Where in US states you apply for NCLEX-RN and Passed?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 26, 2009

The state concerned was California and they do not take anywhere near 12 months to give eligibility. We have seen many members state that NY took them 8 months CVS is passed to NY once 6 months are up and then NY take over so will depend then on length of time. Looking at what other people post and the state they went to the average for most is 4 months to get eligibility (NY is the exception)

Hushdawg · Mar 27, 2009

4 months is the average for eligibility to sit for NCLEX, that is true; but for a foreign nurse applicant some states take a long time because of all the other things involved such as CES or CP. Usually nurses here do not distinguish those aspects from the overall licensure process and so they look at the start from day 1 as the "processing time"

I also agree, CA should only take about 1-2 months if the application has been prepared properly.

Anyone whose application has taken 12 months was either lost in transit, lost at BON (which does happen) or, as you said, never filed in the first place.

Again this is why nurses need to do homework on the agency they are going with and of course the BEST option is to be an independent nurse and stay away from staffing firms if possible.

spongebob6286, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2009

4 months is the average for eligibility to sit for NCLEX, that is true; but for a foreign nurse applicant some states take a long time because of all the other things involved such as CES or CP. Usually nurses here do not distinguish those aspects from the overall licensure process and so they look at the start from day 1 as the "processing time"
I also agree, CA should only take about 1-2 months if the application has been prepared properly.
Anyone whose application has taken 12 months was either lost in transit, lost at BON (which does happen) or, as you said, never filed in the first place.
Again this is why nurses need to do homework on the agency they are going with and of course the BEST option is to be an independent nurse and stay away from staffing firms if possible.

right. it is better to do your own paper works as no one is to blame but yourself. besides, you can get track of all the documents you send and money you spent for it. you are able to finish college and i believe you can answer some documents pertaining your school and personal information.

ilmbg · Mar 28, 2009

nervous lady- You have not replied to any of the posters- you might not have had the time yet.

Do you understand what the other's are trying to tell you? The test is the same no matter where you take it. One state is not easier than another state. It is the SAME test! Whether you pass it or not is not because someone took it in another state. As someone else already said- it is how much you already know that makes you pass or fail. Possibly in your case, could it be your understanding of the English language?

There are classes where you can 'prepare' to take the test. The classes are usually a week long. They are called 'NCLEX Prep Course'. They teach you how to understand the questions on the NCLEX better. You will have many of the same questions that are actually on the test. I would think that for someone who is coming into the US, that taking this class would be very good for you.

Because I do not know any of the procedures/time limits that you have to obey to work in the US, other people might be able to tell you if you have time to take this class.

Also- there are books that you can study from on your own- they give you an idea of the questions on the test, just like the class does.

If you have had a good education/teaching of nursing, I think the NCLEX Prep Course would benefit you greatly- well worth the money!

Also- those of you who live in CA- how many times are you allowed to take the NCLEX? When I sat, in Michigan, if someone did not pass the test after 2 times, they had to wait 1 year before they could take it again. That is a reason to be fully prepared. I do not know if different states still have this policy.

Good luck.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 28, 2009

Also- those of you who live in CA- how many times are you allowed to take the NCLEX? When I sat, in Michigan, if someone did not pass the test after 2 times, they had to wait 1 year before they could take it again. That is a reason to be fully prepared. I do not know if different states still have this policy.
Good luck.

Each state has their own policy on how many times you can resit the exam. For California it is at the moment unlimited

Hushdawg · Mar 29, 2009

Possibly in your case, could it be your understanding of the English language?

A lot of people state this but it should be underscored again that in the Philippines nursing colleges teach exclusively in English so by the time a Pinoy becomes a nurse he or she has been exposed to English for many years.

Most Pinoys pass every part of IELTS without problem except for the SPEAKING portion and this is mostly because of the inherent shyness of most pinoys.

The average Filipino understand English VERY well which is why there are so many more NCLEX passers here (percentage scale as well as raw numbers) than in other Asian nations.

The big block now according to intensive research and statistical analysis is NOT the English language barrier it is the huge delay that Pinoy nurses have to go through in getting to take NCLEX from the time they graduate college. This is also the reason why it is far more important in the Philippines for a nurse to go through a guided review in an exstablished center than it is for a US based nurse candidate.

However, that being said a nurse has to do homework on the review center since there is NO governing body for them.

There are certain things that a nurse needs to look for:

1) The materials - Where do they come from? Are they prepared, certified or acknowledged by a US nursing institution such as a university or college or even reviewed/created by a nurse practicioner or doctor with long clinical experience in the USA? Are they up to date? a LOT of NCLEX and even local board schools use material for several years before updating it. NCLEX is updated constantly, so a review center should be no more than 18 months behind.

2) The Instructors - Are they NCLEX passers? It seems like a no-brainer but a LOT of schools here are being taught by people who barely just passed the local board exam and have NEVER passed NCLEX. The alternative to an NCLEX passer/USRN would be a doctor with real clinical experience.

3) The Passing rate - Are they boasting 100% passing rate or 97% passing rate as the #1 benefit for the center? Do they have signs everywhere claiming that? If so then it is a good idea to look elsewhere. With only 40-50% of Pinoy NCLEX takers passing it is rediculous and an outright lie for ANY center to claim a 100% or near passing rate. However, there are a handful which DO have a rediculously high passing rate. They choose not to advertisde that because they believe in the quality of items 1 and 2 on my list here.

4) How much of it is computer based review? Computer based review is a good tool since the NCLEX is a computer based exam, however far too many review centers will have computer based review as the primary source of information, they will provide you with tons of access to material that you can already get for free or cheaply online or at the dozens of stands around PRC... most of it outdated.

5) STUDY ON YOUR OWN!!!! Going to a quality review center is fine, but even if you take from the best it won't amount to anything if you do not study on your own time outside of the review center. Buy one or two books different from what the review center is providing you; make sure they are up to date and don't get more than you know for a fact you can read or else you'll burn yourself out.

ilmbg · Mar 29, 2009

Hushdawg- you have some good points for nervous lady. Is there anyone at this forum who could advise her about which courses have great reputations?

As far as the English language- I hope I didn't infer that she didn't speak/understand- it was just a thought that it might be a problem. I have never worked with anyone from her area and do not know if there would be any hesitation.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 29, 2009

I understand what you are saying Hushdawg but we are also seeing members fail their English exams so yes there may be cases where the person is exposed to the English language but they can't be as exposed as they may think they are if they are failing English language exams

Hushdawg · Mar 30, 2009

Right, the English exam failure is usually not that bad. I know that sounds weird, let me explain.

Nurses for US need to meet a 7 on a 10 point scale for IELTS.

Most (93%) have no problem with reading or listening and score the 7 with no difficulty, many get above.

Many still (87%) are able to get the 7 in writing with no difficulty either

So this illustrates that receiving communication is not a problem and neither is giving communication in a written format.

The "failure" is the speaking portion only. Most of those are only failing by a few points (meaning they are getting 6 or 6.5 - this is true for more than 60% of the "failures").

If one understand the Filipino culture then it is easy to see (especially if one reviews the IELTS exam interview) that the failure is not a lack of understanding the English language, it is the inherent shyness and timidity that Filipinos have in such situations.

I have conducted very casual interviews in Tagalog in order to break down the problem and that shyness still prevails.

So when you look at the numbers and really talk to people from British Council and IDP Australia whom administrate the exams here in the Philippines as I have then you'll clearly see where the problem lies.

Confidence.

The only way that we have found to overcome this is to encourage Filipino nurses to ban themselves from speaking anything other than English for a full week building up to the test day. This gives a LOT more confidence in speaking the English language.

Let me illustrate:

I was asked to conduct an interview with a young woman to prepare her for IELTS. I talked with her for a while first about her goals and what she wanted to do once she went to the States, what her dreams and her plans were.

All in English. She spoke perfectly, communicated very well and precisely, using terminology which showed she had an expansive vocabulary.

Then we started the formal graded interview.

Not only did she completely lock up, but she started crying.

This is the reaction that a lot of interviewers have told me about. There is sheer panic at the interview in spite of the knowledge that the interviewee actually posesses.

Confidence is all the Philippine nurse usually needs in order to pass IELTS.

Hushdawg · Mar 30, 2009

By the way, when IELTS was administered to native speakers in order to get a benchmark, the average score for a native speaker was only a 6.

Nurses are held to a higher standard because of the profession requirements.