Any Canadian RN Grads?

suzanne4, RN · Nov 24, 2005

2 bedroom in San Francisco is going to cost you $2000 plus per month. On average the one bedrooms are about $1500.

Be aware that it wiill take you minimum of six months after graduation before you will be able to work in the US. Not sure what the recruiters are telling you, but you cannot apply for licensure until after you have actually graduated and have a completed set of transcripts in hand. Then you need to write the NCLEX exam, as well as get a Visa Screen Certificate from CGFNS.

luilui_604, BSN, RN · Nov 26, 2005

here's a recent post that i wrote a few days ago!

I just moved to SF city a little over four months ago from Canada as a new grad with 8 months prior experience in med/surg....so far, my experience to live and work in this city has only been the best! As the other poster mentioned, i found www.craigslist.org to be a fantastic website, which i used to find my studio apartment that is just 3 blocks away from the hospital that i work at! my rent is $975 with garage parking, a very reasonable price in the city it literally takes me 3-4 minutes to walk to work :rotfl:

as a nursing student 2 years ago, i made a personal visit to SF and fell in love with the city....i knew i wanted to find a job there after i graduated. during my visit, i was proactive in calling different hospitals in order to talk to nurse recruiters. the recruiter from California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC, a Sutter Affiliate) was incredibly nice and helfpul, she even gave me a tour of the hospital and spent 1 hour answering all my questions! to make a long story short, i am now a proud L&D nurse working for CPMC.....the staff is amazing, friendly and very supportive to our learning. I couldn't have made a better choice to move to SF and work for this hospital. my hourly wage as a new grad nurse is $39/hr on days. I entered the L&D training program at this particular hospital, and it offered 12 weeks of preceptorship with classroom studies....like every nurse in a new specialty area, i was nervous and scared to start on my own..but i felt prepared with the training that i received

what area of nursing do you intend to work in after you graduate?

STFXNurse · Nov 26, 2005

Thanks luilui_604 for writing me back!

I am thinking of going into a Med/Surg floor first to get my skills underneath my belt and my confidence up and then eventually maybe go into a stepdown unit. This past summer I spent 10 weeks in ICU which I absolutely loved, but would like to work up to that.

Thank you for all the great info you provided me with! I am glad you like your job. I am talking with a recuriter ( Canadian Travel Nurse Agency) right now who has contacts in the San Fran area she seems very nice and is nurse herself and has done travel nursing.

Do you feel there is a benefit of going through a agency to find a job rather than researching hospitals on my own? Did you feel that working in Canada first before heading down to the states is something I should do? Do you find you are saving much money living in California?

I am very excited about graduating and also a little scared to start off on my own. I would be so apperciative if anyone could answer any of these questions!

Where are you from in Canada? I'm from the Maritimes, N.S girl!

suzanne4, RN · Nov 27, 2005

I suggest that you try and get some experience in Canada, as it will take at least seven months or so before you will be able to legally work in the US. It will take you that much time to apply for and pass NCLEX, as well as get your Visa Screen Certificate.

With a Canadian passport, you do not have any immigration issues, just need a letter forom your future employer as well as a Visa Screen Certificate, and you immediatley qualify for the TN Visa at the border.

You will find that you can usually do better on your own as a Canadian.

luilui_604, BSN, RN · Nov 27, 2005

Suzanne is absolutely right, it will take aprrox. 7 months from start to finish....while i was getting all the legwork done to process my Visascreen certificate, i gained 8 months of invaluable work experience during that time...in reality, it is very unlikely that you will be able to work in the U.S. right after you graduate because of all the paperwork and politics that is required in the processing of your applications

during my last months of nursing school, i also contacted a canadian nurse recruiter to find out what kinds of opportunities were out there....in the end, the recruiter couldn't offer me what i had hoped for. i wanted to move to SF by a certain time, and i was tired of waiting for the recruiter to find my "best match"....also, the only hospitals with positions that she offered me were areas outside of SF city, which wasn't want i wanted...i decided to do some research and found my current position :)

of course there are pro's and con's to using nursing agencies....the upside is that recruiters will often find you job opportunities with relocation benefits and sign on bonuses....but there's a catch, you have to sign a contract that is usually 1 or 2 years.... in my case, the hospital that i work for didn't provide any benefit packages because it receives enough local applicants that they dont' need to hire foreign nurses, another good thing was that i did NOT sign a contract to work X amount of years...one of my fears was to sign a contract and to later find out that i would dispise my job, the working conditions and staff--yet i would be legally binded to stay if i didn't want to pay back the costs of recruitment (ie. relocation costs to fly you to that city and etc)......these are all the things that i considered, and my ultimate decision was to go on my own, which i could never regret!

to answer your other question, i knew from the start that if i were to move to SF, it would be more of a learning experience than to save any money....the cost of living in SF city is extremely high, which is reflected by the salary that i am earning.......if you go out a little less and dont' mind being frugal sometimes, than i'm sure you can save money! i'm just trying to balance my quality of life and to save at the same time! feel free to ask any more questions! PS. im from vancouver, BC