Lvn to Rn

steppybay · Jan 31, 2014

Have been an Lvn since 2009, pharmacy tech x20 years in California.
Looking into options of getting the RN. Have even considered taking courses in philippines, as it would be cheaper tuition. Hoping for some insight from others whom have done this.

Please read the many threads on the issues that several thousand of recent PH grads have been denied the chance to become an RN in CA. There's been only a handful since Nov. 2011 that have been approved. CA has also been denying new applicants (first-time timers) that got their BSN from 2005 to 2013.

Yes, it's much cheaper in terms of the tuition cost in the Phils but the price to pay for that at this present time and in the near future, CA has basically closed the door to many international grads and nurses. There's no nursing shortage in CA, especially for any PH nurses or grads.

This article sums it all (Nursing Philippines: End of the Demand): https://allnurses.com/international-nursing/end-phillipine-nursing-885162.html

It doesn't matter if you're a US citizen or a dual either, the value of the PH BSN is not what it was worth as it was in pre-2005.

You should also know that the average first time passing rate of the NCLEX-RN is a low 30-35% for the foreign students versus 80-85% for the US educated students.

The passing rate drops to 15% on those as second takers onwards and many have taken it several times but I don't think there are numbers for those who simply give up, maybe after 5-8 times or more.

Read the NCLEX forum here and see yourself. Some are more persistent which is great and good for them, but now as far as the final goal in all this is become an RN and to start working and we don't read of too many that actually made it that far. So many years have gone by, finally got the license, but now, they are not very desirable if they want a hospital job, as in the eyes of the hiring manager, since most likely, they don't have any recent real clinical working experience and do not qualify as a "new grad" any longer.

You can still get a BSN degree in the Phils, as long as you don't plan to work and practice in CA at least until the CHED can figure out how to fully comply with the CA BRN educational requirements.

The other 36 states are so far not enforcing the concurrency rules.

Mind you, that it's not only the Phils grads affected by the enforcement of the 1987 policy, it affects many other countries, and not always for the concurrency, it can be for missing certain minimum educational courses that all CA enrolled students have to take.

Moral of the story: stay in CA or the states to become an RN, no matter the cost, it's not worth the cheaper tuition in the long run. Your time is more precious than the cost of a PH degree.

There are tons of PH grads today scrambling to find the deficient courses in CA and for many, they will all soon face having their CA applications go into the "abandoned" file.

That means in the three (3) years from their application date in CA, they still can not find courses to complete their application. These courses must be completed, not just to be enrolled, as what if one flunks out of the class or fails to finish it.

Many of them will have their abandoned applications this year, with the majority starting next year. If they don't find these near impossible classes, it will be too late. Average class is 12, mixed in with other foreign students with tons waiting for 1-2-3 year on a list.

So that means in their 3 years, they have used their time and still can't even take the NCLEX-RN, need I say more?

steppybay · Jan 31, 2014

I wanted to keep the subject matter separate from the above comments. But you're already an LVN in CA, you should get into a CA LVN-RN program. But yes, like so many Phils going this route are also finding that the enrollment process still means passing the pre-entrance examinations, then go on a waiting list.

The community colleges are the cheapest but the hardest to get into due to the lower cost of getting the degree. The private for profit are usually easier to get (but still has their limited student sizes) but the cost of the less crowded has the expensive price tag between $35-100K.

But what I stated in the above section still pertains on why to get your BSN in the States or maybe go for the ADN-RN, but then, more and more hospitals (I assume that's your preferred job position to be in versus LTC, SNF, clinics, doctor's offices, the more non-hospital jobs) are preferring the BSN degree holders.