This is the exam that thousands of students are waiting for!.. and I am one of those who survived this very challenging exam. After 4 years of studying as a BSN student, you will have your diploma, your review, and finally, the life-changing exam, the NLE. Being a registered nurse needs a lot of guts. It's not about being genius or whatsoever Einstein like brain, but it's all about the skill to adjust in all the demands of a nursing school. Let me share my wonderful experience.
To be honest, if I were given a chance to come back in high school, then I will grab that chance! Why? because I regret my high school life being a happy-go-lucky student. I remember the time when I was in first year level. In order to pass my math exam, I need to copy all the answers from my seat mate. Take note, it's a quarter exam!! Oh God, please forgive me. But I am not that kind of student you're thinking of, I also read books whenever there are exams, and in fact, some of my classmates are relying on me for some quizzes and assignments. But what I regret most is, I didn't take my high school studies seriously. Especially for science subjects like chemistry, biology, etc., that will be useful as I take my NMAT this coming December. Also, my form 137-a really sucks! Sorry for the word but it's really a clever thing! To make it short, I screwed my high school life! Then here comes my college life as a nursing student. During the time of enrollment, I noticed that my subjects are like high-school ones, and I only have 3 school days per week! That is for the first semester, and by that time, my mind says that it would be a semester full of fun. Let's make it fast. 3rd year as a nursing student. On our first semester, we had our pinning/capping ceremony. It's a very wonderful day because it's the first time that we wore our complete white uniform and being a full-pledged nurse seems to be already at reach. That is the semester that I took my study seriously. You need to comply to all the requirements that clinical instructors are requiring. Doing NCP's while on class, writing drug studies during spare time of duty, sleepless nights on case study preparation, documentations for every rotation, and last but not the least, the all time favorite requirement of all nursing students, the LFD! (Laging Fagod Diary, pagod sa kasusulat). I guess that you wished your LFD to be typewritten, not just once, but many times. Unfortunately, 9/10 instructors wants it handwritten. So much for that LFD. Those things that I've mentioned earlier are just few of the challenges of being a nursing student. You will do all of these for 2 years. Imagine 2 years! By 4th year, another trial will come your way, the thesis writing. We had a hard time finishing that thesis because we changed our whole statistics and we paid a lot for that thing! Yes, finishing a thesis takes a lot of effort and especially, money money money.
Now, let us go to the much awaited nursing review. This picture on the left is the review center where I offered my career as a nursing graduate. MERGE stands for Multi-Educational Review Group Experts. As what its name implies, yes, it's really a group of experts.
Our tuition fee by that time is 17k PhP, set aside the everyday allowances for food, transpo, alak, etc. Well that would be 220 pesos a day for me. Let's have a simple math. By the month of April, we had around 20 days of review since holy week and graduation week is in this month. That would be 220x20 = ???.. .... ... ... ... 4,400 Php!! Oo naman yes! 4,400 Php!! Then for the month of May, let's say we had 25 days of review, that is 220x25 = 5,600 Php.. And last is June, this includes the critical part and final coaching, it was 220x25 = 5,600 Php again. Let's add those amounts together, 17,000 for the tuition fee, 4,400 for April, 5,600 for May, and 5,600 for June. It's a total of 32,600 Php. I remember when Dr. Manny Tu, one of the big boss in MERGE, offered me a scholarship for review . I don't know his reason for giving me that opportunity but I think that it is because when he is conducting our review in our Nursing Elective, I always participate whenever he ask questions. And maybe that is the reason how he remembered me. But that scholarship would be in Las Pinas City MERGE Branch. I certainly don't know anyone else there. It is an advantage for me since peer-pressure would be away from me. But my friends... my friends...
:((( Oh my.. But a tuition fee of 17k for free isn't that bad. It's a big money! You can think of those who are having a hard time financing their review. Eventually, my mother decline the offer since he wanted me to be in school even if we still pay on it. Maybe my mother is mind-set before the review starts. I can't be against her since she will be the one who will be giving my baon lol. So if your parents think that their burden on expenses will be finally over since you had graduated, well, they are all wong!! Imagine, 32.6k would be equal to a tuition fee for a semester. So better tell your parents about this amount for them to be ready for your review. The 17k tuition fee for MERGE can be in installment form.
Hmm, let me tell you my experience during review. My bestfriend during those days were shown in the picture. A highlighter, pen, baller, and the MERGE notebook. (Kuha ko yan sa camera ko, danda no? Wahehehe /gg) Some of classmates were using a 3 colored pen, red for the main word, black for definition and green for important parts in the definition. It's a pain in the ass for me, so I just use a highlighter of course to highlight important parts. Do you know why highlighting can help us to remember things? That is because in psychology, we have this what we call "Von Restorff Effect". It states that a sore thumb is likely to be remembered than those who are not. Wala lang, SKL. MERGE review started with what they call "Diagnostic Exam". As it name implies, that exam would determine the strengths and weaknesses of students. In my own opinion, it's just an EXAM. Yes, just an exam. They didn't even tell us what is our strengths and weaknesses. They'd just showed us the result of the exam and that's it. Well, enough for the critics. The exam covers all areas of nursing and is 300 items. 2 hours for every 100 item if I'm not mistaken. After exam, of course they will be giving the rationale. Mr. Francoruss is the first one to be our reviewer and he's one of the best reviewers in merge. He's like a stand up comedian whenever he is in front of us. The cycle for the review would be lecture, exam, then rationale. That cycle would be for the comprehensive part. Then they have this critical part, wherein critical topics in each subject is discussed here. Then the final coaching, it is one of the most awaited part of the review. Final coaching means board exam is approaching. You will have first your exam, then the rationale. Majority of their reviewers doesn't even have handouts while lecturing. Especially Mr. Parrocha of LMR. His lecture would consume about 10 pages back to back of the merge notebook without handouts while lecturing! That's how amazing they are. Most of my classmates consumed all the pages of that notebook but I ain't. I don't know why but I am writing all our lecturers notes.
One of the most exciting part in the review is during the end of an exam. After checking the exams, all students will be standing until our scores was called. Then the highest will remain standing. We are almost 200 in the review and that is the reason why there is no consistent number one in the exam. But you can see that some of my classmates are always within the top 5. I only got the highest score twice, lol.
For those who is still studying as BSN, please don't take your college life for granted. There are so many basic concepts that you need to know as you go along the future. I myself regret my 2nd year in BSN as I don't take it seriously. I barely read my Fundamentals of Nursing during our Primary Health Care. Damn it. During the review, I've said to myself, if I am able to read books during my happy-go-lucky days, I could've known all the concepts, for it is all about the basics!! Finally for those who will soon be taking the NLE, take your review seriously. Especially if you know to yourself that you didn't study well during your nursing days. Some of my reviewmates are very early on class. The review starts at 8am and you will expect them to come at 6am and read notes. But in the end, they failed. And you can see that some of my reviewmates doesn't take the review seriously. Some were sleeping during the review, some aren't taking notes, some aren't listening. But some of them passed the NLE. I am not advising you to push your luck because of what I've just told. Those who failed the exam but comes early to review is maybe due to not studying well during college days. Take note, I said "maybe". Above all, those who are consistently in the top 10 during exams were all able to pass the board exam. See? Like what I've said, take your review seriously and you will see the product of all your hardwork in the end. Nevertheless, learning is a never ending process. May the odds be in your favor!
"Your imagination can be a reality through Education."
:((( Oh my.. But a tuition fee of 17k for free isn't that bad. It's a big money! You can think of those who are having a hard time financing their review. Eventually, my mother decline the offer since he wanted me to be in school even if we still pay on it. Maybe my mother is mind-set before the review starts. I can't be against her since she will be the one who will be giving my baon lol. So if your parents think that their burden on expenses will be finally over since you had graduated, well, they are all wong!! Imagine, 32.6k would be equal to a tuition fee for a semester. So better tell your parents about this amount for them to be ready for your review. The 17k tuition fee for MERGE can be in installment form.
Hmm, let me tell you my experience during review. My bestfriend during those days were shown in the picture. A highlighter, pen, baller, and the MERGE notebook. (Kuha ko yan sa camera ko, danda no? Wahehehe /gg) Some of classmates were using a 3 colored pen, red for the main word, black for definition and green for important parts in the definition. It's a pain in the ass for me, so I just use a highlighter of course to highlight important parts. Do you know why highlighting can help us to remember things? That is because in psychology, we have this what we call "Von Restorff Effect". It states that a sore thumb is likely to be remembered than those who are not. Wala lang, SKL. MERGE review started with what they call "Diagnostic Exam". As it name implies, that exam would determine the strengths and weaknesses of students. In my own opinion, it's just an EXAM. Yes, just an exam. They didn't even tell us what is our strengths and weaknesses. They'd just showed us the result of the exam and that's it. Well, enough for the critics. The exam covers all areas of nursing and is 300 items. 2 hours for every 100 item if I'm not mistaken. After exam, of course they will be giving the rationale. Mr. Francoruss is the first one to be our reviewer and he's one of the best reviewers in merge. He's like a stand up comedian whenever he is in front of us. The cycle for the review would be lecture, exam, then rationale. That cycle would be for the comprehensive part. Then they have this critical part, wherein critical topics in each subject is discussed here. Then the final coaching, it is one of the most awaited part of the review. Final coaching means board exam is approaching. You will have first your exam, then the rationale. Majority of their reviewers doesn't even have handouts while lecturing. Especially Mr. Parrocha of LMR. His lecture would consume about 10 pages back to back of the merge notebook without handouts while lecturing! That's how amazing they are. Most of my classmates consumed all the pages of that notebook but I ain't. I don't know why but I am writing all our lecturers notes.One of the most exciting part in the review is during the end of an exam. After checking the exams, all students will be standing until our scores was called. Then the highest will remain standing. We are almost 200 in the review and that is the reason why there is no consistent number one in the exam. But you can see that some of my classmates are always within the top 5. I only got the highest score twice, lol.
For those who is still studying as BSN, please don't take your college life for granted. There are so many basic concepts that you need to know as you go along the future. I myself regret my 2nd year in BSN as I don't take it seriously. I barely read my Fundamentals of Nursing during our Primary Health Care. Damn it. During the review, I've said to myself, if I am able to read books during my happy-go-lucky days, I could've known all the concepts, for it is all about the basics!! Finally for those who will soon be taking the NLE, take your review seriously. Especially if you know to yourself that you didn't study well during your nursing days. Some of my reviewmates are very early on class. The review starts at 8am and you will expect them to come at 6am and read notes. But in the end, they failed. And you can see that some of my reviewmates doesn't take the review seriously. Some were sleeping during the review, some aren't taking notes, some aren't listening. But some of them passed the NLE. I am not advising you to push your luck because of what I've just told. Those who failed the exam but comes early to review is maybe due to not studying well during college days. Take note, I said "maybe". Above all, those who are consistently in the top 10 during exams were all able to pass the board exam. See? Like what I've said, take your review seriously and you will see the product of all your hardwork in the end. Nevertheless, learning is a never ending process. May the odds be in your favor!
"Your imagination can be a reality through Education."
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