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PREPARATIONS FOR US RN PROGRAM EXAMS.Passing the RN program exam, NCLEX-RN, is about what you read or the direction of your studies. That means learning the basic principles and having a general view about the American RN program. This web site will be too small to elaborate on the entire nursing curriculum. Just a general understanding is all that you need. Now, let’s get started. First, you got to identify or have an idea about the differences between the US RN curriculum and that of your RN training. It is those differences you must give much emphasis to when learning for the RN license exam. You don't need to restart the entire associate degree nursing training or baccalaureate education training again. Neither do you need intensive RN course classes in order to pass the board exam. You already know much about the conditions of the systems and their physiologies. Of course, basic nursing is almost the same everywhere and you may be very experienced in that area already. That is a plus. But becoming US RN demands extra competency in areas like pharmacology, good interpretation and understanding for laboratory values, team leading and strong critical thinking abilities. And, of course, much emphasis is put on predominant conditions like CHF, AMI, COPD, and other conditions of public health importance. Also, significant for your preparation will be legal and ethical issues. Understanding the difference between primary nursing and team nursing is very important. In most countries, team nursing is still in vogue. What about communication (most importantly therapeutic communication) and documentation? In fact, much talking and professional communications are parts of the RN’s job description. The RN course content also entails the cultural values of your patients and nutrition/diets. USA is the central market of the world and has patients with different cultural backgrounds and values. Briefly, these are the areas you must give more attention to in your studies. I will later talk about the composition of the questions, the test plan; and importance of prioritization in preparing for the RN license exam. STUDY MATERIALS FOR THE RN PROGRAM EXAM RNs have different approaches for preparing for NCLEX-RN exam. This may be due to differences in levels of ability or lack of proper guidance. Some international registered nurses did their training in colleges of nursing which used books on US registered nursing. And so will prefer to go straight to NCLEX-RN review books and then the questions & answers study materials. Others will even skip the NCLEX- RN review books and go straight to reading and answering NCLEX-RN sample questions. Many passed their exams this way. But if you have no initial idea about the US registered nursing program, you will first need to understand it to build a basic knowledge base. You will need current and good books on various topics like the nursing skills, nutrition and diet, pharmacology and importance of culture to nursing. These will give you a general overview about the US nursing system. Having gotten this ground knowledge, you can now move on to use materials on comprehensive NCLEX-RN review, etc. It’s ok to use more than one NCLEX-RN review books. The RN program entails so much that no one book can contain everything. Many writers will prefer to divert from the general stream and give great information on some special areas. And even the style and analogies some authors use make their books much easier to understand. You can then upgrade to answering questions. Try and answer at least four to five thousand sample questions, covering the entire test plan. This does not mean you will meet any of those items/questions during your RN licensure exams. No! In fact, NCSBN has just too much questions to be repeating questions. You answer questions to have an idea about the trend and formats or style of the NCLEX-RN questions. And those explicit explanations for each answer helps you understand why you may meet similar/same questions but the answers are different. There are lots and lots of different stuffs out there on the market about NCLEX-RN review program. They come in various forms: registered nurse refresher course online, software/electronic format, hard copies etc. Some are very poor and difficult to understand. You got to identify the best NCLEX-RN review study materials. The RN program exam is sponsored by some of the recruiting agencies. These companies will usually have very competent and experienced RNs as nursing educators and advisors. They will constantly be in touch with you and help you prepare well for the exams. They will also provide you with the best RN license exam study materials. And even sign you up for online education/tests for registered nurses. "NCLEX-RN is too difficult"... Many foreign trained RNs still do not understand the NCLEX-RN examination system!
Click here to read on misconceptions about NCLEX-RN as being too difficult to pass.
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