Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Information for registered nurses
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Information for registered nurses

Current impacts:

Registered Nurse MCQ – Some Pearson VUE testing centres may have limited or suspended services, for further information please contact the Pearson VUE Customer Service team.

MCQ for registered nurses

The RN Nurse MCQ Examination is coordinated in conjunction with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and is delivered by Pearson VUE using the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for Registered Nurses.

Once your portfolio has been approved, your IQNM dashboard tracker will update and you will be advised to register and pay the exam fee with Pearson VUE for the NCLEX-RN via the NCSBN website.

After your registration is completed, the IQNM exams team will confirm your eligibility to sit the NCLEX-RN exam and you will receive an authorisation to test email from Pearson VUE. Once you are authorised to test you can contact Pearson VUE to book your examination location, date and time.

Candidates who are eligible to sit the MCQ will be advised of available locations once you contact Pearson VUE to complete their registration to sit the examination.

The MCQ fee must be paid prior to confirming your examination date. The registration fee amount is $200 USD per sitting.

Candidates that are sitting in an international centre, will also need to pay an additional International Scheduling fee (+value added tax where applicable) of $150 USD. 

This advice is for IQNMs who have completed the NCLEX-RN which was authorised by another nursing regulatory body.

The NCLEX-RN Score Transfer Process allows candidates, who have passed the NCLEX-RN but have not obtained registration, to transfer their score from one nursing regulatory body to another.

Applicants for general registration with the NMBA will only be required to complete the NCLEX-RN Score Transfer Process if they:

  • Were not authorised by Ahpra to complete the NCLEX-RN and
  • Did not obtain registration/licensure with the nursing regulatory body that authorised them to complete the NCLEX-RN.

If you need to transfer your score, you must do this before you apply for registration. To transfer your score, you will need to email a request to the to the nursing regulatory body that authorised you to complete the NCLEX-RN. The request must be:

  • Addressed to both the nursing regulatory body that authorised you to complete the NCLEX-RN and Ahpra, and
  • Include:
    • Your name, date of birth, NCLEX candidate ID and signature, and
    • The purpose of the transfer.

A template example can be downloaded here (13KB, DOCX).

* Please note that score transfer requests may take up to six (6) weeks to process and complete.

This advice is for IQNMs who have completed the NCLEX-RN which was authorised by Ahpra to enable progression through the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s Outcomes Based Assessment pathway.

The NCLEX-RN Score Transfer Process allows candidates, who have passed the NCLEX-RN but have not obtained registration, to transfer their score from one nursing regulatory body to another.

* Please note that if you transfer your score to another nursing regulatory body, your IQNM case will become inactive. If your case is inactive, you are unable to continue with the OBA pathway with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Once your case becomes inactive, if your circumstances change and you would like to continue with the OBA pathway, you can contact Ahpra to have your case reactivated.

Candidates will only be able to have their NCLEX-RN score transferred from Ahpra to another nursing regulatory body if they:

Important information about the Texas Board of Nursing

The Texas Board of Nursing has advised Ahpra that it will not accept NCLEX-RN score transfers from Ahpra. If you have any questions about transferring a NCLEX-RN score to the Texas Board of Nursing, please contact the Texas Board of Nursing.

Ahpra will accept NCLEX-RN score transfers from the Texas Board of Nursing.

 

OSCE for registered nurses

Your MCQ result will be recorded within your record in the IQNM database. If you have passed the MCQ, your IQNM dashboard will advise you that you are eligible to sit the OSCE. At this time it will also advise you to pay the OSCE fee.

Once your fee payment has been received, the IQNM exams team will contact you in relation to upcoming dates for OSCE examinations.

The OSCE is delivered at Adelaide Health Simulation (AHS) in Adelaide, South Australia.

No contact should be made to Adelaide Health Simulation in relation to the OSCE. All queries should be directed to the IQNM exams team.

The fee amount is $4000 AUD per sitting. The OSCE fee must be paid prior to confirming your examination date. 

 
 

For more information regarding the IQNM candidate journey please use the below linked documents:

 
 
 
Page reviewed 1/08/2023