What You Should Know As A International Nurse

If you are a nurse who graduated from nursing school outside of the United States and you now desire to work in the United States or Canada then you are required to successfully pass the NCLEX exam in order to be licensed to work within the U.S. or Canada. However statistics show that nurses who obtain their degree outside of the United States have a extremely low passing rate when it comes to the NCLEX exam. Both the NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN but particularly for the NCLEX-RN exam. According to the NCSBN, statistics show that in 2015 only 34% of international nurses who tested for the NCLEX-RN exam actually passed their exam. There are a combination of reasons why this may be the case.

For one your education may not be in alignment or the same as the education of nursing schools within the United States. Also the health care in the country you obtained your degree may not also correspond to the type of nursing care that is received within the United States.   Another reason may be is English comprehension. Sometimes when English is not your first language, it can be difficult to understand the vernacular of the NCLEX questions. Many nurses who obtain or test for the NCLEX-RN exam and study within the United States often complain that it is difficult to understand what the NCLEX questions are saying. Now imagine how much more difficult it may be for someone where English is not their first language. In my recent book, NCLEX Exam: What You Need To Know Before You Take Your Exam, I devote a section where I talk specifically about International Nurses and what they need to do about this problem. I encourage you to take advantage of this book and read into some of the highlights that may be helpful for International Nurses who are testing for the NCLEX exam within the United States or Canada.   One of the solutions you need to recognize is some of the resources that are currently available out there may not be as helpful to you as it is for nurses who study with them within the United States. You may need a more aggressive approach to help you pass your NCLEX-RN exam.   

The reason why some of the current resources out there may not be very effective for you is because you require a higher level of help when it comes to passing your NCLEX-RN exam. For example some nurses can pass their NCLEX exam by simply studying contents from online videos and then when they test for the NCLEX exam they are able to successfully pass. However as an international nurse this may not be in alignment to help you prepare for your exam. You may need someone who can follow you more closely to help you grasp the missing points you're not connecting in order to help you pass your NCLEX-RN exam. If you are noticing that your practice exam scores are low when you are studying for the NCLEX exam even though you are utilizing different resources then that’s a sign that is not effective for you. This is also another reason why many international nurses take much longer to obtain their license as a Registered Nurse as well as why they are unable to successfully pass their NCLEX-RN exam.

Also I encourage you if you haven't already to read through the guide 10 NCLEX Mistakes You Must Avoid So You Don’t Fail Your Exam and see if you can identify with any of those mistakes. You may be able to identify with some but as a international nurse test taker it may not acknowledge all of the reasons for you. This is why it's important to get the book and NCLEX Exam: What You Need to Know Before You Take Your Exam.   As a new nurse mentor I have received hundreds of stories of nurses who graduated with a nursing degree outside of the United States and have reached out to me for help because they have been unsuccessful with passing their NCLEX-RN exam. Many of them I have discovered to be international nurses who finished school 5 years ago, 10 years ago, even some finished school over 15 years ago and are still struggling to pass their NCLEX-RN exam.   Do not be as statistic. Address this issue head-on and do something right away so that way you can be positioned to begin working as a newly licensed registered nurse. It is important to realize that those years that you are not working because you are still attempting to pass your exam is thousands of dollars that are going down the drain from the time that you put into nursing school as well as the income that you could have been making had you already passed your exam. The more you know why things are the way they are (for example by learning the mistakes) the sooner you can begin to understand the solution and then do something about it.