I am very worried. I am feeling very sick please help

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I graduated and got my LVN certificate about 5 months ago. After I graduated many bad things started happening in my life. My grandfather has been critically ill. My grandmother passed away. I am going through a strong depression.

I have not worked since I graduated. My question is how long after I graduate is my LVN certificate good for? I want to sign up for the NCLEX asap so I just emailed my school on what steps I need to take.

I am very worried that my certificate will no longer be valid. I am getting very ill thinkig about all this and my depression. If anyone can please give me some infomration I would highly apreciate it.

I also wanted to mention that I am from San Antonio Texas.

I'm not sure that your schooling "expires" at all.

You need to get off Allnurses and call your State Board of Nursing to find the answer to the question "What's the maximum amount of time that is allowed to lapse between finishing school and sitting for NCLEX".

Don't rely on answers on a message board....go to the source :)

Are you referring to your education through school? If so, I haven't heard of that expiring. That's like saying a ADN or BSN expires and they don't. The thing that expires is your license but you only get that through NCLEX/BON approval.

Oh, and I have no idea what TX requires for an application for LVN/LPN but go on their site and see what the requirements are (usu. like application, application fee, transcripts sent, and if you have a mental or physical illness that could possibly cause impairment you put that and get documentation from providers, some states require like background check or photo or something). It depends on the state though. And you need to sign up with Pearson Vue and when you get your ATT (after Board approval) you can pick a date. Good luck.

I can't imagine it would have "expired" already, considering people manage to take the NCLEX 5+ times before passing, and that has to take at least 5 months. :)

Specializes in Private Practice- wellness center.

Texas Board of Nursing The answer is in here somewhere!!! Hopefully there's something more specific than this:

Upon receipt of your application, criminal background check and affidavit of graduation, the BON will access the registration system of Pearson/Vue to see if you have registered to take the exam. If you have registered with Pearson/Vue, the BON will deem you eligible to take the NCLEX. Upon deeming you eligible to take the NCLEX, you will receive an email verification from Pearson/Vue giving you the authorization to test (ATT) and instructions on scheduling the test. Upon receiving the ATT, you will have 75 days to take the exam. If eligible for a graduate nurse (GN) or graduate vocational nurse (GVN) permit, the permit will be posted online within five working days of deeming you eligible to take the exam.

Definitely call TX BON hon...https://www.ncsbn.org/1212.htmATT Validity DatesEach ATT letter*is valid for a period of time specified by the board of nursing (varies from 60 days to 365 days; however, the average length of an ATT is 90 days).Once the board of nursing declares a candidate eligible to test and the ATT letter*is issued, a candidate must test within the validity dates of their ATT letter.These validity dates cannot be extended for any*reason.

My concern in your post is that you are depressed and you realize it. You are grieving and may need to seek counseling. When my father died 2 years ago i went into a deep depression and other things were going on as well. Life happens. Please seek counseling of your pastor or other professional. Are you taking any medicine to help with the symptoms?

You may need them for a short time to work through this grief or long term...

I cannot stress how important it is to take care of your mental health....

you can apply for a ATT and take the NCLEX even 4 years after schooling

You sound like you are grieving a profound loss in your life and you have every right to feel sad, worried, and overwhelmed. I agree that maybe you should take some time to deal with these losses.

I would suggest you contact your BON just to inform yourself of your options there, and then try and focus on taking care of yourself in this very difficult time. You've got your schooling completed and no one can take that away from you. Nursing school is hard and you should be proud of yourself for that accomplishment, as I'm sure your grandparents would be.

If you don't feel like you are ready to throw yourself full-on into a new job or job search, this is the time when most agencies are starting to recruit nurses for things like flu clinics and health fairs. I did that kind of work when i was going through a very complicated bereavement and it helped me keep things together.

Many organizations offer bereavement counselling and I hope that you can find some help with that. I would say that you could look at religious organizations, and also, some hospice organizations can give you information about where to look in the community for that kind of support, even if they don't have resources specifically for you.

This isn't the end of the road; it's a setback, but it's also a process, and you'll get through it.

I don't know if you have found the answers you were looking for but here's my suggestion regarding the depression.If you haven't been diagnosed & treated for the depression, you may want to take your NCLEX before then if you can. Not saying you should not seek help but maybe wait until after you're licensed. Then seek treatment before seeking employment. BNE requires you to file a declaratory order if you have been diagnosed with a mental illness in the last 5 yrs. I was treated for depression after being laid-off from Enron. It ended up costing me over $2000 for psychiatric evaluations & so on. The entire process of the declaratory order & their requirements also took almost a yr. Not sure if that's how long it usually takes or if it was due to a natural disaster we had during the process. Hope this helps.

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