Moving to Seattle from Australia

Hi! We are in the Seattle area, and it is pretty decent. I have no idea how to go about getting licensed, I believe you might have to take our national licensing exam, the NCLEX. I would call up the WA board of nursing and speak with them. You usually have to provide your school transcrips and all before they will allow you to take the test.

As for where to work, check the newspapers online want ads for smaller places, or craigslist, and all the hosp websites. I believe that they all only take online applications at this point.

good luck!

glad we have sun for you!

Hey Trisanah!

I'm glad i've finally found someone that is in a very similar situation as me. I arrived in Seattle at the end of last year from Melbourne. I graduated from Latrobe University. I didn't get a chance to work in Aus because of the move. My application for registration was denied yesterday because my degree didn't cover pediatrics and obstetrics as core subjects. You might end up in a similar situation. I've been scrambling to look for colleges that offer just these subjects without having to do a full program.

Let's keep in touch!

Hi Trisanah!

Welcome to Seattle. I just moved here from Atlanta and before that I was in London,UK. Were did you move from?

You have to take the State Board exam- Nclex exam, but before they even let you do that, they will need to get quite a bit of information from your School. This includes specific hours you spent in specific areas of Nursing. I went through a lot of hoops before I eventually passed the test. It is quite difficult depending what Country you graduated from. But you can do it!

You will need to go to the Washington State DOH website - http://www.doh.wa.gov/Home.aspx


I suggest you call them and ask all your questions. Good luck.

Let me know how it goes and I will give you a list of some great study materials.

Hello again TRISANAH!,

Take a look at this link. It has all the information you need: https://www.ncsbn.org/171.htm

Hi, I stumbled on this thread after doing a google search, I may be moving to Seattle next year from Sydney with two years of experience. Were you able to register?

Hey everyone

I know this is a late reply but I am an Australian Div 1 RN from Melbourne and have gone through the whole process of registering here in the states. I also had to make up classes in Obstetrics. Got lucky on the Paeds because I knew I was moving here while still in Uni and took paeds as my final year elective.

Anyway let me know if you need any advice still! At times it will seem hopeless but stick in there and it is possible to register here...
Albeit it is tedious, expensive and time consuming!

-Mina

Advice would be great, I am going to have to do both peads and OB, how much did it cost and how long was the course if you don't mind me asking? Also is finding a job hard?

hey

I did OB through Deakin in Melbourne. The course co ordinator is very helpful with advice. The course spans about a semester so you could def. do both peds and ob at the same time within a semester. It isn't anything very challenging, just time consuming. It's all online with an online exam and a few written assignments (a few case studies, a professional journal and a literary review from what I can remember). I was able to do it with a newborn baby!

A word of warning you have to organise the clinicals yourself ( I needed 2 weeks, so i'm assuming you would need approx 4 weeks but this varies from state to state how many hours you will need! ) which I found to be a huge pain. It was very very difficult to get in. I ended up finding a hospital that would have me but I ended up having to pay extra money on top of Deakin's fees to facilitate their clinical teacher. Deakin will not organise these for you!

All up it cost a few thousand dollars which is just for the OB. But if you are serious about working in the states then it's worth it. I have heard some rumors that certain states don't accept the course any more but I had no problems with CGFNS and Hawaii.

In terms of finding a job you should not have too much trouble the demand for RN's is always there depending on the area you live in.

Good Luck and let me know if you have any other questions. This whole process took me a few years so I know how frustrating and annoying it can be!

Hi Mina, a few years! That is longer than I thought it would take. How long did it take to study OB in the States? I heard from someone else that they found an American college that will charge $2300 for combined paeds and OB, no idea how long it takes though. Also how did you find the NCLEX? I did some practice questions and it seemed very similar to the 3rd year final exam I did. Thanks for your help.