₦airaland Forum

akaahs:
Please, what's the guidelines and do we have centres here in Nigeria?

My wife is a nurse and she's seriously considering the exams

The guideline is as summarized above sir.

No NCLEX centre in Nigeria. There are just 2 centres in Africa - Kenya and South Africa.
Kindly go through the thread.


It's worth considering. Encourage her but don't force her. It's not a process that one can be forced into

The most important aspect of all these is exam preparation. Remember the essence of all the above processes and expenses is to pass NCLEX which makes you eligible for licensure to practise as an RN. A solid prep is a must. I don't know of anyone who passed NCLEX with just trial and error.

Deliberate and targeted efforts at prep are required. There are a lot of resources out there. A lot of them! This can be overwhelming.

I'm here, to take you by the hand, walk you through the processes, especially the preparations for the exam. I have the proven strategies to make you prepare right, take the exam with confidence and ace it.

After ATT, what next?
Register on Pearson VUE $200. Pearson VUE provides the examination administration service. They provide same service to several other professional bodies

Schedule your exam $150. This involves you picking an exam centre, date and time. Selected date and time must be within the validity of your ATT. ATTs have expiration dates which vary by BON.

Travel to exam centre. There are only 2 centres in Africa (Kenya and South Africa). Kenya is the cheaper and easier, hence recommended. The cost of this vary depending on how flexible you can be with flight timing, accommodation, feeding, taxi etc.
As at the time of typing this, Kenya is visa free to Nigeria passport holders.

Olive4570:
Hello please am a psychiatric nurse just finish my post basic how can I leave nigeria to uk like work over there im tired can u please help thanks

If I got you right, you hold an RN and RMHN, right?
The UK pathway is different and I think there is a thread where it has been comprehensively explained. The summary is
1. NMC UK application Fee (£140)
2. English language test (IELTS or OET)
3. CBT which you can write in Nigeria (£83)
4. OSCE which is written in the UK (£794 excluding logistics costs for the trip)
5. License (PIN) fee (£153)

Before now, UK employers employed pre-registration nurses (nurses who have passed CBT and have IELTS requirements), when they got to the UK, their employers trained them for and sponsored their OSCE. Meaning out of pocket cost incurred by nurses was only 1,2,3 above some of which would even be reimbursed on arrival.

Today, such isn't the case. Nurses now sponsor themselves for OSCE, bearing all costs. This is because UK employers now insist on nurses who already have license (PIN). Sadly, people have their PIN and still struggle to get job.

I have gone through the requirements of most of the 50 states. As at the time of typing this, the most friendly to Nigerian nurses are Texas BON and New York BON.

NEW YORK
1. Application Fee ($143)
2. Mandatory online courses on infection control and child abuse ($30 for both)
3. Diploma or Degree certificate sent directly to NYBON by your school (cost depends on your school)

Once all the above have been done, NYBON would issue approval to go and write NCLEX. This is called authorization to test (ATT)

No NMCN verification needed, the 2 years post RN requirement for verification by NMCN doesn't affect NYBON.


TEXAS
1. CES (Credential Evaluation Service) report. This is to compare your nursing education to that of the USA. Several bodies offer this service e.g TruMerit (formerly CGFNS), Josef Silney, ERES, SpanTran, IEE etc. Instead of submitting your educational qualifications directly to TBON, you would submit them to any of these bodies. They will evaluate it and issue a report on comparability to USA's nursing education. They will forward this report to TBON. All states accept CES reports from TruMerit. Not all states accept the rest. To be on the safer side, just use TruMerit. You will also need them compulsorily for VISASCREEN during the immigration phase.
TruMerit CES costs $485
You will provide them with your International passport, O'level result, NMCN verification, nursing diploma or Degree for them to issue the CES.

2. Nursing Jurisprudence Exam (Free)
3. Application Fee ($75)
4. Criminal backgrounds check with Identogo($38.25)


Once the above have been done, TBON will issue ATT and you can proceed to take NCLEX

Overall, NYBON is cheaper but the TruMerit costs saved will definitely be done later during VISASCREEN for immigration.

CONCLUSION: if you're low on budget, or less than 2years post RN, use NYBON. If budget isn't an issue and you're more than 2years post RN, use TBON.

Now, after getting ATT, what next?

To start the process, here are the requirements:
1. Valid International Passport
2. Active RN license
3. Your educational records and qualifications

One of the commonest questions is if diploma nurses can take NCLEX. The answer is YES! What is required is the RN license which a diploma nurse has. Even if a Ph.D holder in nursing wants to write NCLEX, her RN license is what will count.

Having said this, let's go through the process, using USA as the prototype.

Each of the 50 states of the USA has its Board of Nursing (BON). They license anyone who wants to practise nursing in their jurisdiction. National Council of States Board of Nursing (NCSBN) administers NCLEX. NCSBN is the coalition of these 50 BONs.

However, each state has their requirements for licensure of which passing NCLEX is common to all the 50 states. i.e to get licensed as a RN in any state, you MUST pass the NCLEX-RN, then meet any other stipulated requirements by the state you have chosen.

Do you have to seek fresh licensure everytime you change state? No! Once you're registered in a state, you can seek licensure in other states via Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) which 43 states are currently members or by endorsement. So, just get licensed in a state first, the rest is easy peasy.

NCLEX result doesn't expire. Once you pass it, you have passed it! Even if you want to change country, you would just transfer your result. Sounds great, right?

To be eligible to write NCLEX, candidate needs an approval from the nursing regulatory body of the country/province where NCLEX is directly accepted for licensure (e.g USA, Canada, Australia). To get approval to take NCLEX, these regulatory bodies would first at least ascertain that the candidate's nursing education is equivalent to the minimum 'licenseable' nursing education in their country.

For the purpose of this thread, I will use the USA (the original owner of NCLEX) as the prototype.

NCLEX is the single most versatile nursing exam in the world today. It's like the key to global nursing prospects. With it, the opportunities are limitless!

Nursing is a regulated profession globally. Each country/province/state has nursing regulatory body. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) serves this purpose in Nigeria.

I noticed there is no thread here on Nairaland detailing this process or any service provider offering the service or maybe I am not aware of any such thread.

I want to offer DIY grade info and guidance to anyone seeking to embark on the worthwhile journey and NCLEX coaching for any interested person.

As a way of introduction, I am a RN+MBBS holder. I hold RN licenses in Nigeria and USA. I am also licensed by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. I'm vast in the various japa pathways for both doctors and nurses, the pros and cons of each pathway and can offer individualized counseling to nurses and doctors.

The average Nigerian nurse finds the USA nursing pathway a bit complex. Meanwhile, it's not entirely so.

NCLEXTUTOR:
Are you a nurse or you know a nurse who wants to explore global career prospects?

NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) is a standardized professional test for licensure in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore etc. Starting January 1 2026, GCC will start accepting it for licensure.

It is a widely recognized benchmark for nursing competence. NCLEX opens unlimited career opportunities

Purpose of this thread is to guide interested nurses from start to finish of the processes