IELTS Writing Tips

IELTS is one of the first step for a nurse to pass as one of the requirements of most of the countries. Certain band scores are needed as strictly listed by nursing bodies or states for instance in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

For most people, writing seem to be the most difficult section of IELTS to attain a higher band score of 7 and above. I am also struggling how to achieve that score. I have been researching online about writing tips and found one of the few best sites for accurate tips and practice exams especially in writing task.

Overall, the following list of websites helped me tremendously in understanding the exam. Hope it will help you too.

TOP 6

1) Scott's English Success
Pros: Best site to study especially for listening and reading. It gives a detailed overview of the whole exam. There is no need to buy the IELTS package. Moreover, Mr. Scott has an Australian accent. Highly recommended.
Cons: Not that helpful in speaking and writing sections. It costs $49 for one month subscription.

2) Exams and Study - British Council
Pros: Many exercises and study materials on 4 sections of the exam and it is totally free!

3) Dominic Cole's IELTS blog
Pros: It has very helpful tips in writing and in other sections of the exam. Also, it has useful links as well.

4) Writefix.com
It has detailed information on how to write argument and opinion essays using a step by step approach. It is one of my favorites.

5) TEFLtastic
Several tips and strategies in writing in both task 1 and task 2.

6) A Teacher's Oddysey
Pros: It will do a makeover of your essay and give feedback using the 4 point critique or grading in writing. I have not tried sending my own essay so I do not know how fast they can grade it. Miracel Juanto will do the entire makeover for free.

Note: For writing, it is very important that someone will do the checking of your essay. Because most grammar mistakes may seem right in your perspective but it is entirely the opposite. This is also true for speaking. Practice your conversational English to someone who is good in speaking or to a native English speaker.

Clinic Nurse, Dental hygienist, and Dental Nurse

Dental hygienist and Dental Nurses:

• Work experience as a dental nurse or hygienist
• Licensed as a nurse in Kuwait
• Will be assigned in a prestigious dental clinic

Clinic Nurse

• Work experience as a clinic nurse
• Licensed as a nurse in Kuwait
• Part time job only from 4 - 9pm daily(except on Fridays) in a clinic in Salmiya
  

I don't mean to sound racist but I am just helping out this recruiter who had a hard time recruiting. (haha!), sad to say they only want Filipinas. I did not question why but there's evident but unspoken racial discrimination in Kuwait.

For those interested, please send your resume to lilacrn@gmail.com. Put the job description as the subject.

November 2008 RN Babies

Congratulations, you finally made it!

Welcome to the Nursing World!

To see your names on the list, click this link: November 2008 Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam

Cancer Free

This is to reflect last year of my mom's endurance and strong will in fighting thyroid cancer. She has been through a lot and I have never seen her shed a tear after all the excruciating pain of total thyroidectomy on top of other complications of hypertension, chronic use of steroids, and arthritis. For the past few months, she had kidney stones which she also battled through it. I am happy that she is now back to her normal activities and enjoying every single beauty of life. The following are the articles I wrote when she had the cancer:

Daily Profile of a Nursing Student
Caring Point
Overcoming Clumsiness

Future RN babies

Wishing all the luck to my 23 nursing babies and soon to be Registered Nurses!

The pressure is high as the exam date is nearing. As long as you take control of the anxiety, you will be fine. Take time to relax a day or 2 before the exam. I strictly do not recommend studying the night before the exam. You should be ready by now after all the months of preparation. Put in your mind that you will pass. Lastly, write down your full name with the initials RN after it.

Hoping to see you on the list of Registered Nurses. yey!

PNLE June 2008

Here's the list of examinees who passed the Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam on June 2008:
June Nursing Licensure Exam Results 2008

27,765 passed out of 64,459 examinees = 43%

Sure-fire Tips for NLE

Are you dreaded by the upcoming Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam? How many percent of mastery of nursing topics have you covered so far?

Some of the questions I often ask to my future colleagues. I think, if you have mastered the material and be able to explain on your own, then you are set to take the exam. Explaining a certain disease or topic to someone is the best way to gauge you understanding of the topic. Remember, if you combine the three ways of studying: reading, writing, and speaking, the more information will be retained. Certain study practices are relative to the person. So if you are a kind of person who studies with the aid of pictures, stick to visuals.

I am posting some tips that I learned while studying for the same exam. I wish I had known it sooner or applied it during practice exams. I did not land in the top ten but was proud to earn a grade high enough to be accepted by any tertiary hospitals. I would like to share it to thousands of future RNs.

To successfully pass the NLE, the following are the breakdown of individual allotment:

~60% Study effort
~25% Determination to pass
~10% Motivation
~5% Support (emotional, spiritual, social, psychological)
~100% Passing rate

Miss Lilac's Tips

o Read each question and answer c a r e f u l l y!

o Eliminate atleast 2 wrong choices, go back and read the situation, then select the correct answer

o When given choices with dates, years or numbers, choose the 2 in between among the selection: For example: a) 1997 b) 1990 c) 1996 d) 1999. Probable answer is between the two red choices. Only use this if you have completely no idea of the answer.

o Nursing interventions always starts with an assessment.

o Be familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy, Erik Erikson, ABC’s, and Protocol in fire emergency, etc. As much as possible, master all the information in a table format in any nursing books.

o Communication Skills:
1) Check the statement if its TRUE
2) Check if the true statement is therapeutic. Eliminate all non-therapeutic statements.
3) If it is true and therapeutic, this is likely the answer

o Complete with general ideas or “umbrella” is usually the correct answer but not necessarily the longest answer. Most of the time, the longest choice is the correct answer.

o On the last week or 2 weeks before exam, practice answering on practice exams. Do not If you get 60% and above in all of the tests, there is a high possibility that you will pass!

o Be sure to have some knowledge listed below. The exam revolves on the eleven (11) core competency areas for nursing practice:

1. Safe and Quality Nursing Care
2. Management of Resources and Environment
3. Health Education
4. Legal Responsibility
5. Ethico-Moral Responsibility
6. Personal and Professional Development
7. Quality Improvement
8. Research
9. Record Management
10. Communication
11. Collaboration and Teamwork

o Take a break in between studying time. Do not force yourself to memorize the material if the brain cannot take it anymore. Have a break, talk to someone, watch TV, eat, or take a long walk. The brain is like a sponge it will absorb and process all the information when it is ready.

o Do not review on the last day before the exam. Take this time to relax and unwind.

o Get enough sleep the night before the major day. Prepare all the requirements before going to sleep.

o Last but not the least, write down your full name followed by (comma) RN in any sheet of paper like you really, really, mean it then smile.

Good luck!