rainstar

Happy Birthday Ms Suzanne! Thank you for all the help you've given us! ^_^

Your school can have affiliations with all the hospitals in the US, but still if you don't meet the requirements for immigration then it's no use. The US government is the one giving visas. It doesn't matter how many hospitals your school is affiliated with. Anybody can take the NCLEX LPN, but passing it doesn't mean you can have a visa. As for liars, well ask your dean why he is telling students that they already have LPNs working in Japan when everybody knows that JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Agreement) is not even approved yet. Why are there schools and review centers for LPN even though you can't work in the US? Because everybody's trying to make money off the sudden popularity of nursing. We are not trying to discourage you, we are telling the truth. We are not making money from telling you these things. And some of those who replied here are actually in the US, working in US hospitals so they know the real situation.

No, in PRC Manila you have to return 1 month after registration to claim the hard license. :)

Hi Majo! Did your school really say that they have LPN graduates who are now working in Japan? That's impossible, the agreement between our country and Japan about hiring nurses isn't even ratified yet. Also, from what I read your school doesn't seem to mind that LPNs are getting into other countries illegaly, they think that it's okay as long as they don't get caught. Well, just think about it, what's stopping them from providing wrong information to students just to increase the enrollment in their schools? They'll have that same mentality, "it's okay, we won't get caught, and even then we'll already have made plenty of money." See? A school that tolerates fraud won't hesitate to do so themselves. My cousin is also an LPN student. He refuses to believe that there are no visas for the US and no work opportunities in the Philippines for LPNs. Apparently, his school said that the reason why LPN programs are being discouraged is because RNs (and the Phillipine Nurses Association) are afraid that the nursing jobs will go to LPNs instead of RNs. Is this what they also told you? Anyway, that's just my two cents. Good luck in whatever you wish to do.:) P.S What would we here (in the internet) get from telling lies? Nothing. What would the people in an LPN school get from telling lies? More students and more money of course!

What area do you mean? Can you be more specific? I remember last year test 3 was for CHN and test 5 was for pyschiatric. And from what I've heard that's where test takers usually encounter difficulties, which is why I recommended to focus there. But of course one should study every topic.....

I know how you feel...one of my best friends failed it for the third time too, and I so badly want to give her a hug but I'm here in New York She already went to an expensive review center, but still no luck. -I always tell my friend to focus on Community Health Nursing because that's one of the most difficult parts of the exam, and it helps to have the latest editions of the books. -Read every question carefully, sometimes we have a tendency to glance at a question then just pick out what we thought was the correct answer -Focus on Psychiatric Nursing, another difficult part -Most importantly, don't go into the test feeling that you've already failed. No matter how many times you already took it, don't assume anything until you've seen the results. I'm so sad now...last year when I was getting my license she was still attending review class. And now some of our batch 2008 friends are already RNs, and still she has to go to PRC to apply again for the November 2008 exams

Just to add that I'm glad this is finally being reported by the newspapers and t.v stations. Here's a report about the practical nursing courses. The report is in english but some of those interviewed spoke in tagalog, so I translated it. I hope its all right :) http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/25431/Demand-for-registered-nurses-wanes-in-US-UK LPN student being interviewed (from 1:05 to 1:13): "Life is so hard, especially now so I decided to shift to two years, its practical and easier" Owner of Medline Nursing School (from 1:24 to 1:38) "It's like a ladder, for two years you take up this course then after two years you have a certificate." LPN student again (from 2:31 to 2:41) "Not all people are rich, not all people can afford to study for four years that's why we have vocational, that's why we have this kind of school." I hope people will start being aware that they won't be able to use these LPN certificates that they are spending money for.

Finally the PNA is taking a stand: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/105790/Group-endorses-stronger-BSN-program-wants-practical-nursing-courses-halted

Funny. We were just talking about the same topic in another nursing forum. You know what they told me when I said that nursing isn't in demand anymore? They said "Of course nursing is still in demand! There are still other countries, and the retrogression in the US is only for a short while!" But the reality is so harsh. My older sister became an RN three years before me, she came from one of the best schools in the Philippines and she was one of the top notchers in the licensure exam. Passed CGFNS, IELTS and NCLEX. Has two years experience in being an ICU nurse. Yet she has so much difficulty in finding a job. And with the retrogression we don't even know when she will be able to come here. (I'm lucky because I have an immigrant visa). What more for these thousands of new graduates who have no experience and came from sub standard nursing schools? I guess what we can do is tell those we know about the reality of nursing in the country. When someone we know plans to take up nursing we can explain that it's not easy as it seems, becoming an RN doesn't automatically mean a job abroad and plenty of money. We can tell them that its difficult now to find jobs locally and abroad, and if their goal is to help their family, well that might take a long time. :)

To add another scenario: You're sitting in a testing center, so very very nervous about the licensing exam. You look at the first question. Of course it's in norwegian. Frayed nerves + unfamiliarity with norwegian medical terms= kabooom! It's nice that there are lots of opportunities for Filipinos everywhere but sometimes we have to accept that we have limits. Good that there is language training, but I think that it won't be enough, especially in the field of nursing where every communication should be accurate and specific. Having a few months of training in a very unfamiliar language just won't work. Having just an "acceptable" knowledge of the Norwegian language is not good enough, especially in dealing with people everyday and carrying out orders that affects their health and lives.

I think that they prepare the exam questions only a month or even a couple of weeks before the exam date. Because I remember last year that as soon the board of nursing members were finished making the exam, they went somewhere where they can't be contacted, to be absolutely sure that no leakage of the exam answers would happen. And believe me, you don't need the board exam exam coverage. It's anything goes. Better to be prepared for any question rather than just focusing on several select topics. They don't really follow what is listed in the exam coverage anyway... :)

Those schools are so deceiving... they like to put in their advertisements for these LPN/caregiver programs a plane/statue of liberty/the american flag plus a bunch of smiling people. I don't know if anybody is going to be smiling once they find out that these schools are just preying on the dreams, hopes and pockets of people who just want a better life.

It cost 300 pesos and as for the i.d. they give you a card where you just write your name and put your picture (not very high tech! hehe) You can get it at the same time that you pay. And membership expires at the end of the year, which means paying another 300 pesos next year

I reviewed with RUN too (it's also the review center my school is affiliated with). And well...I think you'll be better choosing another review center. When we had our final coaching there were a thousand students and one lecturer, because they crammed all these students from different schools in one venue. They have very few (okay, only two!) lecturers that I found actually interesting. It was so bad my friends and I actually attended for a couple of hours each day then just went home to do self study. Based from my experience with the June 2007 NLE, it didn't matter whether I attended a review center or not. The few months of review classes is still not equivalent to what you actually learned during your lectures and clinical practice. So if you think that you can do it without a review center, just go ahead. Don't give in to the mentality that in you have to attend a famous review center in order to pass :)

I really doubt if the 400 Indonesian nurses going to Japan will be working in the RN role. Japan has some really strict requirements, including learning the nihongo language and taking the board exams written in japanese. This is why the Philippine Nurses Association is against importing Filipino nurses to Japan. Yes, the foreign nurse MIGHT be given a job, but not a job that is suited to his/her education and training.