Taiwan RN to Australian RN License 2️⃣

G’day! Good afternoon, it's Alice~ Sorry, I slacked off for a few days. Hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵) Let's get right into the next two steps: Examination and registration.

📍What is the examination?

The examination is the testing that applicants outside stream A have to complete. It has two parts, multiple choice questions (MCQ) and the objective structured clinical exam (OSCE), and you need both. You must pass the MCQ before taking the OSCE.

📍What is the MCQ?

The MCQ is one part of our Nclex-RN, and it's the route for overseas nurses who want to register in Australia to convert their license. It has anywhere from 75 to 265 questions, all testing nursing knowledge and skills. You book the MCQ on the NCSBN website, and results come out 6 weeks after the exam. According to the AHPRA website, the nclex currently costs USD 200, and rescheduling costs another USD 150. After you register an account on the official site, you'll get an authorisation to test email, and only after that can you book the exam (so complicated and such a hassle). I won't go into the details here; the official site and AHPRA have candidate handbooks if you want to read more ಠ_ರೃ

📍What is the OSCE?

The OSCE is an exam with 10 clinical cases that mainly tests the clinical skills you need on an everyday shift. Simply put, it simulates situations you'll run into at work: you sum up the patient's condition and clinical results and draw up a nursing plan for the patient. Sound hard to follow? I just call it decision making skill. The clinical skills here include but aren't limited to decision making, IV administration/management, wound care and vital signs, and of course communication skills matter too. The OSCE is currently held in Adelaide, five times a year: early February, mid-April, early July, late September and late November. It costs AUD8000 (a total money pit!). If you need to reschedule, you have to give more than 72 hours' notice (no extra fee). The OSCE also has a dress code for candidates; you can find the details in the candidate handbook on the official site (‧ω‧)ノ

📍What is registration?

Once you've passed both the MCQ and the OSCE, congrats, you've reached the final stage: registration! This is mainly about submitting a large pile of notarized paperwork, including but not limited to academic transcripts, proof of service from past workplaces, English test scores and a criminal record check. Once it's all submitted, you pay the fee~ Like I said before, the AHPRA website is pretty well done. It explains in detail what you need to upload, and if they need more documents they'll email you right away, so it's fairly lazy-person friendly ε-(´∀｀; ) If it all goes smoothly, you can officially start job hunting~ (Below is a cheap yet expensive piece of paper.) The license has to be renewed at the end of May every year, so I'd suggest not applying in March or April, because you'll still have to pay to renew at the end of May (what a rip-off!)

Finally, that wraps up the license conversion! I didn't go into much detail on the MCQ and OSCE because I haven't been through them myself, so I only shared the general idea ಥ_ಥ The two reference websites are the official sites of the two exams, which have candidate handbooks, and there are plenty of experience posts online too. I hope this gives you at least some useful information~ I'm sneaking off now~ See you next time, bye~

References: https://nurseassistinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Nursing-and-Midwifery-Board-Candidate-Handbook-NCLEX-RN-MCQ-Examination.pdf

https://www.acn.edu.au/education/preparation-for-objective-structured-clinical-examination-osce