Graduated 8 years ago, planning to take the NCLEX

[nursemama]

Hi, y'all!

I am an internationally educated nurse who graduated about 8 years ago. I passed the nursing board exam in the country where I graduated frombut never practiced it there. Moving back to the US, I had a career shift. 2 years later, I tried to take the NCLEX but didn't really prepared for it since I was working two jobs back then. I failed during my first attempt. I am thinking of going back into nursing and taking the NCLEX this year. Has anybody else experienced this? What are some of your study tips? Materials, etc? I have a 7 month old baby that I watch during the day and I work at night until about 11pm. Thanks!

[verene, MSN]

Check with your state BON to make sure you can still become licensed. Some states have time limits on how long after graduating from school you can still apply to become licensed particularly if you haven't worked in another state/jurisdiction since that time. (In my state you must either pass NCLEX within 2 years of graduation OR have at least 1000 hours of RN work in another state/country within last 5 years).

You may need to take a nursing refresher course before applying to take NCLEX and gain license.