salonika

That's wishful thinking. The NLE fiasco simply confirmed that effort is really exerted to go around standards just to make money as in the case of Gapuz and other review centers. The reason why graduates go to these centers is because of the circulated rumor that this particular review center has "leakages" to offer and thus, give them a better chance of passing. And since review centers find a way to get the questions in the NLE, what makes you so sure that they can't get the questions being asked in the NCLEX exams? Computerized as it may be, the questions are still controlled by persons and that is where the flaw lies as practically all persons can be corrupted, everybody has its price. Think of this, Gapuz used the Baguio Convention Center for the review of around 3,000 examinees. At a conservative 8K per head that translates to P 24M in Baguio alone, what about the other centers? Reports say that 50% of the examinees review with Gapuz, that's 21K out the total 42K, or a whooping P 168M for the June NLE review. Since he conducts this at least twice a year that's more than P 300M. Surely that leaves a lot of money to be allocated to paying off people who can supply the leakages, NLE or NCLEX notwithstanding. Let the NCLEX exams be held somewhere else, we can't afford it scandalized and jeopardize the future of Filipino nursing students. Let us not kid ourselves. Though in our hearts we strive to be credible before the world, there are still persons who are utterly selfish and think of nothing but themselves. Furthermore, we don't have a monopoly on the foreign nursing market. Nobody is indispensible.

gapuz is not really a us rn? that's too bad considering that many of the reviewees enrolled based on his supposed achievements. guess that goes the same with his awards.

Here are a few tips on going to HK for the NCLEX exam- TRAVEL PACKAGE: YOu can avail of the travel packages to save yourself trouble if you are not too familiar with travelling. However, avoid the Disneyland or whatever tour even if you plan to go there, its easy going to places once you're in HK. TIMING: Hotel rates determine a large part of your budget in HK. Rates fluctuate throughout the year, check out http://www.asiarooms.com to get the seasonal rates of HK hotels. You can also book online if you have a credit card. The expensive ones are usually better located but its easy moving around in HK so the smaller and out-of-way ones are OK. AIRFARE: Cebu Pacific offers the lowest rates, with early booking you can avail of their 1,999 fare. This translates to 4,000 including different taxes and surcharges or 8,000 pesos roundtrip plus travel tax of 1,620 or a total of 9,620. Don't expect food on the plane - all they give is C2 iced tea - you can buy cup noodles for 50 pesos each so you better eat a lot before going to the airport. FOOD: Look for a Cafe de Coral or Maxim's outlet, this is a fastfood joint serving cheap, good rice toppings in big servings. Price range is from HK 22-25.50 per order, better than McDonalds or the pizza Hut outlets there. You only get chicken wings at McDo HK, and that's already HK 70, no drinks. Style of ordering is different though, you have to choose food from the menu posted (with pics so that makes it easier) fall in line and pay to the cashier, who gives you slips of paper. Bring these slips of paper to the counter inside and give it to the guy near a mic who gets your paper, puts it in a tray, gives you spoon or chopsticks and whatever depending on what you ordered, shouts your order into the mic, and pushes your tray along. Once filled you get your tray and enjoy your meal. Been to HK several times and thee two outlets are the proven best in price and taste. Forget softdrinks in HK, they're expensive. Go for tea instead, not the ones with milk though. GROCERIES: Upon checking-in look for the nearest 7-11 or Wellcome minimart. Wellcome is cheaper than 7-11 but its harder to find one. Buy your snacks, soda, bottled water and everything here to avoid getting from the minibar. Normally, there is complimentary tea and coffee at the hotel so you don't have to buy these. Some also give a 500 ml of bottled water for free, make sure there is a complimentary tag though. My daughter made a mistake of opening an Evian bottle on our last trip and it had a HK 68 neck tag on it, had to buy one from 7-11 for replacement. Try Calbee potato chips, bbq flavor. YOu might try bringing some home if you happen to like it, its not available in RP. MONEY-CHANGING: Don't exchange all your USD at the airport, just enough for the airport express if you're taking it. Some street money changers post a high rate but charge commission, so clear with this when you do your transaction. The highest one I got in Tsim Sha Tsui was 1 USD: 7.7 HKD no commission. You can also get better rates for pesos at Hang Seng bank, there is a service charge though. AIRPORT SERVICE: There is a train to and from the airport called Airport Express. Its very efficient and affordable as its costs HK 90 per adult until Kowloon station. If your hotel is near the test site then you have to alight at the Hongkong station. The airport express also offers city check-in which means you can check-in your luggage without going to the airport. TRAVELLING: Get a visitor's guide upon arriving, there are racks of them at the airport. The MTR is very easy to follow, as well as very convenient. It operates until midnight so you can use it after getting drunk if you felt you passed your NCLEX. The cheapest however is the Star Ferry, 2.20 Hk upper deck and 1.70 lower deck crossing from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central. Good luck everyone, make the best out of your HK trip. It's a long way from the US once you get there.

A new review center is opening in Baguio - Beneterra Review Services. The reviewer will be a nurse educator and IV coordinator currently based in Connecticut as stated in their brochure. The cousin (also the OIC) said he is starting a nursing agency in the US and wanys to have a pool of nurses ready once he gets it set up. They're only giving reviews on CGFNS and NCLEX. It is a 14-day review but claimed to be precise and concise and to the point, none of that load of information that will give you a headache after the review. They are also focusing on taking the test and not merely rehashing what you have learned in college. I checked their office (still for furnishing) and they have updated copies of saunders, pharmacology, kaplan, CDs of mosby and cgfns stuff, CGFNS secrets - all original. I have not seen the flipcards though since the girl said they are being laminated. I think the review is on OCtober 1-14, and the fee is quite reasonable I might say, since you'll also be saving on board and lodging and transpo as compared to the longer reviews. Our group is signing up once their forms are ready, they're that new.

Let's do some simple computations: You get offered a job at a Rehab or nursing home for $25/hr (you can't just get into a hospital if you're new). This translates to $200/day or $ 1,000/week = $ 4,000 per month. Then you start converting this into pesos = PhP 200,000 per month at forex 1:50... so you say BIG BUCKS!!! Yes, if you spend it in the Philippines. Let's take a look at you expenses: Apartment - $ 1,000 Food - 1,000 Car amortization - $ 400 Gas - $ 300 Tax - $ 800 Miscellaneous - $ 300 TOTAL monthly expense - $ 3,800.00 Savings - $ 200 So to earn more you get extra jobs or work overtime since this will save you leisure money. Some nurses get extra work as IV techs where they go to a patient's house and setup his/her IV for $ 75. Not bad if you get 2-3 patients on your off hours. Bottomline, it's basically greener since you work hard and you get paid good, which oftentimes does not happen in the Philippines.

My friend will be enrolling in a new review center in Baguio. I didn't get the name but she said the reviewer is a RN and training director in the East Coast and will be coming to conduct a CGFNS/NCLEX review this September. So materials are suppossedly fresh and updated. Don't know about the rates yet but they will be specializing in CGFNS/NCLEX only.