Filipino Nurse DIY Application for NCLEX-RN in New York State: UpdatesAlmost a Year Later

UPDATE: I took my NCLEX-RN just this Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 9:00 am Philippine Standard Time, at Pearson Professional Center, Trident Tower Makati, Metro Manila. I tried the Pearson Vue Trick about 3 hours later, got a good pop up, and last night, October 18, I found out through my unofficial quick results posted on my Pearson Vue account that I passed! I will create a separate post to share my NCLEX-RN experience soon! :)

For the first post regarding the how-to apply:
http://hernameisninanicole.blogspot.com/2012/09/applying-and-taking-nclex-new-york.html?showComment=1380925124411#c7972998261034786132

Hello everyone who stumbled into this blog! I believe you are here for the obvious reason. You are maybe trying to apply for NCLEX-RN in New York, already applied but experiencing some problems or difficulties, most likely a Filipino Nurse with the same case like me, or maybe you are just as confused as I am when I was trying to figure it all out when I started.

Lucky for me, I have friends who helped me figure it out. I thought that paying an agency (name withheld) to process the application for me is just futile and a big waste of money I should be using to pay for review materials instead. Because, truth be told, you can do it on your own without aid whatsoever from a company. I did it and so can you. And because I am grateful for the help that I got, I am happy to be a be of help to anyone. So to give you a little background as to how to apply, here’s the steps I took when I was applying with some connotations and commentaries. I warn you though that since I did it my way and on my own, this may not be the best or most correct way to do it. But it worked for me and it is valid.

Step 1: Where do I want to be licensed at?

I originally planned taking the NCLEX-RN exam and get licensed at the State of California where my family is relocating this year. However, I am in the Philippines, not an immigrant, thus, I have no valid Social Security Number that is required. Also, they have become too strict in applying alone that I know many people having problems there. So there was New York, among other states that do not require SSN, and my dilemma is solved. However, if the time frame is your utmost concern and you would like to take the exam the soonest possible time, New York may not be for you. Vermont used to have the no SSN requirement but they amended that last year and I was late in applying so not luck there, it would have been nice applying there because it just takes 4 months to have everything at hand to sit the exam.

Step 2: Download the application form or application packet in the website of your Board of Nursing of choice.

In my case, it’s http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse/nurseforms.htm where I had it printed and I handwritten almost all the answer to then I had it notarized, sealed, and signed, and mailed to Mail the duly accomplished Application Forms with the application fee to:

New York State Education Department, 

Office of the Professions, 

PO Box 22063, Albany, NY 12201

-I am probably not the best person to ask regarding the mode of payment because my parents processed it for me because it is their account that I used. If my memory serves me right, you can pay using a bank draft or a check that is paid in US dollars, so a dollar account is needed for that. When I had the check addressed to NYSED and paid for in $143, I mailed the check along with my application. I used PNB and I heard BDO and Metrobank processes the payment too.

-Go to a valid, good Notary Public. It will cost roughly Php 150-200. The seal must be placed where it is supposed to be as indicated in the form. Your signature must be in your full name and not the traditional signature you can’t make the characters off. Save time and money and do it properly. I send my application twice because of that.

- I used DHL as courier and it cost me Php 1400 each mail I sent. That’s the fastest service for 3-4 days.

-NYSED did not inform me nor they answered my query when I asked if they received my application already. I based it on the tracking of the package on my courier’s website.

-NYSED will not process your papers too until your other requirements such as the CVS has been issued or submitted.

Step 3: CGFNS Credential Verification Service

You can log on to http://cgfns.org/sections/programs/cvs for the application. As for myself, I used the online application which cost $390 then, and that is a big cheaper than the application form that gets sent to you. Do not be confused though, the only difference is you fill out your information on your online account compared to writing it in the forms where you need to mail it back t them again. When you use the online service for CVS, you will be printing a few pages too including your mode of payment, a proof that you paid via credit card. Have this notarized and signed and mailed it to Mail the duly accomplished Application Forms to: 

PO Box 8628, Philadelphia, PA 19101- 8628.

-The courier guy from DHL sent this to another address that is not a PO box. He said they never deliver to PO boxes where no one is going to receive and sign for it. I relied on his discretion because he said he’s been doing this for years and not a single package got lost.

-This is an office to office transaction. No need to pass anything to anywhere. CGFNS will contact PRC to authenticate your license and your school for your Transcript of Records. Check the status of your service in your CGFNS account and rely on that so you can call PRC or your school for follow up. All has been paid for the $390. You will not be paying a cent to PRC or to your school for mailing fee.

-This service takes 4-12 months, I’ve been told. I sent mine alongside the New York application form around first week of August 2012 and with the delays I experience due to the wrong signature and such, I got my Report Issued around December 2012 and NYSED made me eligible early March 2013. That makes 7 months processing of NY Application for me.

Step 4: By this time I am confused! I already have my eligibility but I have not completed my requirements yet!

I have yet to take the NY Mandated Courses Online (since I answered ‘Yes’ in the application) at http://www.elearnonline.net/statemandate.aspx?x=44 for the Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse in NYS 3.25 hrs ($20) and New York State Mandated Infection Control Training 4 hrs ($25). I might take it sooner or later though regardless if I already got my license of not and even if I will not be working there in NY anytime soon.

-I was told the eligibility in NY is for 5 years. They have our files for that long.

-The mandated courses may not be taken if you are not going to work in NY (Verification needed, I am not sure, help!)

Step 5: Eligibility

Step 7: Register at Pearson Vue 

Once you received the correspondence that you are already eligible (completed the requirements) to sit the exam, you may now register at Pearson Vue at http://www.pearsonvue.com and wait for your ATT or Authorization to Take the Test and that’s the time you can schedule your exam at your preferred site and date.

-I haven’t registered at Pearson Vue yet as I am still assessing myself if I am already ready to take the exam. Last April 2013, they raised the passing standard for the NCLEX-RN and that makes the exam even for difficult so you cannot just take it when you feel like you want to.

Step 6: Wait for your ATT and Schedule the exam

-I have not made up my mind yet as to when I will be taking the exam because I need time to….

Step 7: Review and Prepare for the exam (whichever comes first for you.).

This is pretty much what I’ve been doing seriously since June 6. I enrolled myself in a review class which is pretty much elf review too only you get to use their resources and you get a structure and you condition yourself to study and read and review and answer questions almost 9 hours a day. My style is I read every chapter first then take the post test per chapter then when I finished max 3 chapters a day, I answer questions using the QBank or the Q&A CDs I’ve acquired since college. 250 Q&As max in a day. Minimum 50. Minimum 1 chapter a day.

I do not force myself to study when I don’t want to. Heck, I even skip class when I feel like I’m just going to sleep there. I watch TV and I go out. I do not limit. I study when I am happy and I study happily and that seems to be working. I cannot share yet my study guides or my study tips and whatsnot until I have proven it to be effective and that’s not until I pass the test.

In summary:

NY Application + CGFNS CVS Application + Issued CVS Report + NY Eligibility + Register at Pearson Vue + Get ATT + Schedule the Exam + Take the Exam + Pass The Exam = NY License

*Insert Study and Preparation and Mandated Courses in between

If you have questions, feel free to comment.  I would love to hear from you. I might write about review when I am in a void. Thank you!

-N

Opportunities, Misfortunes, and The Makings Of

We live in an imperfect world, a world so imperfect that the society’s flaws seem customary. But I do not understand why this should be the case. We are imperfect but imperfection is not tantamount to hopelessness and helplessness. And even if it is, being hopeless and helpless don’t mean you have to continuously go with the flow and stick with the status quo. They say this is life and this is life as we know it. Wrong. Life is what we make of it. And your life is the product of the series of choices and turns you do each day.

Right now, I am a 23- year old Filipino Registered Nurse who graduated from nursing school and passed the local board examination on April and August of 2011 respectively. It has been 2 years and here I am still jobless. My being jobless and having no own means of income are burden, not just to me but to my parents and my family. I rely on a monthly allowance that is from the interest of the money being lent by my parents to the people that need it. It is more than enough 95% of the time but sometimes it is just a dime short for my needs. But I never go hungry and I occasionally buy stuff that makes me happy. Sometimes I get to save, sometimes I don’t. There are some opportunities that came, some I failed to answer or acknowledge, some I didn’t get, some I declined. I think I’ve always known what I want and more often than not, those opportunities do not present me with that. I am a little embarrassed to myself, to people, to my parents, that at this age I have not earned my own money since the short lived call center stint I had and left at for my nursing training. I am just lucky that my parents do not pressure me to get a job other than what I really want. A job that will make use of my hard earned degree and sought after profession.

Yesterday, I went to file my application at University of Santo Tomas Hospital, for what appears to be the third time, almost a year after I finished my Medical-Surgical Nurse Training Program there. I don’t know what happened and why it is taking so long for them to hire me. I am not the smartest nurse there is but I am not dumb rock to begin with, so to speak. My clinical preceptor even told me then that I am the best preceptee she had and that I am the first to ever get a line if 9 rating from her. I am quick on my feet. I make sure I know what I need to know and I know how to do what needs to be done. I hate not knowing and the answer ‘I don’t know’ is not acceptable to me. But human as I am, I do not know everything there is under the sun but I make sure I ask and I read and I learn on and about it because not knowing after being confronted with something you are supposed to know the second time is never acceptable. My being compassionate, hardworking, and conscientious make up for my not being a latin award honoree and for not knowing someone from the inside or from the system so I can get the job express. All these do not answer the question, why hasn’t USTH called me yet?

I have always wanted to become a nurse. Or maybe even a bit more than just a nurse. I wanted to become a doctor or a lawyer. My relatives and friends say I can do it and I will make a good doctor or lawyer. But my parents are already of age and my siblings and I wanted them to retire early so I didn’t push to overburden them with my academic needs more than what they can stress-free provide. Right now, I want to practice my profession. I want to care for people, to touch and even change lives. I want to make a difference in an indifferent world. I miss talking to people and caring for them and making them feel that they are well taken care of, that they are not alone. I miss the touch I give to convey that I do care and that to me they are not cases and patients but people that need all the help that they can get to get through all these that they have to get through. I miss the smell of antiseptics and bleach and even the pungent smell that hospitals reek of. I miss doing what matters. I miss doing what matters to me the most.

My license expires in 10 months and despite the three hospital training I had since, I have not fully used it. I know I chose to wait. I chose USTH over a much bigger and more recognized institution. And for the past year and a half, this is the cycle of choices I made and still making. I choose to wait.

Right now, I sit 8-9 hours a day in a classroom or computer laboratory 5 days a week in preparation for my foreign licensure. When I still can, I read and answer a minimum of 2 chapters a day and 150 questions a day. I am far from proving to NCBSN that I am a competent nurse, but I am not that far that I know before the year ends, I can call myself a USRN, too.

My life is imperfect, almost too imperfect that I ask myself everyday, ‘Why is this happening to me? or ‘Why do I seem to unfortunate that I have to wait this long?’ I feel helpless and sometimes even hopeless and I do seem to be just going along the waves and along the status quo. Most of my choices have broken me instead of making me before but this time around, my choice to wait and intensely cling to that goal and purpose is going to make me this time around. With that and with all the blessings I am getting, I am beyond thankful.

Back for Good, Hopefully

I’ve been an awful lot blogger for not being able to update and maintain this blog like I promised myself almost a year ago when I created it and being preoccupied with a hobby isn’t going to make up for that. But I am back to business or whatever. I’ve been running around with thoughts in my mind that needed to be broken down into some spectacle or clutter for a blog post for months.

And just to a wee, quick update, I have just started my official NCLEX-RN review last June 6 here in Manila. I know I have been reading and answering questions since I started applying last August 2012 but I figured that isn’t quite counted and valid preparation because I wasn’t serious about it and I didn’t prioritize it.

So yes, it’s 6:51 am of June 19^th today. My class is in 3 hours and I am just killing some time catching up with a few TV series to relax.

I promise to myself I will update, especially NCLEX-RN wise. I would like to hear stories from people preparing or applying for it. And maybe I can help. 

- N

Buhay Paddler

April 30, 2013

Blessed, honored, humbled, and empowered - just four of the things I feel 2 1/2 months after joining the Philippine Dragonboat Rowing Team (PDRT) Fireblades. No one (and I mean NO ONE) expected I can do this. Some people even said di na akobabalik, that I won't survive and just quit. But I didn't and I don't see it that way.

I've come from being a mere supporter on the sidelines, to a dead weight on the banca, to someone who endures and frisk away muscle soreness and pain, to a force to be reckoned with. Chos.

1 local race, 1 international race (where we bagged 1 Gold and 3 3rd runner up places) under my belt, and the Philippine National Games to champion next month, kaya square ang blade, twist, reach, power entry, quick pull, j-shape, bangon, taas recovery, baon, etc. pa. Keep calm and paddle (pero if you know me + as evidenced by this picture, hindi ka kaya maka-kalma)!

Love Beyond All Faults. Cry Behind Closed Doors. Fight Battles That No One Knows About.

Ah, it’s been a while blog. I think I owe a lot of stories by now. The last time I was here, I was a nursing a terrible heartbreak. And now that I am back, I still am nursing a big, fat heartbreak, which luckily and unluckily at the same time, is different from that of before.

“How was the first quarter of my 2013?”, I asked myself today.  Let’s see.

My sister and my niece visited the country after not seeing them for almost 3 years and I spent very little time with them because I was away from home for a training I was always hesitant of taking part in.  A few days before they left, I got sick, caught a flu, and didn't see a doctor to be checked until it is nearly Pneumonia. They left with a promise that my parents are due to follow them to the States soon. I still am not well despite the meds and had a TB scare because I lost weight, lost my appetite, and had blood in my phlegm which I eventually realized was due to a chicken bone I swallowed that nicked my throat. The doctor doesn’t know what to make out of what is happening to me. Flu then what? Pneumonia? No. Lungs are clear. Allergies? Maybe. Until he said it may be Tracheobronchitis. Practically, I drowned my liver and kidneys with antibiotics which don’t seem to work. Impractically, those medications are damn expensive and they didn’t work or they aren’t for me to begin with. Finally, I got better and gained all the weight I lost back. Color is back on my cheeks and so are the unnecessary and unwelcomed fats. I, too, joined a sport’s team – a dragonboat rowing team and if you know me at all, you’d just laugh at me and dubiously look me with equal questioning eyes. People from the team probably thought I won’t make it out there alive, that I will quit, but I am still in the team and on my way to my 2nd race.

Amidst all these, I was with the best hospital in the country and was about to be deployed in the area by April. Despite having other plans and another preferred hospital at that – even if this is the best hospital in the country – I did all my best. I aced every exam, every oral revalida, every recitation. I was in my A game. The once timid and mediocre girl in the corner is back on the tracks. I was then ‘highly recommended for hiring’, my preceptor’s own words. I was ridiculed by the nurse in the employee’s health clinic for being fat. The doctor had to send me back to my gynecologist for more series of tests because of my Polycystic Ovaries, which shouldn’t be a matter of concern because it is just not. They say I might bleed when the problem is I do not bleed regularly. They say they don’t want me taking my meds or anyone who is taking meds but what if that is what keeping them from any further harm? The doctor said I might have bigger and more cysts somewhere in my system when in fact, the TRS / UTZ is conclusive that I have less than 1 millimeter (YES, that minute things) cysts that my gyne characterized as dot-like. In the end, he didn’t give me clearance because I am on hormonal pills to help me with my PCOS and menstrual irregularity. He – a doctor – wanted me to stop taking my meds, the only thing which hinders more cysts from growing. He isn’t a gynecologist and he doesn’t have the say for me to do that. My gynecologist, who by the way, is affiliated in that same hospital, is furious. My family and friends cry foul – it is discrimination, they tell me, and I believe it is. After all, what does my ovaries got to do with my job? My ovaries won’t hold a dying patient’s hands. My ovaries won’t care for sick people. My ovaries sure as hell won’t talk to patients and  make them feel better. Should I stop taking my meds so I won't have any chance of bearing children in the future? So I just let it go. Not because I am letting myself get victimized by the fucked up system, not because I am a coward to change the system. You just know that things are not worth it when you see it eye to eye.

Do I have any regret or sense of waste as to what happened? No. Because my heart – and my caring hands, are with somewhere else. It always has been. So after a year of my training at another hospital, I had my papers followed up because that’s where I always wanted to be. That’s where I felt I am indeed a nurse and that I am appreciated as one. I checked with the Nursing Service Office and Human Resource Division only to be told that the reason that they have not contacted me for further evaluation is because I have not submitted my requirements in the first place. How is it possible when a month after my training, I submitted my complete requirements, on the first day when they already allowed us to do so, with the people who are now scheduled to start their jobs there as a Staff Nurses? A cousin of mine told me that we have an aunt who is working there. Do not get me wrong. I know I said before how I hate the backer system that this country is so sought at for. I told my parents about this and they confirmed that I, indeed, have an aunt who has been there for a long time now. We knew a lot of doctors from there but we didn’t sought help for me to be employed, not once. But I figured, she’s my aunt, I am more than deserving and qualified so I owe no fucking explanation to anybody. We then found that my application has been sleeping there at the bottom pile because no one’s giving a little push to it. I have always known that that is how it is here so it wouldn’t really hurt if I use my linkages, too. After all, I know to myself that I owe nobody a goddamn explanation and I fucking deserve this this time.

On that same day that we visited her and submitted a new set of application, our house helper called my mom, who was in the city for their check-up in the same hospital, and to fetch me, to say that our dog, Pretty, passed away. My niece couldn’t help but tell me the ill news right away even if my dad told her not to tell me until we got home (which I would have been mad about) and we are in the middle of a hospital where real human beings die every time. I didn’t even know she was sick. It doesn’t make any sense. It has been more than a month since I saw her – alive and well. As expected, I cried almost as instantaneously like how people just die one minute after you see them alive – and I felt that, I , too, have died. A big part of me has died. I cried and cried and the 4-5 hours of ride back home to the province has been the longest and most painful trip of my life. I loved – love – Pretty so much, almost to a fault. She is my constant companion, my pull, my one true bestfriend – which are all understatements if I have to be very honest. We arrived home to see her covered in her old spot. I asked for her not to be buried until we got home, breaking more than a dozen health and sanitation rules but I don’t give a crap, until I see her for one last time. She lay there, like her sleeping old self. She obviously lost a lot of weight, I’ve been told she has not eaten in 4 days, and I felt a pang of grief and pain that we may have neglected her and that no one is around until her last dying breath and worse, I didn’t see her and she didn’t see me through her wonderful, big doe eyes I have always grown too fond of. We are all there, family, Dad, Mom, my brother, Nicole, crying – bawling, speaking to her, thinking maybe she still can hear us. Even our other 3 dogs are in despair. Apologies and gratitude are said to this lovely furry creature we have been for 8 long years. She died young but I’d like to think she didn’t die with her life’s purpose unfulfilled. She changed us. She changed ME. She made me my best possible humble and compassionate self. She made me peaceful and warm and loving to every breathing being. She deserved a separate post than this, which by the way will take time because one cannot help but cry when one speaks of such wonderful living form that she is. To say that she is the best dog is truly an understatement. We are forever in debt of her goodness to our family and I face each day with both joy and pain – joy because she is in a happier place now and pain because I can no longer share that happiness with her. I miss her yesterday, today, and will always miss her tomorrow and for the many years and dog years to come.

In the middle of all these, my parents are due to leave in 5 days and only God knows how long we will have to see them again. Visas are not freely and easily given to people like me – a nurse, and an unemployed and inexperienced one at that. This, too, deserves a other post, in another time, because I don’t think I have an ounce of courage nor strength to break through my denial and sadness of being left behind with tons of responsibilities and independence I do not like. But I am a big girl now and one must continue living not just for oneself but for others – for Nicole, my brother, my family in the States, our dogs, and other many dogs out there who need saving.

Also, to make myself even more despondent, as if it is not enough to be this despondent for too long, I missed my job interview at the Philippine Institute of Development Studies. They e-mailed me last Monday for a scheduled interview the next day (I frankly didn't expect to be considered) and I read the email the next day after that. As much as I would like to regret and feel ashamed for not being able to check and be prepared for this, I chose not to. It isn’t living and sure it won’t be the death of me. At least, not today.

So...

5 days, mom and dad will fly to the States.

I am left with so much responsibilities and I will become a mother overnight because I need to care for my niece and our dogs and myself all at the same time.

I need to get into UST. I need to pass my exam. I may need to go to Law School. I need to lose weight. I need to learn how to be independent and how to not get victimized and absorbed into by this country’s dirty system. I need to see the light beyond the tunnel.

God save me.

x Nin

Personal Paradox

Hey X,

I feel unwanted today. Like a broken toy or an old piece of clothing. Dusty. Worn out. Torn. Out of place. Replaceable. I don’t know if it is normal to feel all these bad things at once. What I am sure of is that this is something I wouldn't want any person I love to feel.

I also feel helpless. No power. No means to actually create a fire, let alone spark a plug.

I feel numb and hurt both at the same time. I cannot explain why and I feel embarrassed even to myself to admit why.

I guess this is the price you have to pay when you are aloof, frigid, cold, and emotionally distant. When you push people away and far from you.

But sometimes, all I want is for them to pull me closer the harder I push them away. Sometimes, all I want is for them to need me back.

And yet again, I am selfish and I always ask for too much.

Not that you listen but thanks,

N

Of burgers and tears

Dear X,

I cannot talk about things like this to anyone that even my shrink tells me I am being illogical. So I am writing this down here just in case someone understands. I’m going to start calling you X from now on because I do not know and I couldn’t be sure who is reading this, whether someone does, so I’m going to start referring to you as the variable ‘X’.

My dad just brought me my favorite burger not over an hour ago. And my reaction was more of horror than thankful. I figured he had to leave work early today and I hope it is not because he finds a need to buy me a freaking burger. Thing is, he brought me this big burger which I am fond of eating before, which I never eat anymore. And that has to mean one thing after his question early this morning before we went for our usual run.

I am not sure what gave him the idea but he asked me if I slept in late last night. I can’t bring myself to look in the mirror to check if my eyes are puffy or red or both. If that’s what gave everything away. I didn't know I slept crying last night, like I didn't know that I do for the past months. I answered ‘no’ and he didn't give a fuss anymore.

I respect so much of my dad, more so for respecting my privacy and not asking too many questions that’s only going to make me tear up. The last thing I want to do is to cry in front of my parents. But I guess, my silence is worst than my crying itself. I do not know if my mom has told him of why I am like this (not that I said much), whatever I am like these days or for the past months. Why I find it necessary to go home whenever I can (because I cannot be left alone in my dorm room, because I will just start crying and bawling and shrinking into a ball and cry all over again). Why I push myself to run at least a mile a day or until my legs hurt. Why I do not eat or sleep or talk too much like I used to. Why I always ask for hugs. Why I cut my hair. Why I am not the same happy person that I once was.

I can only hope that they do not worry about me. Another thing I don’t want them to do is to worry about me, not when they are leaving in a few months.

Are dads always like this? Do they easily pick up what troubles their daughters? Do they sense that they are hurt or sad or feeling abandoned? Do they really feel something is wrong even if we do not speak of it?

Daddy, I know you are not ever going to read this but thank you. Thank you for all these. For not asking more than what I can answer, for keeping me on my feet, for always making me feel that I am worth it and that I am worthy of all the love in this world. I love you and I love that I will always be your girl.

I love you that much that I ate half of the burger even if I didn’t want to. I ate it even if it made me feel sick and that it was hard for me to stomach it. Partly, I ate it because I do not want you to worry and I do not like you thinking that something is wrong (even when there is truly something wrong).

I hope this is the first and last burger. Not only because I do not want to eat it, but also because I do not think the burger is going to help me get that space between my thighs. :)

Love you Dad,

Wanina

Of pain and getting inked

Hey you, if anyone’s out there, if anyone still stumbles into this blog I keep for my sanity, if anyone still bothers to read,

I want to get a tattoo. No, that’s not it. I will get a tattoo. Get myself inked. Not a henna. A real one, the type that uses those scary needles to beautifully scar your skin with a solid black color.

I have been thinking about this for a few months now. And I think, at the back of my mind I have always wanted one. And I know that people who know me personally would not approve should they find out. My parents would freak out. My dad mostly and seeing my tattoo might give him a coronary. As for my mom, I don’t know. I think she’ll hate me for a while but I don’t think there’s anything they can do since you can’t erase it (unless they’d rather see me with big keloid scars over where the tattoo used to lay). As for my friends, I guess they’d keep an open mind. As for my future lover who will see it one way or another, I can only hope that he won’t judge. After all, I feel empowered by getting one. I feel that my current state of pain and helplessness will be gone once and for all if I get through the pain of getting inked. Well, maybe, maybe not. I can only hope that he’d still see me for what and who I really am despite the thing marked on my skin.

So for ideas…

I want a tattoo on my wrist. Not yet sure of what. Not yet sure whether on the right one or left but that’s not what worries me. I am a nurse and people tend to really judge people with inks, let alone a nurse who has one on her wrist. So, um, I guess not.

I want an anchor tattoo. A simple anchor. This is more of a symbolism and I don’t think it is necessary to explain what an anchor symbolizes. This would look good on my lower back, left or right, I have yet to decide.

Or maybe a good phrase from a good book I have read. Or a song lyric. Not sure what exactly since most of my favorite quotes from a book or lyrics from a song are sentences long. And what worries me with this is what if I don’t believe in that saying anymore? Nevertheless, I think another option is getting one on my inner torso.

Birds. Birds. I can’t even begin to start to talk about how this is my best idea for a tattoo. Birds. Again, this is a symbolism. A bird flies and is free. And that is basically what I think I am – free. I am in awe of these beautiful bird tattoos on the back and since there aren't really rules that say you can’t copy someone’s tattoo, I think I’ll get this one.

I know I have to think and rethink about this more. I got time. I feel like getting one for my birthday or before my birthday. Or when my parents are no longer here in the country that they can’t chastise me for being so reckless, not that I think getting inked is reckless.

I haven’t even thought about the pain. I am not afraid of needles and I think I have a degree of tolerance to pain. I think getting pins of needles on your bare skin can mask whatever pain one has. But nevertheless, I can only hope that that future lover of mine won’t not only judge but kiss that tattoo of mine as he kisses all my pain goodbye, as I tell him my story. :)

x,

N

15 Random Photos in my Instagram

Feet in Glads, Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 The Peak, Hong Kong

 Nurse's Cap, On Duty

 Heaven's Gate, Iba, Zambales

 Light in the Dark, Iba, Zambales

 Seeing Ian Somerhalder, My Birthday

 Red Ballet Flats, Payless

 Cardio Steth, Littmann

 Prayers, A-Ma Temple, Hong Kong

 Chandeliers, Grand Lisboa, Macau

 Moi Au Naturel

 Christian Grey searching for Ana, Matt Bomer

Feet Candy, Sperry's Top Sider

 Nina, My almost-4 year old niece

Beef Jerkies, Senado Square, Macau

What am I going to lose?

I may have just agreed to go back to the hospital soon.

Since UST Hospital has not called me yet for any exam or interview for the probationary / contractual Staff Nurse post after finishing the training last June and after having submitted all requirements last July, and after waiting for months and months, I have finally decided to look the other way. After all, I cannot wait forever and doing so is such a silly thing to do seen this way that opportunities are lacking and not everyone is given the chance.

So after almost 4 months of hiatus in the practice, I decided, why wait for USTH if I can go and train for a little while at SLMC?

A couple of days ago I got a text from the personnel from St. Luke’s to come in for an orientation the next day. I was pretty ambivalent about it, mind you. Not because I still have not get over the USTH but because my sister and my niece are coming over from the US for Christmas and my parents might emigrate there early next year and this Christmas is our first Christmas together in almost 6 years (probably even longer considering my sister isn’t always present during Christmases because of her job at the hospital) since my sister left the country and sadly, the last. That means, the three-month training, should I finally decide to take all three phases, will take most of my time and I won’t be there for reunions, parties, road trips, dinners, and such because I am here in Manila and Zambales is almost 6 hours bus ride away.

I almost, almost did not take the opportunity. Family weighs more than the training itself. As a matter of fact, while sitting there while listening to the orientation, I have decided I won’t be going to anymore, even if it took a while to submit and receive a callback, and even if it is St. Luke’s. But then they gave us this shotgun IQ test which contains 84 random grammar and Math questions that we have to take for only 15 minutes, something I am not sure I’d pass. Among the 60 first priority applicants present that day, only 11 passed including myself. So that should amount to something right? What happens to the 49, I don’t know, but for me not to take this chance is probably not any difference to their fate. So I took a leap of faith and decided I will take this chance. After all, not everyone is given this chance.

I am not yet sure what I will do come December that my sister and my niece, whom I am meeting for the first time, get here. I am not yet sure what I will do should there be calls from elsewhere, something of great importance than this training. I don’t know. I am not yet sure. But I will take this chance and the days after the next as they go along. 

Applying and Taking the NCLEX: New York Dreams

UPDATE: I took my NCLEX-RN just this Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 9:00 am Philippine Standard Time, at Pearson Professional Center, Trident Tower Makati, Metro Manila. I tried the Pearson Vue Trick about 3 hours later, got a good pop up, and last night, October 18, I found out through my unofficial quick results posted on my Pearson Vue account that I passed! I will create a separate post to share my NCLEX-RN experience soon! :)

For a much updated post about the how-to apply, visit the link below:
http://hernameisninanicole.blogspot.com/2013/06/filipino-nurse-diy-application-for.html

NCLEX: State of New York

I have come across many friends and acquaintances who asked me for help and questions about how I processed my application to be a licensed nurse in the USA. To tell you honestly, I am just as clueless as they are when I was first starting last July. I think I am blessed enough to have friends who helped me figure it all out because, as many of you have known, it isn’t a walk in the park. And boy, it isn’t cheap either.

When I passed my local boards which I took last July 2011, I originally wanted to take the NCLEX right away. I, however, opted to postpone the application due to other priorities and taking into consideration the fact that there are no job offers to Filipino Nurses like myself in the US and that I am in need of at least a year clinical or hospital experience (which isn’t easy to get at this time) in order to be considered. My original plan was to apply to the State of Vermont. Why Vermont you ask? If my sources are correct, the State of Vermont is one of the states which process applications faster, that in just a span of four months you can already take the test. Since I put my thought of applying on hold, the State of Vermont changed some of its requirements and is now requiring its applicants to have a valid US Social Security Number which I do not have since I am not an Immigrant to the US. So major change of plans and back to zero all over again. Another option was to apply in the State of California since my family is there, however the California Board of Nursing has modified provisions and has gotten stricter, not to mention they, too, require a valid SSN. So no luck there. The State of Arizona, where my sister is at the moment, is out of the picture as well since they require SSN, too.

So if you are getting the drift, my whole idea where to apply is dependent on the idea of which state does not require SSN. Why? Because you cannot work in the US without a valid SSN. I am not sure what other states does not require SSN but I have been told by a friend that the State of New York doesn’t. Since New York is a pretty good place to practice, regardless of the high cost of living, I am determined to try. From there I started building my New York dreams.

I have compiled the series of steps to take in applying for licensure in the State of New York. If this is the State you wish to get licensed at, continue reading. If not, then decide first where then start from there.

Step 1: Decide which US State you wish to get licensed at: State of New York

Step 2: Take the 1st 2 NY Mandated Courses Online 

Go to http://www.elearnonline.net/statemandate.aspx?x=44

Register and pay and take the coursework in the allotted time.

§  Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse in NYS - 3.25 hrs - $ 20

§  New York State Mandated Infection Control Training - 4 hrs - $ 25

The results will be mailed directly to NYSED. I, however, haven’t taken this yet since I am busy. But once CGFNS is on its way, it is important that I have already passed this so the results will be sent to NYSED.

Step 3.1: Accomplish and mail the Credential Verification Service (via CGFNS) Forms

Since I am a foreign graduate, the New York State requires my credentials to be verified and authenticated by CGFNS. Applying online costs $390 and via mail is a little bit more.

Download the Application Forms and brochures at http://cgfns.org/sections/programs/cvs

Everything you need to know about CGFNS is there. You can either apply online or via mail, again, the difference is there. I applied online because it is cheaper and faster. Mind you though that CVS takes about 4 to 12 months to be processed. And they will only give you a year to have everything sent and accomplished or your application will be voided and you need to apply and pay again.

Mail the duly accomplished Application Forms to: PO Box 8628, Philadelphia, PA 19101- 8628. I mailed my accomplished forms through DHL in front of the PRC. You will probably get confused (like I did) why the address the courier will send it to is to a different address or office but under CGFNS as well. I was told that they do not send documents or parcels to PO boxes because no one will sign for it. I asked the manong there so many questions and in the end he got irritated to me and told me he has been dealing with this for years and not one document got lost or not received. So I trusted him and mailed and it was received by CGFNS. Check the status on your account online. Mailing via DHL costs Php 1400 and that is for three days.

CGFNS will contact your school and your licensing body which is the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) to authenticate your transcript of records and license respectively. This is an office to office transaction. Once your school and PRC receive the documents from CGFNS, they will mail it back to them. This will take a while, almost forever, I have been told, and I just got from my school and PRC to check if they received it already but I was asked to check on it again since  I just applied for CGFNS this early August. Once your school and PRC sent the authenticated documents to PRC, CGFNS will review this and will send a report to NYSED or NY BON. Once NY BON received the issued report from CGFNS that your CVS is completed, you will receive your eligibility to take the exam. 

CGFNS will not notify you that an issued report to NYSED was sent so make sure that you check the status of your application online. If in any case you have not received your eligibility after CGFNS issued a report to NY, you can email them and ask about it at OPUNIT4@MAIL.NYSED.GOV

Step 3.2: Accomplish and mail the NY Application Form

Download Application Forms at http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse/nurseforms.htm

Mail the duly accomplished Application Forms with the application fee to:

New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, PO Box 22063, Albany,

NY 12201.

I mailed this a day later I mailed my CGFNS documents. You have to accomplish this alongside CGFNS but you can also delay it as NYSED won’t process your application until CVS is completed and an issued report has been sent to NYSED.

The mode of payment (bank draft or money order) can be confusing as well so make sure you read the application form and everything in it. As for me, I paid using a bank draft from PNB. I don’t really know how it works as I had my parents processed it for me. The payment should be made in dollars for $140 and for bank drafts I think you need to have a dollar account in an internationally recognized bank and they will issue a check paid to NYSED. I used the Philippine National Bank (PNB) and they have an office in New York. I heard you can also use Metrobank and Banco de Oro (BDO) as well.

From this on, you have to wait for the issued report of CGFNS to NYSED by checking the status of your order or application on the CGFNS website and the eligibility to take the test from NYSED.

Step 4: Once you received your eligibility, register to take the test

Go to http://www.pearsonvue.com and the test is for about $200.

I have not taken this step yet as I am still on the CGFNS-CVS part. :)

If you have seen that you have an issued report already and you have not received your eligibility yet, you can email NYSED. Wait for the eligibility to take the test before you apply for the actual examination.

Step 5: Wait for your ATT

Once you registered to Pearson Value, wait for a max of 48 hours and you'll receive your ATT. The ATT might be received a little later, like a week or something to some cases.

Step 6: Schedule the test

I have not figure out where I’ll take the test yet.

Step 7: Take and Pass the test!

In God’s will, in a span of 1 year, or hopefully even less, I will already take my NCLEX. But as of now, I am self-reviewing, so by next year, I can start savoring the beginning of my New York dreams. :)

This is pretty much what I know about it. As you can see, I am just trying to figure it all out myself. I am just thankful to my friends (Louie, Kuya JP, Ate Justine, and Red) for helping me out and for patiently answering my sometimes annoying and stupid questions about the application.

Should you have questions, feel free to comment. If you, too, are an applicant who is trying to figure it all out yourself like me, let’s help each other and I would love to hear from you! :)

“Help others get ahead. Remember: 

You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulder.”

Nin