This is a forum for Filipino graduate nurses who wish to apply and pass the NCLEX RN.
First off, this forum is based on my experience and what I had to go through. Also, I want to start this forum because I had promised God that if I ever pass the NCLEX RN, I would try and help others do so as He helped me. Please excuse the length but I want to be detailed.
My background: I am an American citizen and all my education prior to college were in the US. I chose to go to the Philippines for nursing school because 1. I wanted to go to school far away from home and 2. it was the cheapest solution for me to get what I want. I graduated from nursing on March 2011 with a BSN. I returned to the Philippines on September 2011 to start my application process for the NCLEX RN with California BON and to review with my school for the Philippines NLE. (I applied for dual citizenship in 2007 prior to enrolling for school; I was born on American soil but my mother is a Filipino citizen) I took the Philippines NLE on December 2011 and found out that I passed on February 2012. I returned to the Philippines on April 2012 to personally claim my Philippines RN License. On May 31, 2012, I received a letter from California BON stating that I was "required to complete additional course work, both theory and clinical practice to be done concurrently." Once I found out that California wanted me to go back to school, I reapplied with my home state, Texas.
These are the steps I took to apply for the Texas NCLEX RN:
1. Apply with CGFNS for the Credentials Evaluation Report, $350 or $385. Along with this report is the License Verification. If you are not a Filipino citizen, there is a form for exemption from examination that you can apply for directly with the PRC. The forms for the CES must be filled out by your school and the PRC and must be sent directly from your school and the PRC to CGFNS. The PRC is very strict so all paperwork that was not done personally, had an authorization letter from me. The PRC and my school took at least 2 months to process before it was sent to CGFNS. CGFNS in itself took 3 months to process before sending the CES report to TX BON.
2. Only AFTER CGFNS notified me that the CES report had been sent to the Texas BON, I mailed in my NCLEX
RN
application along with a check for $139 and a fingerprint card. BTW, my school was taught in English and we used American textbooks, therefore, I was exempt from taking the English Proficiency exam. (Along with the CES forms, there is a section which asks if the curriculum was taught in English. Make sure the PRC and your school checks off that your curriculum was done in English, if it was.)
3. I then saved up money so I could also apply with Pearson Vue, $200. You MUST apply with Pearson Vue in order to get your ATT. I notified the TX BON once I applied with Pearson Vue. And while waiting for my ATT, I went ahead and took the online Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam.
4. I received my ATT on February 2013 and had 75 days before it expired. I took the test on April 2013 and found out I passed with the Pearson Vue Quick Results after 2 days. I am still waiting on the TX BON for the official results and if I am required for a refresher course since I have not practiced my nursing EVER.
These are the steps I took to pass the NCLEX RN:
1. STUDY: I used Saunders Comprehensive Review 5th edition and read at least 2-3 units per week. Best advise..know your fundamentals of nursing. Know your lab values and normal vital signs of the different age groups.
2. STUDY SOME MORE: I signed up with Kaplan and watched all the content videos while following the E-Book (The RN Course Book). I highly suggest watching the content videos because the lecturers add some content that can be easily remembered. And if you focused on fundamentals with Saunders, focus on pharmacology with Kaplan's Course Book.
3. KAPLAN EVEN MORE: I took first the Diagnostic Test. Then QT 1,2,3 before I met up for the classroom sessions which focused on the Decision Tree. Seriously have your content done before going through the Decision Tree.
4. KAPLAN TO THE MOST: When my classroom sessions ended, I followed the 2 weeks Study Guide. This consisted of 150 questions per day after finishing the Assessment Test, QT 4, 5, 6, and 7. Yes. It was A LOT. But after I finished every exam, I went through each and every question, wrong or right and reviewed the rationale. If I wasn't satisfied with Kaplan's rationale, I went back to Saunders. Saunders is much more in depth. And honestly, my scores scared me at the beginning. I was hitting just par of what was asked for. I first started making 50s with the Q-banks and I was really worried but I kept pushing through with it. Just a week before the exam, I was in the 60s range.
5. LIPPINCOTT'S ALTERNATE FORMAT QUESTION: After I finished 90% of Kaplan's Q-bank, I switched gear to Lippincott's. I did these 2 days before the exam.
6. PRAY: I prayed every morning, every night and read "Our Daily Bread" everyday. And the night before my exam, my family and I did the rosary. Even throughout the exam, I kept praying.
7. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: Relax the night before and make sure you sleep well. Be well rested. I arrived at my testing center and hour and a half before my exam. Before I went in, I glanced over Pharma. And then I prayed. And I believed in myself. I had to. Because everyone else did.
God Bless to every one of you who is pursuing nursing as a profession. If I was vague in any of these areas, please feel free to ask.
