Filipino Nursing Herald

"Life moves pretty fast", as Ferris Bueller once said, and this blog got left behind as my life jumped, skidded, and warped into days, weeks, months, and years. With so much going on, I admit I had ignored it and then eventually forgot this little space. It's a little over a decade now since I last wrote anything on this blog, and I was only reminded about it when I got an email, saying my Web page was becoming obsolete and had to change settings and code to keep it alive. Quite interesting though, despite ignoring this blog for over ten years, I was astounded to discover that people were still reading some of my content. Yesterday, for example, my blog had over 100 page views. Last month, it got over 200 page views, and in the past year, there were close to 30,000 page views. These are obviously pretty modest numbers but for content that's over 10 years old, there's something there that some people still find relevant. The Filipino Nursing Herald blog started out...

Some 16,908 nurse applicants passed the Nurse Licensure Examination held last December 2012 by the Board of Nursing of the government regulatory commission. A total of 49,066 applicants took the test conducted by the Philippine Regulatory Commission, for a passing rate of a little over 34%.

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Nursing registration applicants to Canada will begin taking the NCLEX-RN examination starting Jan 2015, says the Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators. A one day educational conference in April this year is planned to allow educators and regulators to learn more about the NCLEX-RN program, which will be used as the basis for entry to practice in the nation. Volunteers are also being called upon to help develop the NCLEX exam bank.

With so much economic turmoil in the US, many wonder if internationally educated nurses could still reach their dream of working in the US. While it isn't impossible, it's extremely difficult to find work and get an appropriate visa to be able to work there at this time. Applying for a US RN license is very costly and the uncertainty of landing a US job makes the gamble doubly risky. My personal advice would be to choose prudence in light of these current circumstances. Rather than throwing money in the wind, focus on building up on experience, nursing knowledge and improve communication skills. Get a graduate degree (a Masters, would suffice) and specialize in either Critical Care or Emergency Nursing--just these two. If you do these, doors will eventually open up to you.

A lot of people continue to read our blog because of our comprehensive overview of the application process for nursing license registration in the state of Illinois. But many wonder if the information is still the accurate. Much of the information is still correct. Some of the experiences may have changed like when you're getting fingerprints from the NBI or getting license verification from PRC. Perhaps phone numbers may have changed or even contact persons. But the requirements have stayed very much the same. Click the following link to see the Requirement for an Internationally Educated Nurse seeking registration in Illinois.

Updates to this blog have been very, very erratic and obviously, questions sent have gone unanswered. I'm happy to see that a lot of people still visit and read our blog despite my abscences. A note on Canada immigration: Canada Immigration has currently put on hold all applications. New rules are being developed, said to be more focused on experienced foreign workers and those with Canadian work experience. Until the new rules are in place, applications won't be processed.

Canada continues to accept skilled workers who meet its stringent requirements. Since last year, the Canadian government introduced a cap system that limits the number of applicants every year. This limit, however, is not intended to deter qualified applicants but is aimed at reducing the application backlog and better manage the processing of applications. Qualified nurses are still welcome to apply, although there is a cap of 500 applications per year. To learn more about the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) and the changes that took effect on July 1, 2011, you may follow this link . We are writing this guide to help anyone planning to immigrate to Canada as a federal skilled worker. It is targeted at nurses, in particular, who are hoping to immigrate to Canada but it may be used by anyone applying who want to apply as an immigrant under Canada's FSWprogram. Who is eligible First of all, who are eligible to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker program? There are 29 eligible ...

A growing number of men in a US state is going into nursing, according to a report. Nationally in the US, 5.8% of licensed nurses are men. One nursing school in Texas has seen a jump in male enrollments from 8% to 14%. Read more .

Unless actions are taken, Australia will have a shortage of 109,000 nurses and 2700 doctors by 2025, warned a top health advisory board in a 450-page report released in a meeting of the country's federal, state and territory health ministers. The advisory body, Health Workforce Australia, is urging a coordinated national action and policy measures in hopes of improving the retention of nurses, the management of patient demand and productivity. It also warned that reducing the flow of internationally-educated doctors, even by 50%, would inflate the shortage from 2700 to 9300 by 2025. Read more from The Australian .

The Philippine Nursing Board exams will be held on June 30 and July 1, 2012. Deadline for first-time applicants is May 18, 2012 while the deadline for repeat exam-takers was last April 18, 2012. Download the Nurses' Application Form here . After accomplishing the form, go the PRC Web site for the rest of the work flow. Click here go to the site .

Google has responded to our request to take down a Web page that has infringed on the copyright of the Filipino Nursing Herald. The offending page has now been removed from the face of the Internet. Cheers to our small victory!

The contact information for the Manila testing center of Pearson Vue has been updated. If you wish to reach them concerning the NCLEX-RN, you can contact them through this telephone number: +63 2 887 2198. You can see and download a map of the Pearson Vue Manila testing center here . Detailed instructions on how to get to the testing is described here .

Recruiters and agencies charge exorbitant fees to assist you with the filing of an immigrant application to Canada. Although the application process may seem complicated, it really isn't difficult at all and you can do it yourself for a quarter of what these recruiters are asking you to pay. Watch this space as I will show you how it's done.

Here's the latest update from USCIS on the H-1B cap count. As of April 20, 2012, there have been 25,000 regular petitions accepted from the 65,000 total cap for the fiscal year 2013. In the H-1B Master's Degree Exemption, 10,900 have been filed from the 20,000 total cap.

I discovered yesterday that some of my blog's original content has been copied verbatim without any prior permission, any link back to this site, or any effort to credit this Web site for the copyrighted content. What's worse is that an image was lifted from this site and was being passed off as the offending Web site's own creation. This has been going on apparently for years without my knowledge. In today's highly-connected world where social media reigns, it's easy to forget that there are still rules that apply to publishing content. The world wide Web does not need to be wild.

Most US nursing boards now require either a CES report or CP from CGFNS for RN license applications. Here's a list of US states and their requirements: Alabama - CP and CES Alaska - CES or CP American Samoa - no CGFNS requirement Arizona - CES, VS or CP Arkansas - CES and English, CP or VS California - CES may be accepted Colorado - CES and English or CP Connecticut - CP Delaware - CP Florida - CES Georgia - CES or CP Guam - CP, CES may be accepted Hawaii - CES or CP Idaho - CES or CP Illinois - CES, VS or CP Indiana - CP Iowa - CES and English or CP Kansas - CES Kentucky - VS Louisiana - CP Maine - CES or CP Maryland - CES Massachusetts - CES, CP or VS Michigan - CES and English or CP Minnesota - CES or CP Mississippi - CP or CES Missouri - CES or CP Montana - CP Nebraska - CP Nevada - CES New Hampshire - CP or CES New Jersey - CES and English, or CP New Mexico - CES New York - CVS North Carolina - CES or VS North Dakota - CP, CES may be accept...

The Maryland nursing board now requires applicants to show a Social Security Number or a Federal Tax ID number when you apply for a license. With this move, Maryland joins a number of US states that are effectively discouraging foreign nursing applicants who do not have an SSN. Unless you are a US citizen, immigrant or a legal resident with a visa or permit to work in the US, you cannot apply for an SSN. The new Maryland requirement took effect January 27,2012. 

As promised, I'm reviewing previous posts and providing updates where they are necessary. I reviewed the steps to applying for a nursing license in Illinois and found that the IDFPR which regulates the profession made some changes sometime in 2011. The How-to article is now updated and you read it by following this link .

I've completely neglected this blog for quite a long time. I logged in again today and was happily surprised to see that it still gets a pretty decent number of page views. In the next few weeks, I'll be reviewing and updating hopefully all of this blog's content to ensure that the information is still accurate. If you know of any changes in the licensure procedures, fees, or if you know of any new information that's worth sharing to other Filipino nurses, then please don't hesitate to contact me. Happy to be back blogging!