Considering nursing in career change

steppybay · Nov 30, 2012

I would very seriously consider your options to attend and get a degree from the Phils. There are plenty of topics here in the "Nurse Registration" section.

It's not about saving and taking the nursing courses at a fraction of a USA based school, going to a PH school/college for now is more of waste of the "saved" money. There's NO more demand for any PH nurses in the States (at least until 2020, according to a BBC article), the top priority hiring are of mostly US educated nurses.

There's been rumors that the CHED don't plan to meet the USA minimum standards until the year 2016, meaning to get the chance to take the NCLEX is very risky at best. Some have said CHED has already changed but I still think it remains to be seen if that's true. New PH grads of 2012 are still being denied, not only in CA but 14-15 other States.

Forget about trying to be a RN if you must remain the West Coast: CA, AZ, WA and NV are all enforcing the concurrency rules. Again, read on the other forum and section mentioned, you'll find plenty of good information. There are thousands of PH grads who have been denied the chance to take the NCLEX due to this. Someone reported that the CA BON has not issued any testings to the PH applicants in a year and that trend will remain in effect for years to come, but there are a few who somehow got lucky and able to get their ATT, however, I think they better pass the exam the first time as I really doubt the CA BON will allow them again and get caught with the concurrency web.

Again, with no nursing experience, in the States, one is considered to be a "new grad" if they apply and get lucky to be hired ONLY if it's within one year of their graduation date, NOT from the time they pass the NCLEX (this is true for both US and international grads).

So by the time, any foreign student gets thru the application process (in most States), months have gone by, then the time to prepare to take the exam becomes very limited and soon, the one year period to apply as a new grad is gone.

No matter what school in the Phils to find, it's up to you to really question them HARD on their student's success in getting a USA RN license, that they have NO problems with getting their transcripts approved by whatever State's BON you wish to apply to. You need to talk to the real students and NOT depend on any of the school's staff and members or their website, they will tell you anything you want to hear as long as they have your money.

Talk directly to the students who have "made it" in the States and with with of the more recent grads, not from the year 2008 or 2009 batch. Talk to their friends, to their relatives who have been successful in the States attending this school and again from 2011 to this year. The years prior may have been somewhat successful before the global economy took a dive into the ground.

care101 · Dec 1, 2012

Hello, steppybay. I've already read some of the posts in other threads, but the questions remain as there are differing opinions about it. I wholeheartedly appreciate your detailed inputs.

I wish to hear a comment from a recent graduate. I will also act on your advise on asking the school about a recent graduate who made it. For now there's no reply yet from the PH schools I sent emails to, clarifying the concurrency issue or what they have to say about it.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Dec 1, 2012

The school has been targeted as a scam school by several board of nursing. The school does not meet minimum standards for the country it is in ( it does not give you a BSN). Many states want a license from the country you attended school.As any IEN the chances of passing the NCLEx is low,around 30 percent, why put your self through these obstacles when you can go to school in the US even though you have to wait, the time maybe quicker in the US when you factor all the obstacles with your other plan.

avi8tor69 · Dec 28, 2012

I do not buy this "its more expensive" here in California to study nursing. That is just baloney. My total cost for my nursing degree at my local community college was about $3000 tuition, books, uniforms etc. That is just an excuse for those who are trying to get a nursing degree the easy way by doing it in the PH. It is cheap here in California, but the acdemic standards and expectations are high. I say study hard, get high core science GPAs and ace the TEAS test and you will get into a nursing program.