Advisory for Philippine Nurses Who are Planning to Apply or Take the California NCLEX-RN

I have written this article to serve as an advice for our fellow Philippine educated registered nurses who are planning to apply for the California NCLEX-RN exam. This is for them to avoid jeopardy and efficiently manage their time & resources.

I have been recently denied and deemed unqualified to take the California NCLEX-RN because of some discrepancies with my transcript and Related Learning Experience (RLE) certificate, and the schedule for clinical procedures (case completion of OR, LR/DR procedures).

Their decision was based on the California Business and Professions Code Sec. 2736 (b) which is stated as:

“(b) An applicant who has received his or her training from a school of nursing in a country outside the United States and who has complied with the provisions of subdivision (a), or has completed training equivalent to that required by subdivision (a), shall qualify for licensure by successfully passing the examination prescribed by the board.”

I find it very confusing because I have schoolmates/batchmates who are currently working in California as Registered Nurses after succesfully taking the NCLEX-RN. So I took a little research on cases similar to mine and I found out that they have another ruling which was included on their Nursing Practice Act which states:

“California Code of Regulations Section 1426(d) states that theory and clinical practice shall be concurrent.”

These policies have been in the books for quite some time and the California Board of Registered Nursing (CaBRN) decided to strictly implement it just these previous and concurrent years. They believe that the theoretical lecture and the acquisition of clinical cases should have been done within the same semester when that course/subject was offered. (i.e. Minor and Major OR cases should be completed during NCM103 and NCM104)

Some applicants who are retaking the California NCLEX-RN were also denied because of these injunctions.

Unfortunately, I was one of those who were caught in the nursing hype where enrollees for the BSN program was soaring high. Although I have acquired some cases during our clinical exposures, most of them were completed during our completion duties after graduation.

Anyhow, one must not lose hope with the NCLEX-RN because this issue is only confined with the CaBRN and I have never read nor heard of any complaints with other states within the US. May this also serve as an eye opener for the Philippine Board Of Nursing.

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