abstam

I (like most of you) am in the assessment queue awaiting for clearance for the OSCE!! Anyone heard words of advice from anyone who has taken it!? I'm anxious to prepare for the exam but it feels difficult to do so when I have no clue when I'll even be able to take it. This has been such a waiting game! Congrats on booking @Skye25 ! The royal marsden clinical skills book may be helpful for studying, and of course any materials northampton gives you. please let us all know how it goes!

Yes, @gsimps very helpful comment!! Stressing about how to tackle preparing for the OSCE while I await my approval for the exam in the assessment queue. What trust offered that simulation course? I'm willing to attend any/all courses I can find if their willing to have non employees attend. Email is : [email protected] Many thanks!!

I take the CBT this afternoon (second attempt!)… The first attempt took me a little over two hours. I'm starting to get so nervous. I've read through the Royal Marsden, and scanned most of the NICE links off of the blueprint. Still not feeling overly confident because my first attempt reaaallly discouraged me. I am encouraged however people in this thread have been passing on their second attempts. Anyone out there with final words of advice?? :)

Congrats to all who are passing!! Anxiously preparing for my second attempt... Do any of you have advice on specific NICE guidelines to look over? There are so many on their website…i'm getting overwhelmed! Also, do you feel like the new Code of nursing or the old one was used on the exam? Any advice is much appreciated! :)

Any of you have any advice on any additional resources for practice questions online? I feel like that's how I study best! There are some at the end of each royal marsden chapter but I'm just wondering if anyone else has found a helpful website. Thanks!

Yes! Finally received my second Authorization to Test last night. I've booked for the 5th of March. (I'm slightly paranoid about having enough time to prepare successfully just because I failed the first time). I bought the Eighth Edition of Royal Marsden Clinical Nursing Procedures for students. My plan is to skim that first….do all of the practice questions ( ALOT of them look similar to my first attempt) and the go over the blueprint again. Any disease processes anyone think are particularly important to study in detail?? I'm taking the Adult version of the exam. Thank you for all of the help in this forum!!

Petrick, I'm having the same exact problem! I too failed the exam Dec. 18. I've phoned the NMC several times about being unable to rebook and they've told me it's an "IT issue" :/ they advised me to send an email to their [email protected] I also sent an email to [email protected] explaining the problem. I sent the emails early last week and haven't heard back… Maybe if you (and anyone else in the forum with the same problem) send an email as well it will help them to hurry up and fix the issue!! Best of luck to you. I'll let you know if they respond with any updates.

Thank you for your helpful post!! Congratulations. Did you feel that the NMC blueprint was a sufficient study guide? It looks general to me but I get what you're saying about reading it versus memorizing. I bought the royal marsden because on the first attempt I felt that the questions were largely based on nursing specialties. I'm eager to rebook my exam but am still having trouble with the NMC sending my my authorisation for the second attempt....they said a lot of people are having the same problem and it's "an IT issue" :/ Anyone else still having issues being able to rebook?! Was expecting to be able to book on 16 Jan.

congratulations!!!!! That is great news- and very encouraging! PLEASE let us know what tricks helped you to be successful! Right now I'm having a hard time with the NMC because I can't seem to register for my second attempt (it's been over 28 days). How did you go about successfully reregistering? Also, did any of you have to set up an "NMC ONLINE" account? One person in the call centre was confused how I was able to sign up for attempt one without this.

Anyone in the forum attempted the test of competence for a second time?? Or know anyone who has?? Any advice is MUCH appreciated. :)

exactly! It is a generic answer and she didn't really address anything at all. It is inconsistent….anyone else really feeling like a Guinea pig right about now?? I trained as nurse in the United States but I'm already living in the UK (moved here recently after getting married) so I just feel stuck in this system. I honestly don't know what to do. Does anyone in here know of options for foreign trained nurses already living in the UK? …Or is the NMC route my only choice, haha?

After failing my first attempt at the test of competence I emailed the NMC in hopes of getting more information. I wanted to know if the critical questions were supposed to be shown and I also wanted to let them know how unhelpful I found the blueprint hoping that they would lead me to additional study materials…or at least give me some guidance on how to be successful for take two. This is the reply I got today…(still feeling discouraged): the blueprints that we have provided on our website are the only revision materials that we hold. The contents of the exam have to remain confidential to maintain the integrity of the test. The CBT is a competency test that tests if a nurse meets the standards in order to apply to the UK register. In regards to your query about critical questions, we have removed the indication of critical questions from the test to keep the integrity of the test. Therefore please be aware that the critical questions will not be marked in the test.

Hi All, I took the exam yesterday afternoon and just checked my results….I Failed. I'm feeling very frustrated because I felt like the exam blue print was not a good preparation for that exam AT all. My exam was filled with a lot of RANDOM specific nursing scenario questions. Are we all getting the same examination? Prior to the exam, I had basically memorized the code, standards, and many publications off of their website as I assumed that would be what the exam was largely focused on. I do feel like we are being set up to fail! I just scanned over the new blueprint they put up….It looks very similar to the last one! I'm just feeling overwhelmed at the thought of taking this again because I feel like I don't have a good idea of how to accurately prepare. The new links on their website are vague…I almost feel like they want us to retake nursing school. Also, does anyone else feel that it is unfair that they are editing the information on the site now after a lot of us have taken the test? My essential questions were also NOT marked on the exam. This is extremely frustrating. Just hoping one of you has a good idea of how to approach this test successfully in order to pass !? Thanks!