Aussie nurse studying NCLEX

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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!

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Congratulations on getting the ok to sit NCLEX and all the best for the exam.

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well, i had a look thru the NCLEX thread on here that Suzanne does, so have just bought the 'saunders comprehensive review for nclex-rn exam' book/cd rom off amazon. hopefully this will be enough to get me going. i'd still be interested to hear from any aussie's that have done/or are doing the exam though. and also keen to find out about penalty rates(if any). thanks!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Hi, susieok,

I don't know much about sitting the NCLEX outside the US but I would be glad to share payrates. They do vary and nurses on the west coast (Wahington State, Oregon and California) usually make more than other areas of the country. Rates usually go by experience, (I have over 20 years).I live in the Pacific Northwest region of the US. My basic pay is 39.00 an hour + 5 dollars an hour for night shift, 1.50/ hour weekends, + 2.00/ hour when I am in charge. Holidays are paid at time and a half with an extra day added in to your vacation/sick hours. I get 5 weeks vacation/sick time per year, that goes up to 10 weeks if you work in my particular system for 20 years (I've been here for 3.) Overtime starts after 36 hours (we do 3 12 hour shifts a week) and is paid at up to 1.7 x base pay, then add your differentials (what you call penalties). My hospital system is non-union, I think we nurses are well treated and well-respected, and I really do love it here. That said, the reason I came across your post is because our family of 6 may immigrate to New Zealand sometime in the next 2-3 years! I hope some of this information is helpful, one thing that can be said for the US system, it is supply and demand and we nurses are in incredibly high demand, particularly in speciality areas like ICU, Emergency and OR. Good luck on your test, if you were a good student just review the study guides a few times, especially any areas of weakness. When you take your test, use your common sense! You will do fine, please post when you pass with flying colors! Erika

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Try to answer about 5000 NCLEX type questions for the next 10 weeks. Do a certain amount of questions every day. Use various materials. Utilize Kaplan, Saunders all that you can get a hold off. Try ordering used cd's/books from ebay America. Buy from people that are willing to ship overseas. I did a four day NCLEX workshop and I studies for about 2 month answering questions every day. Sorry gave all my study aids away.

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thanks for all the information. i just got the saunders comp r/v book delivered and will most likely utilize the kaplan online testing as well. looking at sitting it in april now, so have got a good 10 weeks of study to do. thanks again.

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take the NCSBN online review. The presentation of the review questions are very similar to the NCLEX. It was the best!

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Specializes in oncology/respiratory/emergency.

hi

i am a brisbane hospital trained rn. i did my bachelor or nursing post reg.

i am interested in working in ca - usa. does anyone know do i need obstetrics/pediatrics to get a licence in the us? we didn't do obs clinical in my training.

any information on the application process would be greatly appreciated.

cheers!

pedar72:confused:

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i'm stoked... got the "unofficial" PASS result for my NCLEX that i sat on Thursday in Sydney!!! weird... especially as i'm not that keen on going anymore... but really excited that i passed as it was a really tough/weird exam... walked out feeling like i had totally butchered it, but then the next day thought... 'no, i think i did okay', it really makes you question what's what...and common sense really does prevail at the end of the day as there was a good stretch of 5-10 Q that i had no real clue about, but ended up rationalising an answer give the ABC's! simple as that, well... almost as simple, but pretty samn close!

Pedar... i wish i could say otherwise... but YOU DO need ob/gyn plus peads to work in the US. you can't even sit the exam without these... go thru Deakin Uni in Victoria to do the bridging courses. it takes a while, but if you are desperate to go, i know of no other way of getting there faster than just getting the bridging courses done. without the min theory/prac requirements you honestly wont get recoginised at any nurse state board. sure... it sux, but that's just the way it is. let me know if you want any further info.

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HELLO!

How often are the nclex-rn exams sat in Sydney? I don't know why i'm under the impression that they only sit the exam in oz ONCE a year?? Is that true? Or is it the same as in the US (6 days a week it's available). I cannot find any info ANYWHERE about how often the international testing centers sit the NCLEX-RN exams- particularly in Sydney!!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
HELLO!

How often are the nclex-rn exams sat in Sydney? I don't know why i'm under the impression that they only sit the exam in oz ONCE a year?? Is that true? Or is it the same as in the US (6 days a week it's available). I cannot find any info ANYWHERE about how often the international testing centers sit the NCLEX-RN exams- particularly in Sydney!!

NCLEX is not twice a year but on days that the center has available and NCLEX can only be sat at pearsonvue whcih is the only center approved to administer it

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Silverdragan is right. Personvue is the company that administers the exam via computer. as i sat the exam 4 years ago, things may have changed. but from memory you could sit the exam 3-4 times a year on set dates in their office at St Leonards. Maybe google person vue?? hope this helps...

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