As a young nurse, Chioma Okeke started a blog in 2012 with a simple goal: to share her experiences as a nurse. She regularly posted about her work, but her readers wanted more than that. Many lamented they struggled to pass two key U.S. nursing certification exams and sought her help.
“And when I was getting all these emails, I was thinking like, ‘Wow! I didn’t realize this was such a big problem. I thought that almost everybody passes the test,’” Okeke told Pluboard during an interview last month.
The NCLEX-PN (National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses) and NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) exams are essential for practising nursing in the United States. For immigrants hoping to work as nurses, passing these tests is crucial. Failing them means they cannot practise, no matter how high the demand for healthcare workers is in the U.S.
Some of Okeke’s readers shared stories of multiple failed attempts at the exams—some as many as seven times. Others had been out of school for over 20 years and were under immense pressure to succeed. Okeke launched Choosing Nursing, a platform dedicated to helping aspiring nurses better prepare for the exams.
Since 2015, the platform has helped over 1,000 nursing students and graduates pass the challenging exams, with 40-60% of them from Nigeria, where they had completed nursing school. Users can register on the website for tutorials and purchase e-books, physical books, cheat sheets, and even enrol in online courses or buy nursing kits.
In recognition of her work, Okeke was honoured as a Diva Ambassador at the 2016 Divas of Colour International Women’s Forum and named Top Nurse by the International Nurses Association in 2018.
Her goal now is to help one million nurses succeed. Part of the plan includes setting up teaching centres in the U.S. and abroad, including Nigeria, to assist those with limited internet or computer access. ” This will be done via In-person format, especially for the ones that don’t have access to the internet or some type of limitation, where having access to a computer is hard,” Okeke said.
Read the full interview below:
You have been described in the media as a registered Nurse that is helping Nursing students and graduates to pass their NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN examination, which enables them to obtain their Nursing license. Can you please tell us more about yourself?
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about myself and what I do for a living. I am really excited. My name is Chioma Okeke. I was born in Nigeria, but I have lived most part of life in the United States. So, I grew up here mainly in California. I went to school in California. I attended San Diego State University. That’s the Nursing school I went through. And then after that I started working as a registered nurse. My whole life has really been around my career and business, so I don’t really have a lot of other things about myself aside from where I’m from and what I do now. So, I worked at different hospitals. I worked mainly with medical, surgical, telemetry patients, patients that have chronic conditions, patients that are also having surgery. And then I’ve also done corrections. So just different types of things, and then I ventured into doing Choosing Nursing, an online-based educational company, which I established in 2017. So, I would say, I try to be a kind person to most people or to everybody. And I’m also a Christian. I come from a strong household.
What is your motivation for establishing Choosing Nursing?
What actually happened is that it started off as a blog in 2012. I decided to create a blog to just talk about what it’s like to be a nurse. The purpose of the blog was just for me to share and to really vent out what I was going through working as a nurse. So, later, down the line, I started getting emails from people that were reaching out to me and telling me things like, “Oh you know, I’ve been struggling to pass the exam”. “I’ve been out of school for this number of years”. “I have taken the test 6 or 7 times and I finished school in 2007. I still haven’t passed”.
And when I was getting all these emails, I was thinking like, Wow! I didn’t realize this was such a big problem. I thought that almost everybody passes the test. So, when that happened, I felt like a burden to figure out a way to help people. And I realized that was my calling to help nurses to pass their boards. So, this kind of motivation was drawn to me from a blog and then from there, I decided and said okay, let me see how I can help people pass their test.
How has the journey been for you so far for you?
Honestly, the journey has been long and I don’t want to use the word challenging, but it has definitely not been easy at all. It requires a lot of patience, diligence and compassion helping people with this kind of problem. These are people that just finished school. These are people that have been out of school for 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, or even 20 years, and they are suffering. They’re going through a lot of mental health challenges because of it. So, it takes a lot of patience to really sit down and help them to understand the material. Not to mention balancing my own life as well. So, the journey has not been easy. It’s been very fulfilling though. I have seen some of them go through a lot of pain that they have shared with me. The stories have been really troubling. It would be surprising if I even begin to share. For instance, one person told me that the day she was supposed to take her test, the day of her exam, her son passed away. It’s like very unusual things that would happen when they’re supposed to pass their exam. So, it’s been a journey where, honestly, I just really have to have a lot of patience and compassion, but it’s definitely been very, very rewarding.
To what extent has your company improved the performance of Nursing students and graduates in the NCLEX exam?
Yes, I would say, the biggest thing is competence and confidence. So, a lot of the students that come to me, are in a place where they took the test one or more times. They’re very frustrated and they don’t understand what they’re missing. So, they don’t understand what is keeping them from taking the test, because once they take this test and pass it, their whole life changes immediately, no matter where they are, whether they’re in Nigeria or whether they’re here in the United States. Their whole life completely changes, their income changes, their circumstances changes. So, when they are in this situation where they can’t pass the exam, first they’re dealing with low self-esteem, a lot of them experience this. They told me that their spouses have left them because they can’t pass the exam. The ones that are married, it brings a lot of turmoil in their marriage, because they have to constantly explain why they will(won’t) pass the test and it just causes a lot of turmoil within their marriage. So, it makes them very unhappy. Moreover, they have loans, in the form of debt and bills that they can’t pay off, and not to mention the fact that they finished school, but they don’t have the license. They have to explain to people every time, especially when they are asked questions such as, “Where are you working now, what hospital are you at?” And they can’t tell.
They have to tell them I’m not working still and that’s very, very embarrassing, crushing, soul-wrenching for them. So, as a result, they don’t go anywhere. They don’t travel, they don’t go to any type of family events or family occasions. They change their name on Facebook just so that people cannot find them. They have to do all these things just to hide. So, now when they discover me and they come in contact with me, they say I wish I met you sooner. So, when they finally come, they begin to learn the bigger picture, they begin to see all the elements that they didn’t understand when it comes to the nursing exam, and now it makes sense. Now they begin to connect the dots, they begin to make more sense, and then bam, they take it, and they finally pass the test. Now their income goes up. Their marriage improves significantly. They’re happy with their family. A lot of them told me that before they have to work almost 60 hours a week just to keep up with their financial situation. Now that they are able to work and get the license, they can work a normal number of hours. Their children are happy with them, a lot of them their children are very depressed too when they cannot pass. It is just like a ripple effect. So, the biggest thing we’ve done now is we’ve been able to help at least more than a thousand (plus) people to finally pass the exam and those people, their lives are forever changed positively. And then, of course, it puts more people into the workforce because nursing has a huge shortage of nurses, there are not enough people to work. Those are all the things that it really does.
In a recent press statement on the success story of your company, it was stated that it has helped over a 1000 Nurses in passing this challenging professional exam. Do you have a record of beneficiaries from Africa and Nigeria specifically?
Yes, so, anytime people either decide to work with me or they decide to join our website, I always have them enter record and tell us, where they attended nursing school. So, I always have it recorded. I would say that probably about 40% or maybe 40% to 60% of the people that I’ve helped personally, went to school mainly in Nigeria. I haven’t got anybody outside from those from Nigeria that I have personally worked with. It’s rare to find South Africa or Kenya citizens but they do purchase our other products. I think honestly, my name attracts Nigerians. So, I do have a good chunk of people that are Nigerians. Majority of them have already finished nursing school in Nigeria, and now they live in the United States and now they’re trying to become a nurse here. Or they went to Nursing School in Nigeria, and they were a midwife and now they live in the United Kingdom (UK), and they’re trying to understand how to come to the United States. So, a lot of them, I would say, I have up to 40% to 60% that are specifically from Nigeria and went to school in Nigeria.
In the said article, you were also quoted as saying that you just want to do what God called you to do and help as many people as possible. Can you please explain this?
Well, I’m a very strong believer in my faith and that is one of the things among others, which solidified me in setting up and carrying out my activities at Choosing Nursing since inception. For me, anytime I do anything, I have to get spiritual direction for it. That’s just how I operate. So, when I was even creating the blog, it’s like something dropped in my spirit that said to call it ‘Choosing Nursing’. So, I started and that was just like the starting point for me. Eventually, it started crystalizing like something that God called me to do, I started having dreams where I could see myself helping these nurses that were able to pass their exam. So, I would have dreams, and then I would do these classes, and then God would show me dreams of the people that would pass, and how they would pass and everything. So, that’s what I am talking about. Honestly, I’m a very spiritual person and God would just really press upon my heart telling me that I need to help these people. The divine message I heard is: “These people are suffering, you know, and you have the capability to help them”. That’s the reason why I still do what I do, although there’s some days where I feel tired and exhausted. It’s really like God is pressing on me to help them and to help them to succeed.
You were honoured as a Diva Ambassador recipient during the Divas of Colour International Women’s Forum in 2016. You landed the No. 37 spot of the Top 60 YouTube Nursing Channels on FeedSpot blogs. You were equally named Top Nurse by International Nurses Association in 2018. What does success mean to you generally?
For me, success means doing whatever your purposes are in life. That’s what it really and honestly is. It involves discovering what it is that you’re supposed to do with your life and actually doing it. That’s the true definition of success. Everything else is a by-product of that success. For instance, being published here, or this website, this article, this foundation, those are things that simply put us in the public glare for visibility. I’m very humbled and grateful to receive every single award. Those are by products which are fulfilling the purpose that I have. So, for me, success may not necessarily be measured in monetary terms as far as impact and accomplishment are concerned. This is why somebody could make a million dollars, yet it doesn’t mean that they’re successful. Maybe that may make such persons successful, if they feel that their purpose is to make $1 million. But to me that if your success is having a purpose and accomplishing iy and usually that purpose is something that doesn’t only benefit you. It’s usually something that benefits a lot of people. So, to me, success is having a purpose, a vision, and then doing and fulfilling it.
As a dynamic and fast-rising company, where do you see Choosing Nursing in the next five years?
I would say probably, honestly doing what we’re already doing, but bigger. So, right now everything that we do is mainly online. But one thing that would be ideal is if we could begin to teach, have teaching centres. That’s having it everywhere, mainly a lot of them will be in the United States. But if I could have it where there’s even some in Nigeria that would be amazing. So, I would say, probably having physical centres, physical teaching centres where people can come and learn and there would be a teacher to teach them and show them how to prepare for the test, etc. This will be done via In-person format, especially for the ones that don’t have access to the internet or some type of limitation, where having access to a computer is hard. So that’s pretty much what I see, it is being able to have physical locations and then also being able to provide more scholarship programmes for people that are trying to become a nurse.
What are your philosophies in life, if any?
Talking about my philosophies, I would say never take advice from somebody that you wouldn’t want to trade places with. That’s first one, and then secondly, find out what your purpose is and run with it. After that everything else will come and then don’t ever give up. Never, never give up, keep going, no matter how difficult things may be. And then the last thing is, at the end of the day trust in God, because He’ll never fail you.
What’s your words of advice to students Nursing student and graduates in a view to encouraging them to brace up to the challenges inherent in the Nursing profession generally?
I would say the biggest and number one thing for people that want to become nurses in the United States and Canada is that you have to go in with a long-term focus. So, if you go in with the mind-set of okay, I’m just going to try nursing a little bit, and if it doesn’t work, then you’ll quit then you will definitely quit within the first couple of months. So, you have to really go in with the mind-set of okay, no matter what I’m not giving up. That’s pretty much how we have to do it and it may take some time before you first get to that point before you actually start doing it. You can then apply for programmes and go to Nursing School. But you have to first come in with a long term approach because it’s not something that is short term. Even yesterday I was teaching one of my students, and she was telling me that she’s trying to become a registered nurse. She’s transitioning from Lpn to registered nurse. Now it’s been a lot of years since she has been out of school. She tried to apply for the boards and it took them a year just to get back to her, which is a long time, which is not acceptable. But I’m just saying that because you have to first go in with the long term focus. The second thing is, you need to be resilient and determined. Thirdly, you have to ask for help. I can recall several times when I was in the nursing school, where I wanted to quit because I was so independent minded. I have this tendency of thinking that ‘Let me just do everything myself’. But I had to look into going to office hours talking to the teacher, getting study groups, getting books. So, you have to know you cannot do this career called nursing by yourself. You have to really lean on other people to help support you and other resources to support you until you finish.
What are your hobbies?
I really love to write generally. I like writing books, but then I also really enjoy writing poems. I’ve written over 200 poems. but I haven’t put any of them into a book yet. So, I’m very passionate about writing. I’ve written a couple of songs, but nothing official. So, I’m a very creative arts type of person, so I’m very passionate about writing. I’m also passionate about business as well. I think that business is something that, if possible, everybody should do to some extent and then other hobbies as well. I like to do things that normal people like to do such as to go and eat out. I’m a big foodie, although I don’t look like it. I like to eat different foods and I also like to go to the movies and watch Television and that type of stuff and travel. I really enjoy traveling and seeing different places and those are probably the biggest things for me as far as hobbies are concerned.
After being away from Nigeria, your native country for so many years, you visited the country recently. What was your experience during the visit?
Well, it was a very interesting experience for me, to say the least. There’s a lot of new practices that I was exposed to during the visit, that I did not know before. There’s different types of regulations that they put into place now in Nigeria. I also feel the handling of everything is way more professional than it was 10 years ago. Way more professional things are more in order. Now. There’s also more things you’re more accessible to on the streets. You can go to these markets on the street and get a charger for your mobile telephone. You can get so many different things for your laptop and other handy gadgets. I have also learned more as far as the exchange rate in Nigeria is concerned. Inflation over there is extremely high. It is a much bigger problem that people are really complaining about. Our inflation is bad over there. Just realizing the value of the American dollar, when compared to Naira, the local currency, amount is hugely different. So that was very eye-opening for me. And then also the weather was way better than what when we have here in the United States right now, it is so hot. It’s terribly hot over here. The weather is Nigeria was cool in the 70s. It wasn’t even humid; it was really nice. The weather was wonderful. And then also the food is so good. That’s the number one that I missed the most. Yeah, the food is so good.
Thank you very much. I think that will be all for this media chat with us. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your time.
You are welcome. No problem. Thank you.
>> Pluboard shares business interviews from around the globe, featuring triumphs and setbacks, to help entrepreneurs learn and grow. We’d love our readers to hear your business story. Reach out through: info@pluboard.com
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