I wanted to be an RN in California but....?

Question

I graduated BS Nursing in Philippines 12 years ago, worked there as a lic'd RN for 9 months then came here but ended up working as a clerical staff for the whole 11 years.

Now I want to go back to becoming an RN. I have been attending review classes at Kaplan Review Center in prep for the RN licensure exam but I feel that its not enough for me. Its so hard to dig up the knowledge I learned 12 yrs ago.

I feel I need something more intensive than a review course, but less intensive than re-taking the whole BSNursing program.

What do I do? Where do I enroll in classes like that? De Anza College in CUpertino CA offers an RN refresher course but its only for RN who are already licensed here in CA.

I appreciate any advise you can offer me. Thank you.

Answer 1

I don't believe you will find a class that will fit your needs that closely.

What you can do though, is continue some self-study. Go to a local college that has a nursing program, and buy some used nursing textbooks from their bookstore. Or you can order used nursing textbooks from online vendors such as Amazon.com . But reviewing current textbooks will probably help you as much as attending a class.

The Kaplan review courses are designed to prepare you to take the NCLEX. There are other test reviews that are not classroom based. For example, Mosby has a review book with a fake NCLEX test. Take as many of these tests as you can, they will indicate your weak areas and give you a place to concentrate your review work.

Also, make sure you are up with current health standards. 12 years is a long time since you graduated your school, and standards change. For example, CPR and ACLS standards changed last year, and I am sure the test would have questions that meet current guidelines.

Above all, don't be afraid to take the NCLEX. If you have reviewed sufficiently and passed enough practice exams you should do fairly well. But even a failure is not the end of the world, it would just mean you would have to retest again after more review work.