Omnibus Online-BNE

Editorial Team / Moderator · Nov 10, 2008

Have you contacted the Texas Board of Nursing? Seems to me this is the only means of verification.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Nov 10, 2008

when i read this my stomach started to hurt. you need to go over to the international forum and speak with suzanne. she is the utmost authority here on all-nurses about foreign eduction. however, in the end you still need to verify all this with the texas bon .

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Nov 11, 2008

Thread moved to International Nursing forum.

suzanne4, RN · Nov 11, 2008

Unless you already hold a visa to work in the US or are a US citizen, this training will not get you a visa to work in the US. Does not matter what the school tells you, but the US government requires that any training done by the same as what is required for licensure in the country where the training was done, and the Philippines requires the BSN for entry level into the US.

Any of these programs do not meet the requirements for immigration and that is what you should be concerned with. And that is what CGFNS is going to tell you as well. Texas requires the CES if you trained out of the US, and the Visa Screen Certificate is needed as well.

And this school is not accredited in the Philippines by CHED, only by TESDA and that is one of the reasons that it does not meet the requirements for the US for licensure and immigration purposes. Please have a good read on the website for CGFNS; you can find them at www.cgfns.org and see their requirements to obtain the Visa Screen Certificate. First part of it states that one must be considered a first generation professional nurse in the country where they trained and the Philippine government does not accept this training for licensure there. No ADN graduate can obtain the RN license to practice there with this training as a start. Next add into it the fact that it will be minimum of five years for a chance at a green card to work in the US if the training was accepted and it is not; then the fact that no other country will accept that training from the Philippines for the ADN to meet immigration requirements, so what are you going to do for the five years plus? It is going to be impossible to get hired if you were able to based on never having any work experience anyplace.

Suggest that you read the threads about the LPN programs in the Philippines, this program is under TESDA so is under the same category before you spend one more penny on training that is not going to help you in any way at all.

twinkle12 · Nov 11, 2008

I am already a United States citizen. I do not have a problem with getting a job. I just need to make sure that my educational program will be honored by the BNE. I was made to understand that once I have completed the requirements from Omnibus, the credentialing institutions here in the US (CES/IERF) would validate the same and would allow me to take the NCLEX. My mother got her nursing degree in the Philippines and my father completed his nursing degree from Canada, both were allowed to take their board exam here and has been practicing for 20 years now. I was just wondering whether there are any reasons for me not to sit for the NCLEX board after completing the ADN course from OMNIBUS. Let me know, thanks.

NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2008

This is interesting, I would contact the Texas State Board of Nursing and also the NLN. You said they have clinical sites in Houston Texas? Find out the sites and contact the sites themselves. Good Luck

suzanne4, RN · Nov 11, 2008

I am already a United States citizen. I do not have a problem with getting a job. I just need to make sure that my educational program will be honored by the BNE. I was made to understand that once I have completed the requirements from Omnibus, the credentialing institutions here in the US (CES/IERF) would validate the same and would allow me to take the NCLEX. My mother got her nursing degree in the Philippines and my father completed his nursing degree from Canada, both were allowed to take their board exam here and has been practicing for 20 years now. I was just wondering whether there are any reasons for me not to sit for the NCLEX board after completing the ADN course from OMNIBUS. Let me know, thanks.

I would definitely contact the BON for Texas. Many of the nursing boards are now requiring the local license, and if this is the case, then you will be out of luck in many cases. If your mother received her degree from the Philippines, most definitely it was the full four year program that she attended, and that is where programs like the one that you are attending are having issues. Canada also is different than the Philippines in many ways in their training and his program was also of the four year program more than likely, and his training was also recognized by the Canadian government for licensure. Both of their programs were, yours is not.

The program maybe accredited by TESDA, but it is certainly not accredited or accepted by the Philippine government for licensure as an RN and this is where your big problem is.

Do you hold dual citizenship by any chance?

twinkle12 · Nov 11, 2008

No, I do not hold dual citizenship. I have already contacted the BNE via their email. I hope to hear from them soon.

Thanks for all your help and comments.

suzanne4, RN · Nov 11, 2008

i would also check with cgfns as well since texas requires that you submit this before they will look at your application.

if a school is not approved for licensure in the country where they are offering training, then a very big red flag should be waived in front of you. notice that you also state that you are already attending courses there, best time to have checked would have been before you started to pay for your classes there.

one of the requirements of cgfns is that the program be an approved school of nursing in the country where it is offered and it is not accepted by ched.

please be aware that we constantly see all types of promises being made by programs there but they never hold true over here.

the other item that you need to ask yourself is if they are not accredited here, then how is one going to qualify for a student visa to come to the us as well. and the fact that not one of the students if they do not hold us citizenship will be able to remain in the us and work.............that says much about their program. there are already issues of too many to count with the programs that are currently being offered in the philippines of not meeting the standards here, this looks like another.

every one of the other programs that promised the clinical training in the us, or the final semester here has been a big blow-up. i would focus on actually finding about the clinical site if they truly are partnering with your school before even considering anything else, that is where you should start. with all of the others, promises were made for clinicals and usually the facility or the other college had no idea of any of this.

this is by far not the first one making promises that they have no control over, nor will they be the last. the program is not accredited for licensure in the philippines and not accredited here.

twinkle12 · Nov 11, 2008

I just want to let you know, I am currently in Texas. I am a US citizen. I am able to work in the US and live here as well. I am NOT currently in the Philippines;therefore, I do not need a Visa. I do not take clinicals in the Philippines. Everything, even clinicals are taken near Houston, TX. They have a branch/ site here in the USA. I am going to start clinicals at Spanish Meadows Nursing Center in Katy, TX this Monday.

I just want to make sure you understood that.

I will contact the CGFNS once I hear from the BON/BNE.

Thanks again though, I just wanted to clarify that.

suzanne4, RN · Nov 12, 2008

I understand that you are in the US, but the program that you are attending is in the Philippines and that is where your degree would come from. No matter if you are born in the US and hold a US passport, you will always be considered a foreign grad and have to meet the additional requirements as a foreign nurse. Immigration and licensure are two very distinct issues and this is what I am trying to get across to you.

Texas BON requires the CES be completed before they will even look at your application, and they are quite strict on what they will accept and what they will not.

Again, have you actually been in contact with the locale where the clinicals are supposedly offered for you? And make sure that they are aware that they are even being discussed by this school to be used in the first place? The other issue that I also see right up front is that the US, as well as Canada, require that the clinical and theory portion be done together during the same semester. Not sure how your school has set up arrangements for this, it is not just the clinical that would have to be done here, but the theory as well at the same time or the US will not approve your training right from the start. This is a very strict requirement here and for every single state.

Even though you state that you are going to be doing your clinicals here, what about the theory? When is that being done? And when are you attending classes in the Philippines?

Sorry, but things are not adding up for me with this type of program.