A newly graduate nurse' questions for the California NCLEX

World Registration

Published

Hi! I'm a newly graduate from a nursing school in the Philippines and also, a US Citizen. I am planning to take the NCLEX in California. I have read some stories here in allnurses.com and decided to ask some of the questions that I have in mind.1. In what i have read in some thread, one problem is that they did not have their theoretical and clinical at the same time. Will it also become a problem to me if our curriculum is a new one where we are simultaneously given the theoretical and clinical in the same semester? 2. I have heard that the NCLEX requires applicants to have 5 DR, NICU and OR (Circulating and scrub) cases. But during our clinical exposure, we were only required to take 3 cases for DR, NICU and OR so now, i'm lacking 2 cases for each. What am I going to do :(3. I'm planning on taking the licensure exam here in the Philippines this May. IF I fail (please let me pass), will it be better for me to go back to California and send my application for NCLEX and wait for the reply mail and see what subjects/units i am required to take to be qualified to take the exam OR take the exam again on December? I just want to see some of my options :)4. What are the requirements for the NCLEX because i checked the www(.)rn(.)ca(.)gov and i got nothing :( THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Replies are much appreciated. =)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When you say "newly graduate", do you mean you have already graduated by the 2013 year-end or you will be graduating this 2014?

In either cases, hoping to get an answer from the CA BRN (ATT approval) for the evaluation of your courses is going to exceed your May 2014 plans to take the NCLEX-RN even if all goes well.

I'm not sure if the moderators might move your questions to the "World" section under the "Nurse Registration", as there are more likely others in this situation (again depending on your grad year) and gather more answers.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I always wonder why most of the posts I see regarding foreign graduates taking nursing licensure want to be licensed in California. Is something special Cali has in reference to foreign graduates? The weather? The apparent higher wages? I mean there are other 49 states but I see all the time that foreign nurses want info in applying to Cali. Just wondering out of curiosity if someone knows why?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MICU.

I would assume it would depend on WHERE they're from - If they're from the South Pacific, then California is an very large entry point , where on the East coast, NYC and Miami are very popular entry points. I'm not sure you'll hardly ever see someone form the Philippines say I'm going to Nebraska.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Thread moved for best response

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I would assume it would depend on WHERE they're from - If they're from the South Pacific then California is an very large entry point , where on the East coast, NYC and Miami are very popular entry points. I'm not sure you'll hardly ever see someone form the Philippines say I'm going to Nebraska.[/quote']

Well that does makes a lot of sense. But given the hardships and hurdles to get a license in California i would think people would look for a friendlier State in terms of getting an RN license with foreign education, from what i read in this forum getting one in California is a hard and long process.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Department.

To the Original Poster... about your first question: having clinical and classroom subjects taught in the same semester is what's known as "concurrency" and (to keep things simple) California requires that the same clinical and classroom subject must be taught in the same semester. If your program does that, and your transcripts will show that, you should be fine on that end and you'll probably be past the first hurdle. The fact that you're a US Citizen will help with the next hurdle for California licensure. What you need to look at for requirements is the California B&P Code and the California Code of Regulations. Those sections of California Law outline exactly what is required of applicants. Expect that your transcripts will be gone over with a very fine-toothed comb because of issues that have occurred with foreign educated applicants.

If you want to have a chance at taking the NCLEX for California licensure this May, I suggest you get going on submitting your application. There's a chance that you could be "out" the licensing fee though. That's not going to be easy as you probably will have to have your University's transcripts evaluated before you can even get going to the application part...

I suspect that this won't happen by May because of the processes involved. I could be wrong, but I just don't see this being a fast process.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi ftisland! Im a registered nurse in the philippines batch 2010...

Im here in texas ryt now I took nclex yestrday for the first time, I did self review for like 6-7weeks, I was anxious bout it cos of the time frame I got so I told myself I have to pass it so I maximize my time review like nyt nd day if I could:)

My classmate took the lvn exam in Ca she had problems wd the papers thats y she ended up taking the lvn exam instead bt I dont know exactly what it was..

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It is only because my parents live there in California and I also considered on working in another state but my parents said "NO" immediately. I don't know what is in California but i might tell you what is in it once i started working there... hopefully :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm a batch 2014 :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I'm a batch 2014 :)

The ones that graduated (2013) under the 3-3-3 course plan were also to have been said to have had met the concurrency by all their deans were all faced with denial letters, maybe there have been a few who made it thru, if somehow they did not "adjust or altered" their paperwork so that it would be "concurrent" and were truly lucky to do the subjects in a concurrent manner.

With you being a brand new 2014, you and your batchmates will be the first ones to see whether the CHED and the schools finally got their act together.

With that said, the best way to know whether or not, they both (your school and the CHED) did their jobs correctly, to find out if you do in fact, do meet the CA BRN standards is to simply submit your application as any other international student. You'll be the first to test the waters.

While you can read thru the CA Nursing practice act and everything else, then to try to decode the CA BRN formula to see if it matches okay with your transcripts, you'll go crazy trying to figure it out.

As it was mentioned by another poster, take your chances, just know any and all application fees is non-refundable once they open the package to start processing.

If you read the CA nursing forum in the other section, you'll find that just for the CA local new grads, they are already facing a 90 day delay in their application processing, let alone, add a few more months for the international applicants, so the truth to the matter is, this May to get approved is highly unlikely to happen.

But this does give you plenty of time to start studying for the NCLEX today and study hard as the percentage of passing the first time for foreign students statistically is a low 30-35% vs 80-85% for US new grads. You can read that most of the posting on the NCLEX discussion comprises mostly of PH students-nurses, there are more re-takers than first-time passers, but it is possible.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hi ftisland! Im a registered nurse in the philippines batch 2010...

Im here in texas ryt now I took nclex yestrday for the first time, I did self review for like 6-7weeks, I was anxious bout it cos of the time frame I got so I told myself I have to pass it so I maximize my time review like nyt nd day if I could:)

My classmate took the lvn exam in Ca she had problems wd the papers thats y she ended up taking the lvn exam instead bt I dont know exactly what it was..

Here's a quick snapshot of the issue your classmate faced, it's a position statement that even the Phillipines Nursing Assoc. of America agrees 100% with the CA BRN decision to enforce the concurrency rules (that have been established in 1987 and went into the stricter enforcement in Nov. 2011): https://allnurses.com/nurse-registration/position-statement-concurrency-901106.html

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment