the education is different, there is no less adjustment for any US nurse going to work in another country since medicines and terms are different. We are starting to see training programs here in the Philippines though that directly address this issue so we should start seeing those numbers seriously drop over the next 4-5 years after Retrogression is lifted.

I understand the pass/fail system. I am referring to the % of passers as the "score" for the Philippines.

I think your statement of % is inaccurate. According to the 2008 NCSBN report US testers posted an 82% pass rate, not 90 for NCLEX-RN.

Also, the pass rate for repeat takers went from the 44% mark down to 40%.

Here's the mark: https://www.ncsbn.org/NCLEX_Stats_2008_Q3.pdf

As for isloated Philippine numbers I am having a hard time finding those for 2008, the closest I came was 2006 NCSBN detailed report which shows that there is a 60% pass rate for Philippine-educated nurses.

So there is a 20% gap.

Big deal.

Why big deal? Because the nurses who are obtaining licensure from the Philippines by passing NCLEX are going through a longer and more difficult process than American nurses, so this means that a Pinoy NCLEX passer is no worse than an American NCLEX passer because the exam itself is exactly the same. The only thing that these numerical gaps can show is that on the whole, Philippine nursing schools are 20% worse than American nursing schools.

That's it.

That's all the numbers really prove.

[rookie_rn]

So how does a recruiter tell the difference? How does the interviewer know which route the person before them took to get their BSN in the Philippines? As someone who may have little or no knowledge of how things work there, how does the person doing the hiring know they're getting someone who is truly a well-educated and skilled nurse? It would seem that the people from Capital Health in Alberta did NOT get what they thought they were getting, as evidenced by the group who are now working as LPNs when they were hired as RNs. Should they be suspicious of applicants from the Philippines, or should they just take the applicant's word for it that they're really what they say they are? And then what do they tell the taxpayers whose money has been spent on this exercise when there is still just as large a shortage of qualified nurses at the bedside?

i guess, with this statement, you have already made up your mind about ALL nurses from the Philippines.

all i can do is pray that the Lord may take away the prejudice and bias (and hate?) that is in your heart.

may you and your family and all your loved ones have a wonderful thanksgiving and a merry Christmas too! :nuke:

[pinkroyalty18, LPN, LVN]

i did not make general conclusions..pls read posts carefully before attacking people

was i personally attacking you? no rockandrollrn..i was merely trying to let you see the other side of the Philippine nurses.You were so caught up in the idea that we just paid for our cases,we went to so-so schools,and all those remarks. You only see those things because thats what you only wanted to see. You totally disregard the nurses who got their degrees the right way.

And we are not really discussing about our country here so no need to for those "where other countries will you find that?".

[pinkroyalty18, LPN, LVN]

excuse me..i was not llooking down at people..PLS read posts before you jump to conclusions....

not stated but implied...

[NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN]

I honestly believe that anybody can take an exam as long as they have the tools to study for it. There are people in the US who are able to take the NCLEX and pass it with out ever stepping in a nursing class or clinical setting. One of my instructors stated that there was a study of some kind awhile back. Anyhow, as long as you have review materials you can pass the exam. For some of the nurses that come from the Philippines, what might be a problem in passing the NCLEX is the language barrier. Yes, some of them can understand, read, & write English, but others it's pretty obvious that their skills are not up to par. That could be one of the reasons why their pass rate is slightly over 40%-60%, or whatever it may be.

As for the accusations about Filipino nurses being hated. I think that's a cop out, nobody on here has stated that they hate Filipino nurses. What posters on this board have stated is the reality on what's going on in the US right now. It's called "get a clue" and have a back up plan because Plan A is on a hault right now. It's like winning the lottery, there's a slim chance you're going to win. Are you going to quit your day job because there's hope that you're going to win the jackpot? I would hope not because, winning the lottery is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Just like obtaining a visa to come to the US, it's also like finding a needle in a hay stack. There's a possibility, but chances are really diminishing.

Nobody is saying to lose hope, look at reality, and adjust your "American Dream" according to the situation. Take a different path in life because the original path is closed for the moment. Who knows, maybe in a few years that path might open again, and when it's open you will be even more ready to journey down that path more so than you would be at this moment in time. Or who knows, maybe the new path that you have decided to take ends up being rewarding.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Closing this thread for some time out.