NCLEX Success Stories

Hello and welcome everybody to the Lefora talk show. My name is Holly Musselwhite and I am the Connetics clinical nurse educator. We are excited to welcome you to this episode and share with you some insights from our NCLEX heroes. We think it's important to share some of their wisdom and also find ways to encourage other nurses about NCLEX success and what helps to, to bring them from the beginning of that study journey to the next phase of the journey, which is going to be potentially looking for an employer for your sponsorship, and getting your English exams done and all of that. So welcome today, please, in the comments put where you're signing in from and share with us a little bit about the country that you're located in. We also can tell you that Connetics is part of aAMN and we are part of the international components. So we have some nurses who have come through the Connetics program, as well as a nurse who's come from the O'Grady peyton part of AMN. So you're gonna get to hear from three different nurses today with us as well as a clinical expert in the field of NCLEX. From the Aspire study program, so I'll have them introduce themselves in just a minute. I also want to share with you a little bit about our success path. So Connetics has outlined a process for you, where you can have a visual idea of the journey that you're going to go on, if you've decided that you want to immigrate to the United States, you're going to begin with the NCLEX, which some of you, you're maybe in the middle of the process, or you're just thinking about doing NCLEX. And so you want to see if this is maybe going to be the right thing for you. Others may have actually done one of the steps of finding a sponsor, but you're still at the beginning in terms of your study for NCLEX. Maybe you're preparing as well, some nurses will do their English exams beforehand. So that pathway describes the NCLEX all the way through to when you get here to the US and you're prospering. But there's so much in between and Connetics and Lefora are here to help give you resources and inspire you and guide you through that process. So we appreciate the opportunity that we have to connect with people all over the world who are interested in having a career in the US as a nurse. And we also work with some other healthcare specialties. But specifically today we're going to focus on nursing for the NCLEX exam components. And I'd like to go ahead and see if we can introduce some of our guests for today. So we'll start with Dr. Paul, ER doctor, nurse policy goes by and will introduce a nurse, immaculate Aires and could Kachiri are all joining us. We are so pleased to see all of you here this morning, my time but I know it's evening to late night for those of you depending on where else you may be in the world. So, Paul, can I get started with you and have you introduce yourself?

Yeah, morning, everyone. I'm Paul, in social media. I call myself Dr. Nurse Paul. I'm the CEO of Aspire RN and quits provider. And I currently do next gen NCLEX classes along with Connetics, USA scholars have been in the industry for 15 years, more than 15 years I've been teaching from here in my home office in Houston, Texas.

All right. Thank you, Paul. We're very glad you're here today. And we're glad that we have the chance to partner with you when you're working with some of our Connetics nurses. And I think you're now going to work with some OGP nurses as well. So you're gonna get to work with both, both of our am in international divisions, if you will, and Macula I think we'll go for you next, if you can say hello to the audience and share a little introduction. I think you're still muted though.

Hello, um, Can you unmute your speaker? Okay, but we'll come back to you. You may be having some audio issues and we'll see if maybe Ares can introduce himself while you're working on that. Hi, Ares Can you unmute?

Gotta unmute your microphone so we can hear you well, there you are. Hi there. Can you hear me? Yes, we can now yeah.

Good evening. Good evening, everyone. started nursing. 2014 years old then. In 2014. And then after that I took the board exam back on 2002. We then took up the training and the lung cancer community for two months, and then volunteered in Cambodia for two months again. And then I took a professional role in Amanda. First one was in Guagua. In the Santa Macapagal Memorial Hospital. I worked there for eight months, and then I transferred to the big hospital in the bow. I worked there for five years. And then that's where I learned about Connetics and the Sephora and everything about so I applied and I got the color and took about it and now I will be doing for the for my screen.

That's awesome. Ares. Thank you for sharing that. So Ares. I think you said your specialty is er nursing, is that right? Yes. Okay. All right, and could Kachiri. Can you unmute? Hello.

Hello, everyone. Hi from the Philippines. Um, I'm Fischer Mercado and I earned my degree in nursing in 2007. And I worked as a in the nursing academe for about a decade. And then Currently I am working as a staff nurse specialist in one of the psychiatric facilities here in Cebu. And I started my NCLEX. journey in July of 2022. And I was one of the fortunate people who were given the chance to earn the scholarship given by Connetics and SBIR n. And I passed last January 2020 23. And I would like to take this opportunity to extend my utmost gratitude to Connetics and also two circles. As far as for making my dream, helping me reach my dream, thank you very much.

Thank you. Criteria. We're very proud of you and Ares. And although we don't have immaculate as part of our Connetics organization as part of a man and O'Grady, we want to try again, immaculate to see if we can get your introduction. Are you ready?

Yes. Can you hear me now?

Yes, it's great. Thank you. Oh,

good morning. Good morning, my name is immaculate Kumu. I have 18 years of experience clinical experience back in my country that Kenya, I happen to set to start my NCLEX journey back in 2021. And I succeeded in 2023. After three attempts. I'm here to encourage everybody. It's possible. It's workable. I'm a mother of two. And we can do it all. Thank you for giving me the chance.

Oh, that's awesome. And yes, we do have some people who are watching who it might not be their first NCLEX attempt. And it's very hard when you don't make it the first or the second time, my goodness. And you've got to face that third time. So kudos to you for not giving up and for sticking with it. Because I know that can be really tough for anyone. And when you're also trying to manage a family and work and all those other responsibilities. It's amazing. When you finally get there, I'm sure your heart just, you know almost explodes with happiness. So congratulations. And you just recently, right, like just this week?

Yeah. Yes. On Saturday on the 11th.

Yes. Awesome. So I bet you're having a really awesome week. Yes, so I'm gonna pause for just a moment here we'll take a look at where some of our nurses are signing in from it looks like Jen is signing in from the Philippines. She's a scholar as well, and also is part of the MLH organization. So Connetics also has client facilities that actually are part of the NCLEX sponsorship process. So contrary you are one of those recipients, I believe who we already knew who your sponsor employer was going to be while you were undergoing your NCLEX prep, which is really neat, because it's not always typical to do it that way. So it's a great opportunity for you. And we also have Philip watching from India. Hi, Philip. We have Abdel Salam from Egypt and Shafi from Pakistan. So a lot of different locations that we're getting nurses from today. And so I want to take a moment to share some other inspiration with you in the form of a video so we're gonna play this clip, basically, sharing the joy and peace The excitement that people feel when they get the news that they have passed their NCLEX exam. So give them just a moment to tee up this video that we're going to share for you. And while they're doing that, I'll tell you we've had Samuel from Ghana is also here joining us today so hi Samuel thank you for signing on. Let me just see if we're ready for this video to be shown yet. And we all want to congratulate you because you did pass called your result and Coombs Ville You did pass this time actually just pulled your result and you did pass the congratulations

Yncou know that you did pass NCLEX this time you pass the NCLEX good so good. Bit Cynthia you pass NCLEX congratulations. Tell you that you passed congratulations.

Pass NCLEX you answer 75 questions so that you have passed a key gratulations Chanel, you did pass NCLEX?

Want to inform me that you did pass NCLEX. So congratulations. Share that you pass the NCLEX. Ah, so very, very happy for you. I'm so happy Whoa. Do you pass the NCLEX?

Okay, I'm crying, right, you're crying. It's pretty awesome. So I see a lot of our nurses from Amen. We're on that video. And we want to do more of those where we so rather new thing that we've started doing. So those are the first few. But we've got more to come with the rest of this month. And also next month, we absolutely have to share some of those with you as the nurses who are the first ones to see the next one NCLEX are successful. And we certainly want to be able to share that news and their excitement with you too. So thank you to the team who put those together and share those with us. And congratulations to all of those nurses. Those of you who are nurses, you know that feeling when you finally make it. And so it's a beautiful thing. I see Elma from the Philippines has signed on I hope you caught part of those clips Elma and made you inspired Rachel from Cape Town, South Africa and Orem from Nigeria. Welcome to all of you. So, um, the, the kind of the next segment that I want to talk about is just preparing for the NCLEX. We're going to talk solely about stuff. So not much about the application and all that kind of stuff. We have other shows that deal with that. licensure and things like that. But today, we'll focus more on the study portion. So Paul, I want to just start by asking you just sort of a blanket idea is what is the best way to approach the beginning of a study plan. And there you know, somebody's just thinking about what am I going to do? How am I going to study? I know it's a big deal. How should they start?

Yep, thanks for that question. And before everything else, I want to congratulate all our passers from Amen and Connetics you as a good Kachiri to Aris, we've been able to handle you in this fire and congratulations. But what I always tell my students, a lot of my students are experienced nurses from all over the world. And they do have a lot of you know, advanced clinical skills, clinical judgment skills, very important for next gen NCLEX particularly, but at the end of the day, we still want to be aligned with the US education because that's what else is gonna test you so very important to go sit down again and begin with content mastery, where you go through all of the nursing concepts Whether you're doing this individually as a solo reviewer or review, I'm sorry, or you're joining a program, very important that you join a program that delves into, you know, different topics, different competencies that will be needed for the NCLEX. After the content mastery, we usually push our students to the next round, which is practice tests. And, you know, doing a lot of questions in the question back, which is supposed to improve what they already learned from the content mastery. But again, when you're just starting to prepare for the NCLEX, it is important that you sit down and make a plan. I know this is overrated, but study planner actually helps because it gives you a goal, a guide, it helps you prepare with your time management. You know, we're all busy nurses, a lot of our nurses joining our programs are working students, they have families to eat, they have a lot of stuff that are, you know, the pandemic also made it hard for a lot of students. So very important that you set a time for review, very important to set a time for your American dream. And this is what a lot of these nurses that have passed the NCLEX have actually done, they've sacrificed their time to make sure that they're getting everything that they needed from the review programs, from the courses, that Connetics or any other programs that are providing to them. So very important that you guys have a plan and time management.

And I think that that's one of the things we value with aspire and other formal programs that our companies work with is that there is a structure, and there is follow up and an expectation and some people go I don't like the pressure, that's too much. But the reality is, it's really helpful to have that person who's in your corner, who's encouraging you because it is a sacrifice. And so, you know, taking that approach of okay, I'm going to begin with a study plan, if there's a team that's already behind you and sort of helped craft that for you with you in mind, a lot of the programs that our companies are partnering with, the whole thought is, you're an experienced nurse, you probably have great clinical background and knowledge that you can start to apply. But as Paul said, let's make sure that we get the focus as well is on us and NCLEX nursing role. And sometimes the differences in terms of how the nurse will follow up how they will assess how they will determine priorities might be a little different from what we do in everyday practice. So could Kachiri and immaculate. I wanted to ask you both your perspective. So we'll start with the Kachiri what are some techniques that helped you learn or and solidify the contents? Because we talked about mastering content is really important to do before you start doing a lot of practice questions.

Yes, um, first things first, I really did a mental and physical preparation. The Yes, I can mantra really did help me to help me focus on what I should do. And how should I go about it, the whole review process, I, I literally made myself believe that I'm going to do a lot for the review. So that's the first thing I did. And then I established a routine schedule for studying every day in line with my other responsibilities as well. And of course, diligently and religiously follow the course content provided by aspire, the study plan was really did work for me well, and especially the fact that it's via online. And we can I did study literally whenever or wherever I can. And I have the chance because you just need a gadget and an internet connection, then you can do your review, despite the fact that if you're working or you're in some other place. And then another thing is that I really did took time to read the rationales for the for the practice test, and I did think I was able to attend almost all of the live lecture classes offered per week within that six month study plan that I've chosen. And another I think the another best feature is that you were provided a NuWorld access that the team in the later part of the review which is my Here's how I took the test. And most importantly, along with all those hard work, it came with lots of prayers as 1000s of prayers every day, until, until it's, I had the exam.

Those are great things to share with the nurses that are watching. I see Anna is signed in with us. And Jessie is watching from the UK on holiday lucky Jessie, but usually is to be found in Ghana. So immaculate? Can you share with us? You mentioned that it took you know, this third attempt was your successful one. So obviously, you also have to keep content building and content fresh for that length of time. So can you share some of your thoughts with us on what helped you to do that and be successful this time around?

Thank you. I had a timetable which I strictly followed. I woke up every day at 4am. And I slept it 12 midnight or 1am. I had less sleep just to build on my content being that it was my bad time to make everything just work. There's no single day I never did. Cuba. I follow I use Kaplan. And through the help of Karen, she had a lot of pressure, like Paul just says, it has pressure Yes, it has pressure. And do you really have to follow it strictly for you to move to the next step without failing and believe in yourself. I read widely, I listened to all the videos in Kaplan and made sure that I had the content with me. And as I did the chat box, I made sure I followed the rationale, so that I keep in track with the exam. And above all, prayers, prayers, prayers. I never missed a day without praying. All right,

that important. Thank you so much. So both of you said prayers. And I agree. We certainly, you know, we look to faith we also I heard country mentioned both a mental and a physical preparation. So when you're thinking holistically about how you're going to prepare, you're right, I immaculate getting up at four in the morning to do your study. And then the rest of the things throughout the day. That is true dedication. And we understand your motivation. We know that obviously that is a reflection of your determination to make this happen for you. And I'm sure for the people that you love and are, you know going to be part of the your journey as well. So my next question that I would like to ask to Ares is, you know, we mentioned earlier that you're an ER nurse, with clinical experience and background, how did you get comfortable with the areas of the exam that you don't practice in like behavioral health or? Or OB?

Yes, I would start a book about those topics. Like sometimes I will be Smith, because yes, to add some idea, or the concepts, deeper concepts about psychiatry or geriatric or death. And then I would then to start more about those topics. The founders Saunders for the content, but only do those on my weak areas. I cannot read all about everything that I have the review on the book, because it was it would eat up most of my time. I totally rely on the review program, because it's much, much more compact and easier to grasp if you're familiar with the topic or the areas if I get no torque on the post test of a certain topic. I would study more carefully in the 30s on the books. And I would I would take the time again. Then if the rationales are very important. Forget the good score and go on to the next will talk with the question banks with us are in the new world mostly until I have covered all the area my area.

Okay, that's also good. So one of the things I want to highlight from what you said is that you were using the content but if you did a practice question on the review program or a test and you didn't do well then you would go back and remediate more in depth. Grab your textbooks try and you know, maybe understand it a little more deeply. So, Dr. Paul, what is the biggest benefit to doing the practice questions and rationale review? Are you going to learn your content there or somewhere else? Oh, you're muted.

Sorry. There. Earlier we talked about mastery of content and I think a cherry immaculate and Aris made a good point about, you know, developing their contents first and then taking a lot of questions. Now, I think practice questions are still beneficial, because it's at that point where you apply what you've learned from the content. contents are good, but they provide a solid foundation. Practice Questions are good because they develop your test taking skills, time management during exam, test anxiety. And honestly just figuring out your individual weak points by going through those questions. You also figure out those topics contents or client categories in NCLEX, that you are either not familiar about or that is your weak point where you always are consistently get low scores in that area. So those are where the practice questions help. But then again, it's like building a house without a solid foundation, practice questions are often not going to be helpful. And this is a common mistake to a lot of students that are not undergoing a guided program, because they jump straight into doing question banks. Now I love question banks, because you know, analysis student question banks are my thing like when, when I'm not doing anything, I would do 10 to 20 question banks in school, very important, but that is if you have a good foundation, and you'll notice this if you don't have a good foundation, because as you take the question banks, you'll start populating your notes of the things that you need to review. If you've probably written down a whole notebook of things that you need to review. Well, maybe you need to go back to context for the question banks are helpful with advanced levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and evaluating your understanding, which is application analysis and evaluation things that are going to be important for next generation NCLEX.

Absolutely. And I think the other opportunity you have is to identify what kind of test practices you have some of us we get out of practice with taking tests. And this test is a very different one. So if you're used to reviewing questions, and having memorized the answer, this is not the type of test that you can do that on, you're going to need to look at What options did they give you? Which one's the best? There's a lot of jokes around this type of testing, because it's kind of like, which one is the best of the best? Hey, right. Yeah, sometimes they all look good. It's like which 1am I going to pick? So you learn, you learn your testing style, and what works and what doesn't work. I remember for me, when I was anxious or nervous, I was an answer changer. I would talk myself out of that best answer, because I'm like, Well, no, it could be this or it could be that. But we all have our bad habits, I guess that the practice the cue banks will help you identify some of that and continue to build on the content areas, like Ares said that you're weak guard. So then the nurses who are working Who are you know, as we said earlier, they have responsibilities. So you've got families, you've got work responsibilities, some of you may even have extended families, you may be supporting more than one family. We see that a lot. There's a lot of pressure just from everyday life. And now you're going to add this on top of it. So, Paul, what tips would you have for blending the study with the reading abilities? I mean, you've worked with students who are struggling with this, what seems to help them.

So from teaching for more than 15 years and Netflix, I still veer to towards telling my students to like, like have a proper time management. And I think, good cheer. He highlighted this earlier, and this is what we tell them in the class, very important that you establish a routine or you orient your family members, or you know, if you're working in must establish a routine to say, you know, this is my study hours when I study I want to be, you know, secluded by myself for a bit, but it gets very challenging with personal variables such as it's getting sick, it's needing to go to school, stuff like that. But it is important that you set up a study time on a weekly basis if you could, because I know daily might be impossible for a lot of people. For example, you develop a schedule where every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you would study at a certain time from 5pm to 8pm. Once you establish that schedule, it will be easier to navigate around it. There will only be probably few instances where you have to cut your study schedule because of personal reasons. But again, very important that you establish a routine and study schedule. If you cannot do it daily, you can do it on a weekly rolling basis. Like I said to my students, for example, on a weekly basis, devote about 10 to 20 hours or for review hours for yourself. And that will help you navigate our course, if you cannot make 20 hours a week, then that means you might need to do the longer study plan that we have, or you might need to stay longer the didactics or the contents buildings face. So but again, you have to account for several things that could happen during your view, like you're again, like kids, or you have personal issues, or you. Some students need to, you know, go back to work or pick up more shifts, because they're short staffed in their hospitals. And this is a very real thing for many nurses. But then again, you know, it's about balancing immaculate said this earlier, she said every single day she studied, she knows what she had to put in experiencing the NCLEX. In the past, she knows how much he had to put in. This requires a lot of sacrifice and clicks is still one of the most difficult nursing licensure exams that I've encountered. And I still tell this to my international educated nurses like last year 43% of nurses fast while 57% sale. So this is not something we take lightly. If you have a mentor, if you have a coach, if you have a review program, talk to your instructors and mentors and take their insights from what can I do like I can only devote five to 10 hours a week, and maybe they can give you some personal personalized advice or feedback. This is what we do in Aspire are and where we encourage them to reach out to me or their mentors or their student advisors and tell us their concerns, what's their challenges in their review program. That way we can jump in and give her insights to it, but very, very important to devote time for this. Think of it as an investment, right, the more that you put in, the more that you get out of it. And one day, you're gonna look back and say, boo, I managed to pass my NCLEX. It's a very hard exam, but very important to sacrifice just a little bit. So it is important over yet your family and friends. I remember when I was taking my NCLEX I wasn't going out a lot with family with friends, I had to sacrifice all the family event, but it paid off 16 years later, I'm here in the States and fulfilling my dreams.

So a little bit of sacrifice now, for the payoff. And also, you know, I've noticed that sometimes the nurses, they're like, Well, I guess I'll just have to study longer. Sometimes when you talk with your family, and you say we can either do this for a long time, or we can do this for a shorter time. You just got to work with me and helped me. You know, most of our families want to be supportive. It's very hard for very young children sometimes, but you know, sometimes people who normally we might not ask for help from we may decide that okay, you know, they've offered I'm going to take them up on. So my next question is for all three of our nurses, but we'll start with Ares and then cut Kachiri and then immaculate. So what is one thing, just one that helped you stay motivated, even when you were overwhelmed? Because we've all had those moments. So areas what helped me stay on?

What kept me motivated was my prayers. I prayed a lot and put the number one goal, I prayed for it. And then I think of my future based on what's going to happen if I What are the rewards? If I knew what am I gonna do? Am I going to take it again or I'm going am I going to surrender but I think the prayers and the freedom that strength and because of the prayers are what kept me motivated on pursuing and I think will likely be better now. Because

Yep. So it's a major hurdle and you accomplished it. So you can move forward to bigger and better things. So Kachiri your next what helps you stay motivated.

Um, actually my kids are my number one motivation just like what Sir Paul mentioned, you know, I oriented them in during the time when I was preparing mentally and physically so I was telling them my mommy will have to study for this time. And like this and like that and then I also took this as a learning opportunity for them. I wanted to instill with them the value of hard work, that I am showing them that I'm working hard to achieve my goal. And that's why I'm studying hard for this. And so that they can also see me now Amami studying well, so I must also study well in my school. So that they won't say anything. So that's

that's a great motivator, and immaculate. What about you what's helped you stay motivated through all of this,

the dream ahead of me, just to make sure that I pass the NCLEX and move to my next step, which is working in the US, if I thought of that, I would just wake up and grab my books.

That's awesome. So we all find different things to keep us connected to what we need to do. And it's great to see that all three of you are going to be moving into the next phase, I heard at least one of you say you're studying for the English exam. That's kind of your next step. And others of you it may be you're gathering paperwork for your I-140 filing. So there's all kinds of exciting things that come once you can check this big thing off your list. All right, so some nurses aren't used to studying online. And yet, that's where most education comes from these days, whether we're talking about college education, nursing schools often are using a lot more. They're using a lot more online education tools, textbooks are online. But it's new to study online for some nurses. So Paul, I'd like to ask you what you think the benefits are? And then what were the benefits for you personally, for studying online?

Yeah, so I know a lot of areas around the world are still not moving towards hybrid version or online version. And this is what Aspire art specializes in. So when I moved here to the United States, I realized that a lot of educational processes, whether continuing education in the hospital, or in my doctorate school, a lot of the components are online. And I said, You know what, I think I can scale this and do my NCLEX classes this way. And sure enough, a year later, after conceptualizing this idea in my brain, the pandemic hit. So I said, I think this is the perfect time to launch the virtual program. But honestly, as time progresses, it you know, it became clear that virtual programs are going to be the future, we're moving away from face to face classes, especially, you know, with big universities, we, when I, when I did my teaching hours in DC for my nurse educator course, even though we're doing face to face a lot of the components that our BSN students are doing are still virtual. So what's the benefit with this is, you can actually bring your education to wherever you are, whether you are at home, whether you are at golfing, or driving, or you are, you know, working out jogging, you are cooking, I even don't tell this to my students, when you're cooking, play your video and just listen to it, you don't have to look at the screen. But by listening you can also absorb some forms of information or you can retain some of those information with a repetition. So what is good is, you know, with face to face, yes, we like interaction Yes, we like being personally able to talk to our instructor, that's still a very important thing, that social aspect of learning. But with can actually have the benefit of learning a synchronously, you don't have to be at the same place. At the same time, you can work on your own time, especially with our program where all of our nurses are global. So it's different time zones. And you can also bring this learning wherever you go. You can play those videos while you're doing something you can answer the exam while sitting on the bus. You can answer 10 item questions while sitting on a train. So this is what the power of virtual learning is. And a lot of people are still not used to it. But think about it, you do a lot of Facebook, you do a lot of TikTok or Instagram you like social media a lot you watch videos on hours on end without, you know learning anything from it other than you're watching entertainment. But if you put it in educational process, then that time that you could have spent watching TikTok's or Instagram or probably a Facebook funny video for 15 minutes could have been something that, you know, could be an NCLEX related thing where you learn something from it. So it's just a matter of Changing that perspective and that lifestyle to fit your, your NCLEX goals. So I tell my students instead of listening to your favorite podcasts or favorite music for an hour while you're walking or jogging or walking your dog or, you know, cooking or doing the grocery, why don't you instead, log on to your portal and play one video and you don't have to look at the screen, just listen to it, put your headphones on or put it in front of you while you're cooking. And that will make a whole lot of difference. And students have adopted this strategy. And now they're like, Okay, I want to watch more videos. Okay, I want to do this again. Okay, I want to do this again. And it's so much easier to go back to a certain topic, because you can just rewind fosse moves on to your topic, versus sitting face to face where some people are fast learners, some people are slow learners, and instructor could be veering more towards the fast learners, or the instructor could be veering towards the slow learners, and you're over here, you're a fast learner, and you feel like the pace is slow. So you can adjust the pace as well. That's one of the advantage of the virtual learning.

So those are great points. Thank you so much for sharing that. And Ares I think it would be great for us to hear from you on what your what you found valuable in doing an online review.

What, what I didn't know of those things I studied while I was doing it would exercise and wash my clothes sometimes. Why pop up the volume, the speaker. So I was multitasking. Because online study was relatively new, in 2008. I studied in the lab while I was working in Lubao. So there's more than an hour motorcycle ride. And I suggested to my progress are there that we could include the online study, we can blend it with our her original studying America, because it is already in Manila. But it's not very common on both sides before the COVID. And then. So we blended online, partly in our study, every Saturday, instead of traveling, we would meet together online, immediately news only messenger. But there are other online learning platform Moodle that was by Bill Gates, I think, sponsored by Bill Gates in Victoria, it's something new nowadays, Harvard are offering courses and Stanford Medical courses that are things that I think are cheaper than the region. study method is really more convenient and affordable and it saves you time and energy for the I support online study because a lot in in saving time and effort learning.

Thank you very so I heard you say that you were doing exercise and listening. So in NCLEX could help you be fit and help you be mentally prepared. So that's awesome. Always great to hear what's happening in real time with nurses who are facing these challenges. And I see that we do have some other nurses who are commenting that they're joining from I have Pascal from Suriname and June let's is on. And Philip has joined us. And in the chat, you will see we've posted a link. If you're interested in applying to Connetics USA, we're certainly more than happy to take a look at whether there's a program of ours that would work for you. We also I'm going to post in the chat some information if you have roles. I see some comments in there that you might have someone you'd like to refer to our organization. So we appreciate that and certainly can speak to how that process works so that you can refer qualified RNs to our program. And so immaculate. How did you address the differences in what you were learning about us nursing practice versus your nursing practice in Kenya?

Thank you. I just had to change. I had no option. You know in Kenya. Most of the time we wait for the doctor Sir, but in us as we learn, it's about do what you can before involving the healthcare provider to come and do the others. So with that, like for love. In Kenya, we do not read the labs that is meant for the healthcare provider. The ones who call the doc says, yeah, so I had to learn, it's been challenging. But so far, so good. Because even at my place of work, I'm doing what I needed to do in the US. Now I'm not even a Kenyan nurse. Because I've evolved from being a Kenyan nurse to a US nurse, I have to do what I have to do before involving the healthcare provider to come and salvage if I'm stuck. So it's not easy. But moving on, so Well, through the readings, in the queue banks are able to manage conditions without so much difficulty. Yeah,

thank you. That's very good insight, I think that what I hear you saying is, you know, even what you've learned with NCLEX, you're now trying to apply in your nursing practice. And that's awesome. You also can look at NCLEX is not just about the test, you're going to have some changes that you're going to face when you get here and you start practicing. It's not just a cultural adjustment, it's a clinical adjustment. And so you can use your study for NCLEX. And keep some of that information fresh. And that understanding because when you get here, even in early orientation, you're going to be expected to apply those concepts. And you know, the people around you that are helping train, you are gonna say, you took the NCLEX, I know you had to do that to get the license here in the States. So that means you did have to review and know a lot of information to be able to prepare. And this is just one step. There are other ways to prepare for that clinical transition. But this is a big one. So I'm glad you're not losing that information. That's an important thing to take with you on this journey. Okay, Ares, going back to you for just a minute. What did you do to combat fatigue when you are studying? So sure we all have had those moments or it's not just about motivation. It's I'm tired. So how did you manage your energy?

While I was working nurse in the hospital a year, last year, it's very exhausting to combine it with the review any more time for the review, so I decided to resign, then it's really very exhausting. I lacking sleep, and I'm very tired, I will force myself to delete in order to be more and answer more questions. The techniques that I use to orbit particular are number one, my exercise I would get every day, or if I'm tired, or maybe I will take a walk about five kilometers that everyday. Because everything that sounds biodegrade online, is the foundation of sound, mind, sound body. And beside. More, more, I pray to dB great to see me when I feel like I'm in a negative mood. Like I'm losing hope that I cannot do this anymore. Sometimes I'm breaking down because of the particular exhaustion is why I resigned to par with myself on the review. And I'm losing sleep while I was working. So now, when I resigned, I can sleep eight hours a day. That's the number one and once I have done all everything I can for the review for the day, and I have to decide that I have to take areas I can put in more than my limits. I have to set a limit for the review and decide for a time to take my arrest.

Yeah, we know. Some nurses find that it's very hard, especially as the as the date gets closer, they may decide they need some time away. They'll need to take a short leave or you know, maybe they won't pick up as many extra shifts if they can help it to try and be able to continue to intensify and still keep some balance. I heard you say also that you were exercising and I think that's great. So healthy mind and body is. I want to move now to how did you prepare for Kachiri in the last 72 hours, so the last three days leading up to that big exam, what did you do?

I remembered I tried to finish the remaining Euro questions. Then the night before the exam, I made sure that I slept early so that I won't be late the next morning to the to my testing center in Makati. So I was quite anxious that I might be late to go into the testing center. So I made sure that I had a good night's sleep. Before that,

very wise advice. I know, I will usually tell nurses, if they've never been to that testing center, go check it out the day before, so you know where you're going. And you kind of know the traffic patterns, because some of the nurses will be traveling to very distant locations to take their exams. So if that's the situation that you're in, getting sleep the night before is really important. And also knowing where you're going is really important. So you might have to spend a little extra on a cab fare or whatever to scope it out. But it's a good idea to do that. So what, Paul, what should you plan to take with you to the exam center? Should you take your notes?

Oh, okay, so you cannot take any notes with you, you can only bring your what I always tell my students is to wear comfortably, very comfortable clothes, you don't have to wear anything very fancy. I mean, I have to be comfortable inside the Testing Center, just keep in mind might be a little cold inside. So just bring a light sweater. And you need to bring your passport for internationally educated nurses or US driver license in the States. And another form of ID just in case the building would require that. And of course your ATT and password should match. But bring light snacks, if you have to a bottle of water, you cannot exit the Testing Center, your time is running once you start the exam, even during your breaks. But don't bring notes, it's not going to help you you're not going to be able to bring it anywhere other than when you check in, you go into a locker and you lock all your stuff there. So there's really no need to bring those notes plus, it will only cause you anxiety, if you look at your notes and you figure Oh, hold on. know that's not gonna be helpful. I want you to be relaxed there for your exam. And think that trigger your anxiety and we don't want you to really be on a high level of anxiety during the exam. So just don't bring any notes. Just relax. I tell my students what I did during my exam is I did a lot of deep breathing exercises. I was mentally putting myself in a state of calmness during the exam. Because honestly, it's a nerve wracking exam. I took my exam 16 years ago, but I could still remember how pressured I was that they just like immaculate, you could Kachiri in areas, there was so many things. There were so many times that I thought in my head enough or not. Why do I feel like I did not know a lot of things. That's normal. But then again, I don't want to get triggered by anything else. So I didn't bring notes. I didn't bring anything I didn't talk to anyone in the testing center was trying to sign it. I didn't listen to anyone trying to review and memorize and rehearse your mnemonics, because I said I already did this multiple days ago. Today, I'm only going to focus on breathing focus on getting that oxygen to my brain. Because that's the only thing that I can do at that point. There's really nothing that I could do, except focus on the exam and focus my energy towards the exam.

Right now. Great advice, Paul, thank you so much. So we'll have each of the three nurses tell us I'm going to combine one of my questions tell us how you felt when the exam started, and how you felt when it ended. And we'll start with immaculate for this one. So as you're sitting in front of the computer, and the first question starts, how are you feeling? And then what was it like when you finished?

Um, when I started exam, my first question, I'm not sure whether I knew it or not. Second, but as time went by, again, the momentum when they reached my 26th question, I had the terrible, terrible headache. And I'm like, Oh, am I it's question 26 I still have so much more ahead. Will I continue? They said okay, and we continue and I got relaxed Went ahead. At my six year question. I got my first break. And I woke up. I stretched in Kimbark with so much momentum and went ahead. And it stopped at question 96. And I couldn't believe it was topping. Because in between, I could see some question twisted, you know, if you do memorize things, you got wrong, just a little thing in between the sentence, and you're done. So at the 96 question, it stopped. And I didn't want to continue. But I was encouraged to continue with the research. And I did and I walked out. I never spoke to anybody. I went straight to my room, and slept and waited for my flight back who he was.

All right. So 96. You wonder, is that good? Is that bad? You don't know. But yeah, you were exhausted? So sounds pretty normal. Yeah. And can you share a little bit with us about your experience, please?

I'm just immaculate. Think I did not. The first question, I felt that I'm not so sure with my answer then. And then along that along the way, there were a lot of questions that I didn't have any idea what was. And then I completely come across it during the review, but I still managed to choose. And there were a number of setup questions and medication questions. Also. It stopped at 75. And I was quite shocked when it stopped at 75. I didn't know what to expect, because her surgeon had surgery and was my final coach during the final coaching time. And he mentioned that you should not be that at ease if you got to identify because it might otherwise say if weather failed. And then then I took the practice test for NCLEX next gen questions, and it felt like it's quite longer than the actual 75 questions. And after the exam, I remember I felt very, very drained. So when I got out that from the building in Makati, I was just walking the sidewalk and some kind of a trance state. And then my friend approached me now what's happening to him. And then after that, I decided that because I took the exam on a Friday and results should be out next week. I think it is for this after on a business day. So what I did was a I went on a vacation to bug you.

A little bit of Livermore good for you.

Yes. Even if I don't know, just to keep my thoughts out of the anxiety. Whether if I if I passed as long as I did go to bed.

That's it. So thank you Kachiri Ares, we're running a little low on time. So I'm actually going to ask each of you we'll start with Ares and then Dr. Paul and then immaculate and then could Kachiri. One piece of advice you have for our nurses who are watching today and considering our NCLEX just one quick piece of advice. Ares

one pointer by the for the for those who are going to click there and next is the new generation address. We'll start reviewing a new beginning. As soon as you decide that you're going to take the sniffer you have to start studying don't wait for anyone to tell you what to do. And then you have to believe that you can do it.

Now you will. Yeah. So start and believe in yourself. Dr. Paul, what do you think? One piece

I read with Aris but very important Um, with planning and preparation. So this is a very broad advice, but planning and preparation are everything and what I always tell my students, yes, you get.

All right, immaculate a piece of advice from you

build on your content, and it's doable. It's workable.

Good advice, and Khichuri. Last but not least,

I'm high on the goal. And so you already base your review for the time being.

Yep, I on the goal, prioritize your time, guys, you have been wonderful to share your experiences and your wisdom with us. And even though Paul and I took our exams, many moons ago, about 22 years ago, for me, I do still remember that experience. And I can tell you that it's also an amazing thing when you finally get the past result that you're hoping for. And that's the goal that we ultimately have. But that's just part of your goal, the rest of your goal is still to come. So we welcome future shows where we'll share some of those other things with you, that bring you towards your nursing career happening here in the United States. We have other shows on both love Florida and the Connetics USA onwards and upwards. So March 17, we're talking about immigration doing a Q&A on the 24th. We have a Pearson PTE session. So if you're doing PTE for your English proficiency exam, tune in if you want to learn more about working and living in Pennsylvania, we have a show on the 31st of March. And on April 11. Coming up next gen and NCLEX will be here. So we'll be talking about that. On the Lefora talk show. And then April 7. Again, we've got immigrating with your children to the US, what are some of the things you need to think about with that budgeting for us arrival? That's a big one. And we'll share more about some of our Connetics clients with you on April 21, and then another immigration Q&A session coming up on April 28. Thank you to all of you who joined us here today. We look forward to seeing you in the future. And again, if you're interested in applying, our link is in the chat. You can go to our website and type in Conneticsusa.com/apply. And we will also take a look at your qualifications to see if maybe we have a program that works for you. Thanks and have a great rest of the day. Take care everybody. Bye bye