Recent Articles of Interest

According to NCSBN, National Council of State Boards of Nursing the gap between international students and US educated students passing the NCLEX RN is diminishing.

In 2000 there were a total of 71,475 US educated students and 7,506 internationally educated students taking the NCLEX RN. International students made up only 10.5% of the students sitting for the exam.

Although the number of nursing students increased significantly in 2007, it is not meeting the needs of the demands. An aging population, growing population, and increased number of nurses used in place of doctors is causing a serious demand for nurses.

The demand for nurses in the United States is being answered by students in other countries. Many US Citizens are protesting that there are citizens with education and experience who want a job in the computer science field and issuing more work visas will only increase unemployment in the US. Will nurses in the US be competing for jobs in the US with students educated abroad? In 2007 there were 119,579 United States educated students and 33,768 internationally educated students sitting for the NCLEX RN exam. This is a bit more than 28% of all nursing students sitting for this test.

The increase in international students could be as a result of the NCSBN opening three new test sites outside the United States. In just seven years the percentage of international students has risen 17.5%

Students educated outside the United States are alert to the need for nurses in North America and know that educating themselves may be their opportunity to obtain a work visa and possible permanent residency in the US and may garner them a life of a greater quality of living and freedom from oppression.

How well are United States educated students performing compared to their internationally educated counterparts? are still out performing international students, but international students are gaining on them.In 2007, there were 119,579 US educated nursing students taking the NCLEX RN. 85.5% of them passed. 52% of the 33,768 students educated outside the US nurses passed the first time.

How about those students who had to repeat the test? In 2007there were a total of 26,411 students retaking the exam These were US educated students retaking the exam. Simple math indicates that a portion of the nursing students are repeating the test multiple times A mere 52.4% of these repeat test takers passed. Internationally educated test takers pass rate dropped to 25.7%

Students are actively seeking ways to increase their chances of passing the exam the first time. Audio study guides for NCLEX has demonstrated tremendous results. Since the audios are available online they are accessible to anyone in the world.

Students from around the world listen to the audios to prepare for the nursing classes, reinforce what they are learning and prepare for the exams., but a few students have thought ahead and use it to learn the class material before they start the course

Most students attribute poor test results to the lack of time they have to study. Audio study materials for the NCLEX exam make it easy to learn while doing other tasks.