arden26

If you have direct contact with your uni, it makes sense to show them evidence of the additional specialties you had exposure to & ask them to incorporate that into your transcript. The worst they can say is no! In my case, I qualified nearly 20 years BEFORE I applied for the NCLEX. In the intervening period, the Royal Free where I'd trained, had been subsumed into an umbrella nursing school incorporating a group of North London hospitals. That had, in turn, been taken over by Middlesex University. So when I eventually managed to figure out who to request my records from(!) they had no personal knowledge of me & I was already living in the US. But it turns out they had my records on some giant database, as they provided a detailed & accurate breakdown of my training translated into an American format where it was displayed in terms of numbers of hours.

Hi. I'm a bit confused by the timescale of this string(?) but if you've just posted, I believe your UK nursing school has to submit your breakdown hours direct to CGFNS. (Not sure why anyone would WANT to come to the US from overseas in the current climate? ?)

I assume the site won't let you book your NCLEX if you don't meet the requirements? But it's a long time since I went through the process so I can't remember the exact process I went through. It also differs from state to state, of course. Anyway good luck calling the PA BON. (Do they have an email address that works?)

Once your CES report has been sent to the PA BON, you should be able to log on to their website & book your NCLEX exam without further communication with them.

Hi. I went through the process in early 2011 & took the exam through the Ohio BON. From memory, once your CES report has been generated and sent to your nominated BON you can go onto the BON website and navigate through to the NCLEX application site. At least that's how it worked in Ohio. (By coincidence, my state of residence immediately prior to Ohio was Pennsylvania, which - I seem to remember - was not the most user-friendly for telephone enqs!) Hope this helps - Melissa

You’re welcome. My husband - a US trained physician who worked in both countries - cynically commented that they’re probably trying to sabotage nurses’ attempts to leave the NHS ?

Hi Sarah. I've attached a copy of my CGFNS transcript so you can see how it was prepared for me. It does seem to be a lot more detailed than the one provided by your university. Hope this helps. Melissa CGFNS.pdf

Hi Sarah. I trained under the old system as a hospital based nurse in London. My training included psychiatric nursing, midwifery & paeds. The training included blocks of theory/ward work in every subject. I know it's harder now due to the narrower focus of the training but I also think recently trained nurses get a more academic foundation, probably more in line with US nurses' knowledge base. From other nurses' comments on this subject in the past, I think some people try to get short term placements on units with the relevant specialist focus to fulfill the extra subject requirements. I initially registered with the Ohio Board of Nursing & you're correct that the US system is very state specific. But once you've got licensure in one state it's pretty straightforward to get licensure in others. In fact 34 states are in a compact that allows nurses to work across all of them. https://www.trustedhealth.com/compact-states So my current licensure is Georgia which allows me to work in 33 other states as well. For both Ohio & Georgia I had to get my UK training school to send transcripts direct to the relevant state board. By that stage it was handled by Middlesex University, I think, & they knew how to format the transcripts to comply with US requirements. I submitted my original application through CGFNS in the US, which - as you probably know - interfaces with the state Boards of Nursing. I was then approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing to take the NCLEX exam. And I did the Kaplan prep course plus lots of practice tests. I hope this helps.

Hi. I did it in 2011. It's very helpful to do a preparatory course, like Kaplan, especially as the training and examination system in the UK is very different from the US. You can do it online from anywhere. https://www.kaptest.com/NCLEX/courses/NCLEX-courses#

Your credentials normally have to be reviewed by the Commission for Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (cgfns.com) prior to being submitted to the state of your choice, and that takes several months.

I've often heard that NY is easy. But when I lived there 15 years ago, the NY Board of Nursing never answered the phone! Here's a contact link to all the Boards of Nursing: Contact a Member Board | NCSBN.

I think it depends on the individual board of nursing. Requirements differ according to the state. You could contact NJ BON and ask them. You may need psychiatry and paediatrics which I don't think are part of the UK curriculum anymore. (They were when I trained.)

In my case I trained under the old apprentice style (non degree) system which included psych, paeds & obstetrics. Perhaps one of the agencies that places overseas nurses can advise on how to meet these requirements under the current UK training system. My other suggestion would be to research which US state has the easiest licensure requirements & apply for licensure in that state. Once you obtain licensure in one state you can apply for licensure by endorsement in the state/s of your choice. It's worth noting that about half the US states have a compact agreement meaning that if you reside in one of those states your licence will be valid in the other participating states.

I think the main problem is that current UK training doesn't cover the spectrum of specialties required for state approval to take the NCLEX, specifically psych, paeds & obstetrics. My advice to anyone who overcomes this hurdle & obtains NCLEX Authorization to Test is to take a preparatory course, which can be done remotely online. Kaplan is a reliable option.

Hi. I just saw your posting. Sadly I have NO IDEA what the answers are, but I hope you passed! I'm also a UK trained RN, took NCLEX in March 2011 - passed solely due to to a passing miracle - & believe me, I feel your pain! Not only extraordinarily confusing & contradictory questions, but nothing - absolutely nothing - we did in our UK training prepared us for it. I qualified in '92 (London teaching hospital) when the training still incorporated paeds, psyche, etc. It was absolutely a Monkey-See-Monkey-Do education without reference to science, pharmacology, microbiology, dietetics or even venepuncture (which every US nursing assistant can perform proficiently). So I'm guessing you also qualified in the dim & distant past, since current UK training doesn't cover these areas & doesn't meet US testing reqs?