tkhun

The trick definitely works. I thought it would not work for me because I wrote the exam in Vancouver Canada and therefore didn't register for the exam online. But it worked for me. Wrote exam on Monday Sep 14, tried the trick 30mins after exam (selecting US as the country I wanted to write the exam in), got "on hold" message. Tried again after 1hr or so and got the magic message which stopped me from going any further. This morning I paid for the unofficial exam results and got my result - Passed. So the trick DEFINITELY works. It helped me deal with the anxiety I was feeling after the exam because I was convinced I had failed. The computer shut off at 75 questions and I had been getting increasingly strange questions so I thought I had failed for sure. I passed largely due to allnurses.com. Thank you everyone.

H-Dog, I wouldn't worry too much about your previous degree if I were you. I think UBC does not specify previous degree in Sciences because they understand that as long as you have gone through some form of university training you are capable of taking responsibility for your own learning. UBC will not spoon feed you but will provide you direction on how to get the information you need. So the lecturers give you the basic vital facts and expect you to do pre and post readings to fill in the gaps. If you are disciplined and ready to put in the hours, you'll do very well. Some of the students who did best in my class were from non-science backgrounds just because they took the time to go through all the readings that we were assigned (and they are A LOT). I was an average student because I had too much going on in my personal life (family commitments) and rarely had time to finish the required readings before lectures. So if you are willing to put in the time, you'll get to lectures prepared and will do well on all exams. You will most likely get skeleton information on things such as pharmaceutical drug treatments and will be expected to get the rest of the information you need. UBC gives you the tools to be successful in your learning but expects you to do a fair bit of the work yourself. The emphasis on critical thinking means that they teach you how to think yourself through any situation you may encounter, be it in your learning in class or on the nursing floor. Once you start working you will realise that the school you go to is only 1 part of the equation because a LOT of the actual nursing skills you will end up with are learned on the job. So if you are taught the concept of what to do with those nursing skills, you'll be a well-rounded nurse once you start acquiring these skills. So my recommendation - go to UBC, work your tail off filling in the gaps you think your previous degree gives you, get your RN license in the fastest possible time and start acquiring nursing skills while getting paid for it.

Go for the UBC program. The program is quite intense but I liked it that way because it made the months fly. Before you know it, you'll be done and graduating. As for clinical experience, my personal experience is that UBC students tend to do more than OK when they start working because of the teaching model used at UBC. There is heavy emphasis on critical thinking which helps you to quickly adapt to the working environment. And the new grad programs in place in most hospitals means that you get tons of support during your first year of nursing. When I was starting my clinicals in semester 1, I met students from BCIT and other 4 year programs who seemed far more confident than I and other students in my clinical group. These students were sometimes a year ahead of us, but the nice thing is you catch up to them skillwise very soon, finish and start working before they do and meet them in the hospitals with your RN badge on doing the same kind of work you're doing and not getting paid for it (or getting paid ESN rates) because they haven't finished and have maybe a year or so to go. So I personally would recommend the UBC program because you work hard for the 18 months it takes to get your degree and thereafter you're an RN and earning a decent wage way before the 4-year degree people are done. Some RNs will tell you they prefer BCIT grads because they have more clinical experience but a month or less after starting the job as new grads you won't be able to tell who is from BCIT and who is from UBC. Might as well start earning the money sooner.

Thank you for your response. I would not be going for the TN1 visa or any visa at the moment because we have not even made a final decision on whether to go to the States or not. I just want to get the NCLEX so that if we ever decide to move to the US, I'll have it already. I chose Arizona simply because we own a house there and because it is a compact state and it might be easier for me to transfer the license to another compact state such as Texas if we end up not picking Arizona as the place to go to. I have heard that the process of getting licensed in the US can be long and costly so I would like to work through it one tiny step at a time. Thanks again for your response.

I would like to work in Arizona sometime in the foreseeable future (my husband and I own a house in Phoenix) and would like to write the NCLEX-RN now so that I am partly prepared when we eventually decide to make the move. The Arizona BON emailed me a document stating that I need to have my credentials evaluated by CGFNS before I can get authorization to write the exam. My question is, what is the cheapest way for me to get licensed in Arizona? Are there any Canadian nurses working in Arizona who got their education verified by getting CNA to send a passing score to AZBN? I am thinking this might be the cheapest option but would like to hear what others have done to get licensed in Arizona. Thx in advance.

Here are a few tips that may help you: 1. Study techniques on taking multiple choice questions until you are very comfortable with the best way to take multiple choice tests. I used techniques outlined in an NCLEX Kaplan text. If you know how to successfully take multiple choice tests you will be halfway on your way to passing this exam. 2. Go through the competencies specfied in the CRNE prep guide. These give you an idea of what the exam is based on. 3. Take as many CRNE practice questions as possible. When first taking the questions don't worry about your score but concentrate on understanding the rationales. So for instance when you first study the CRNE prep guide you could take the first exam by using this format -> answer a question, then look up the answer and read the rationale. Read the rationale whether or not you got the answer right. Do this for all the questions on that exam booklet. Use this chance to practice your multiple-choice test taking strategies as well. When you finish the first exam booklet, take the second exam booklet using the normal exam format where you answer all questions before looking at the answers. However make sure to check the rationales as well when you are marking your test. 4. Fortunately or unfortunately, there isn't that much CRNE prep material available out there. This means you will probably run out of material to practice on. If you have finished going through all your CRNE stuff, move on to practising with NCLEX questions. When using NCLEX quides, ignore questions that are not covered by the CRNE such as calculations of nutrition values, US lab values, etc... and concentrate on general questions that are applicable to both CRNE and NCLEX exams. There are dozens of free NCLEX test sites on the internet. You should have no problems finding stuff to practice with. I studied many NCLEX questions when I was preparing for the October exam and I was happy I did because I managed to answer some of the questions on the CRNE using knowledge I picked up from the NCLEX tests. One of the free NCLEX sites that I frequented is http://198.146.4.5/nclexrn3500. I like this site because you can take the questions in various formats e.g. if you choose the 'review' option you can get hints when answering questions and get to see the rationale straight away. 5. Finally use positive thinking and don't stress too much about the exam. Happy studying!!!

The BC results are in. I just got mine - I passed. Yeah!!! Now I don't have to put (Temp) after RN when signing in at work. Good luck to everyone else still waiting for their results. And thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread - it kept me sane and up-to-date.

No, it's not hard to get 70% (70% is actually quite low); and Yes, there are a lot of ESNs in hospitals. The nice thing about being an ESN is that you are not counted as staff, you are extranumerary meaning you help out but are not counted as workload. Being casual means you set your own hours and if you get swamped with schoolwork you can easily cancel shifts - no need to swap shifts with anyone since you are not part of the workload to begin with. All in all, the ESN program is a really good deal for students. Here is more information about it: http://www.crnbc.ca/downloads/435.pdf

ESNs were previously called UGNs (Undergraduate Student Nurse). You can get more information about them from here: http://www.vch.ca/careers/partnership/employment.html or here http://www.viha.ca/ppo/strategy/unp/ or here http://cc.workopolis.com/EN/job/10421448?RSS=Y I don't know about other places, but it seems it's still relatively easy for new grads to find nursing jobs in BC. I am a new grad and did not have any problems getting interviews or a job. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Go the RN route and work as an ESN (Employed student nurse) during your RN training. That way you will end up with experience similar to an LPN's and be an RN at the same time. ESNs perform nearly the same duties as LPNs and get nearly the same pay, so I think this would be a win-win solution for you.

I think this is a question best answered by a lawyer. Even if you were to find an answer on the internet, it might not be correct or the information may be outdated. Better to pay the money and have peace of mind that you are basing your decision on correct information than to rely on free information from the internet and end up paying the price after your child is born. If you have no problems paying all the bills associated with a delivery in Canada then you may not have any problems paying for the services of an immigration lawyer. Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy.

I think this is good advice for those who may want to work in the US in the future because the information used to prepare for CRNE is still fresh in our minds and it will be relatively easy to add stuff about the NCLEX to this fresh info.

It doesn't have to be cash - I don't think it's advisable to travel with that kind of cash. It can just be a bank statement showing that you have the equivalent of Can 10K in the bank. They make it this high because it can be quite difficult for some professions to find work in Canada e.g. Engineering. So someone can go for 8 or more months without a job and they would need something to live on. The government doesn't want you applying for welfare or tapping into public funds, so that's why they put this requirement in place. I came here as a landed immigrant 6years ago and even though I had bank statements showing I had the required funds, no-one asked me to provide that proof. When I landed, they only asked to see my immigration papers and nothing else. I doubt there are a lot of people who are asked to show this proof of funds when they land, so I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. Since you are planning to settle in Ontario, have a look at the following website - it's an excellent resource for people planning to settle in Ontario: http://www.settlement.org/

It's 10K CAN - it's not an application fee, but the money you will need to survive on when you have landed in Canada and are still looking for a job and getting settled. It sounds about right, but you can confirm it by going to the websites below: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html http://www.canadavisa.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanadianSkilledWorkers/

I think I read somewhere on cnsa.ca that UBC gives you a chance to review your application with them to find out what you could have done to get accepted. Check with the UBC school of nursing about having such a review. I think quite a number of people go for these reviews and get accepted when they apply again. Have a look at the following thread from cnsa.ca - it might have information about these reviews (not too sure coz I read about them a long time ago). Good luck. https://secure.cnsa.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=739