Filipino Nursing Herald

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. 

Foreign-educated applicants of nursing licensure in New Mexico now need to get a Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) report as part of the requirements for NCLEX eligibility. The New Mexico Board of Nursing issued an updated application handbook, which takes effect this month. The NM BON has accredited four agencies that issue a CES report: Educational Records Evaluation Service , International Education Research , Joseph Silney and Associates , and the Commission on Graduates of International Education (CGFNS). When applying for a CES report, choose the agency that is also accredited by other states so that in case you need to submit one to another state (for endorsement, for example) you won't have to pay for a new one. Click here to read the new requirements for nurse applicants in New Mexico.

Every year, thousands of Filipino nurses aspire to migrate and become a licensed nurse in the US. Here's a practical guide intended to help Pinoy nurses achieve this dream. Because the application process requires several steps and there are ongoing issues related to foreign nurse employment in the US, we've broken down this feature article into a series. This is Part 1 of the Filipino Nursing Herald's Guide to Becoming a US RN. What is the NCLEX-RN To be able to practice as a nurse in the US and its territories, you must be registered in the US state you wish to work in. Each state has a nursing board that regulates the registration process. A major requirement for registration is that applicants must pass an examination that "measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as a newly licensed, entry-level registered nurse". The National Council of State Boards of Nursing ( NCSBN ) develops this examination, which is called the Nursing Counci...

Canadian authorities have begun investigations of a security breach in its own nursing licensure exam in June. Questions that were part of the licensure test were leaked days before the exam was conducted, according to a report by thestar.com. Officials of the Canadian Nursing Association said only questions in the short-answer part (fill-in-the-blank) were compromised. These short-answer questions comprise 15% of the entire test, while multiple choice questions make up the rest of the day-long exam, which had 250 questions in all. Some 5,300 candidates took the nursing test, which is a requirement for licensure in Canada. **** I'm eagerly awaiting how CGFNS will react to this scandal, which strikes so much resemblance to the Philippines' own leakage controversy. Canadian authorities contend that those who passed the exam are qualified nurses, despite being scored based only on the multiple-choice portion of the test, a strategy which our own PRC employed--scoring candidates b...

I was asked a few days ago about the validity of English exam scores for Visascreen purposes. Someone had earlier claimed in a post at an Internet forum for nurses that English scores were valid up to five years if you submit it already to CGFNS. All of the information posted at the CGFNS Web site said English scores were only valid for two years, so I e-mailed CGFNS to verify if the new information was accurate. As it turned out, the new information is totally wrong. English scores were only valid for a maximum of two years, regardless of the date you file your Visascreen application. So, for example, if your IELTS scores were expiring on Aug., and your NCLEX exam is on Oct., even if you file your Visascreen application before Aug., your English scores would still become invalid and you'll have to retake the IELTS again. Here's the e-mailed response of CGFNS: Thank you for your inquiry. If an applicant's English exam expires before he takes the NCLEX exam, he will need to ...

Marco Sto. Tomas, a commissioner on the Board of Nursing of the Professional Regulatory Commission, told the Inquirer today that results of the June 2007 nursing board exam will probably come out between Aug. 15 to Aug. 31. Around 78,000 nursing graduates took this year's exam on June 11-12, including 13,000 examinees who passed the leakage-marred June 2006 nursing boards but had to re-take Tests 3 and 5, where questions were allegedly leaked to examinees. The re-take was recommended by the U.S. Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) which made it mandatory for June 2006 passers who want to be issued Visascreen certificates, a requirement for U.S. immigration applications. Earlier, the Department of Labor and Employment said it would release the exam results of the re-takers ahead of the rest of the nursing examinees. Because of the volume of examinees this June, the PRC has given itself at least a month more than the usual target release-date for the nursing e...

Michigan will no longer require foreign nurse applicants to pass the certificate exam administered by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) before they are allowed to take the licensure exam for the state. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm on July 14 signed a new bill that removes the mandatory CGFNS test requirement for nurses educated outside the U.S. In the past, the CGFNS certificate was a pre-requisite for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for registered nurses. Instead of the CGFNS exam, foreign nurses will simply need to submit their credentials to determine that their education is equivalent to a U.S. nursing course. Filipinos make up majority of all foreign-trained nurses in Michigan, where a shortage of 7,000 nurses is expected by 2010 and 18,000 by 2015, figures from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth showed. Additional source for this story: Extra nursing test dropped US States that no longer require the CGFNS ex...

An estimated 13,000 nurse examinees from the scandal-tainted June 2006 nursing board exam are set to retake Tests 3 and 5 today, joining around 70,000 other nursing graduates who will take Philippine licensure exam for the first time. Lawyers hired by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) today will observe the tests that will be conducted in selected testing centers across the country. Dr. Leonor Rosero, head of the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), said in a TV interview this morning that the first day of the exam yesterday went smoothly. Yesterday's tests covered subjects from Nursing Fundamentals, Maternity and Pedia, Community Health, and Medical Surgical. The retakers today will take their exam about Medical Surgical and Psychology.

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Here's a list of US states whose Boards of Nursing no longer require licensure applicants to take the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) Certification Exam. Some of these states still accept the CGFNS certificate but they will also accept alternative screening certifications like the Credentials Evaluation Service. For more detailed information about each state BON and its specific requirements, just google the BON or go to the NSCBN Web site and search for your desired BON from their directory. List of States: Oregon / Minnesotta / North Carolina California / Arkansas / New York Nevada / Illinois / Vermont Arizona / Kentucky / New Jersey Colorado / Ohio / Maryland New Mexico / Florida / Massachusetts Kansas / Georgia / Texas / South Carolina Michigan (New) If you know a state that should belong to this list, please call our attention.

The test retake for nurses who took the June 2006 board exams would be held on June 11 and 12, the government announced this week. Although a retake is not mandatory for all nurses who took the scandal-ridden June exams, the Commission on Graduates Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) have pressured local authorities into conducting a retake of Part 3 and 5 of the local licensure test for nurses who took the June exams. The CGFNS in a recent ruling said it will not issue a Visascreen certificate, a screening process needed when applying for immigration status in the United States, to nurses that took the scandal-tainted exams if they fail to retake the test. Local authorities, meanwhile, are still weighing the decision of the American Nurses Association (ANA) which is calling for a full retake of the exams, not just parts 3 and 5. Although the ANA is not a regulatory body in the US unlike the CGFNS, the group is very influential among nursing employers in their country. The organization has...