Mithi

Hi Wintle. They don't. But have faith in yourself. The set of questions they would ask you are pretty basic, i.e., handwashing technique, infection control, the R's to giving medication, etc. As for diseases and pathophysiology, make sure to know all the common ones in the Philippines, i.e., tuberculosis, diabetes, cancer, or to be safe, study one common disease for each body system. The interviewers, of course, look stern and serious but listen intently. They guide you to the answers if they feel like you know it but just can't say the right words. Expound if you know the subject matter well. Organize your thoughts. Look and sound professional. I remember my interviewer telling me to sit still because I was very comfortable on that swivel chair. Also, the possibility of you being hired does not depend entirely on the panel interview but make sure to do your best. I've only been to two interviews (Luke's and Philippine Heart) so I can't say this goes for all the hospitals. Good luck. :) Yoo Jin, true. Also aside from these two, Philippine Heart, I think, also offers very good training and CONTINUOS learning with their case presentations. Tough but very helpful.

Almost all hospitals require two years service in their contract as staff nurse. Believe me, two years is not forever. You will learn a lot in those two years and you might even extend your contract because your processing with working somewhere else will definitely not be finished in two years. And, if you're planning on applying for government hospitals, (Philippine Heart Center, etc) be ready with your ratings because they prioritize people who made 80+ in the boards. Hope this helps. :)

Hi. :) It's very good that you're applying for a hospital job and not hurrying yourselves to go somewhere else, after all it takes 2-3 years to get to that "somewhere else" so working as a nurse here in the country will be a very rewarding exposure to an equally demanding and stressful job. So arm yourself with the right exposure. Let me share with you a few tips BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE. There are plenty of hospitals in Manila but I suggest you apply to those that are accredited by JCI to make sure that they follow standards that are the same as those practiced in the US. Initial applicants only need to bring with them resumes but to be safe take with you everything that concerns nursing. Everything means copies of Diploma, Transcript of Records, Board rating, PRC license and certification, NBI clearance, ID pictures, etc. Use the internet to look for specifics that each of the hospitals require. I'm sure you can find it in their websites. If you have very good ratings, most likely they will set up an initial interview. Questions in the initial interview are general, ex. tell me something about yourself, if given a chance what ward would you want to get assigned, what is your expected salary, etc. Don't get nervous at this point. :) If you pass the interview and a couple of tests (personality), they will set up a panel interview. This is the time to show off all the theoretical things that you learned in school. Most questions are based by the book so make sure you review. The final interview is usually done by head managers/supervisors. I remember the question given to me during the final interview was about cerebral palsy. Lucky me. I reviewed on it the night before I was scheduled for my panel. Good luck on the job hunt.

Most private hospitals have about the same standards for the things you mentioned. During my application at St Luke's (2005), training fee was around P4000, training duration was one month split into didactics and clinicals. Contract was one year. I think they had it changed now to three months training, which is good so you get to familiarize yourself with the routine. Contract is now for two years. Also, St Luke's is JCI accredited so the practice is pretty much how it is done in most US hospitals. Schedule is still 8 hours, although most units are starting to have it for 12 hours, i.e., 7am to 7pm due to understaffing.

UST BSN Batch 2004 :)

hi, been surfing the internet. nz nursing council: http://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/ where you can find all the steps you need to take to be able to have a practicing certificate in nz contact: [email protected] i e-mailed them and got a reply the day after. it is best to e-mail the only authority in nursing in nz before asking somebody else. pinoy blog: http://a-pinoy-in-nz.blogspot.com/ he is not a nurse but this blogger has informative entries on practically everything about nz, you can find other pinoy blogs in nz linked on his site too. interesting journal. yahoogroup: pinoyz2nz at yahoogroups dot com please don't bother them with questions unless you have looked at their file section and still can't find an answer. they have this cool word file for nurses, look it up, it's really helpful. lastly, 4 out of 5 people i know have been advicing against agencies. they say the process is tedious but you can do it by yourself. save your money for the continuing education the council will be requiring you. good luck to us!!

I had friends who had a really hard time doing this but I told them that they have to separate emotions from logic. If they will be emotional about the whole thing, time will be put to waste. It's actually a good thing that the CGFNS had released their stand on the issue early on so everybody will know what steps need to be done to rid everyone the stigma. I must say nurses who are having a retake are really brave people, so good luck to all of you!!

Hey, igotlucky, you're probably too eager to absorb all nursing concepts that's why you find yourself jumping from one topic to another. This will not do anything for you and could be a waste of time. When I took the local boards (2004) I had about a month of in-house review from my school and another month of self review. I suggest that you take a strategy and do things slowly but surely. This way you retain the concepts and don't have to go back to them once you are done. During my time, we were asked to focus on the local books provided (especially community nursing) since questions will most likely be in the Philippine setting but getting yourself aquainted with NCLEX reviewers like what suzanne4 said for rationalization is also a big help. Also I had all my days scheduled and I disciplined myself in time management. You need a lot of focus and patience. Accomplish something everyday. Do a lot of practice tests. And when you are just tired and seem like everything is too much to handle, don't force your brain. If you find that you are not effective studying alone, a group would also help but choose the people you study with. I had four friends in my study group and it was really helpful. We exchanged ideas and rationalizations, highlight the things that we need to improve, and posted "manila papers" with the stuff that we need to keep in mind, i.e., normal lab values, all over the house. Good luck!!

Agree with purplecotton that nothing beats having to work here as a staff nurse than sending yourself raw from nursing school straight to the US or any other foreign country where there is, I think, complete freedom in nursing practice. When I was a nursing student, the procedures that we were doing most of the time were the basic stuff such as taking vital signs, giving medications, documentation, and fluid monitoring. Nursing procedures that I could remember include administration of feedings/enemas, blood sugar monitoring, assisting in wound care, and blood transfusion. Almost all of these are done with the supervision of clinical instructors. I inserted my first straight catheter during my first year as a nurse. Embarassing, but true. Familiarity with nursing procedures, sadly, depends on the training facility, clinical instructors, and initiative of students. Most of the time we lack them here in the Philippines. In my case, most of my CIs are too careful on letting nursing students observe and do procedures by themselves. There is little critical thinking done and the essence of assessment is not practiced. IMHO.