CGFNS certified US RN license by endorsement in a non-compact US state

[CRN2014]

Greetings, fellow nurses!

I just wanted to get some thoughts regarding my situation.

I went thru CGFNS certification program back in late 1990s (took about 2 years). The process included eval of basic nursing education credentials (Ukraine), equivalency eval, TOEFL exam, CGFNS nursing knowledge exam (pencil and paper then), and CGFNS issued certificate of my eligibility for NCLEX-RN. With all the above completed, I qualified to take NCLEX, passed it, and was licensed in my state of residency (US). I practiced for over 10 years in a hospital acute setting, got my BSN from a US university, and then moved to a neighboring state that is not a compact state for my current license.

I need my RN license for the state where I live now, but after reading the licensure by endorsement application form, I realized that in the basic education section I have to include that my basic nursing education was in another country and was not taught in English. In this case, the application form refers me to the part for foreign educated nurses with language of instruction other than English. The instructions include going thru CGFNS, English proficiency testing, foreign nursing education documents submitted directly from the nursing school back in the old country where I haven't been in over a decade, etc Reading all this gave me a major anxiety attack, since I already went thru this process with CGFNS and got licensed in the US.

I called CGFNS, explained the situation, and the customer service rep said that I need the CES program. I am really confused, what was the purpose of me doing the CGFNS thing back in the 90s? Is it now another way to get more money out people? I already have current US RN license based on the CGFNS cert, I have practiced for many years, earned my US BSN in the meantime, and now, when I need to get licensed in another state, I have to do all this all over again?? Just thinking how difficult and most likely impossible that would be, considering that my basic nursing education was in the 80s, and my original nursing school doesn't even exist any longer to submit anything to anybody, it sounds like I may not even be able to get the license that I need??

Apparently there are some changes with CGFNS process comparing to 1990s, including online account sign up and access where I can check out my info. The problem is that my cert with CGFNS was in the "paper and pencil" day and age (before 2003),so some documents are not even available. There is only my certification status (certified) and dates.

If BON needs anything submitted from whomever it needs to come from, all my original paperwork is pretty much ancient history. I went to CGFNS a few years ago for my education-related purposes and was told that they didn't have documents that old.

Am I stuck? Should I send BON the fee check and try to apply anyway?

I apologize for the long message... Has anybody had to deal with a similar issue? Any suggestions/ideas?

I appreciate any feedback!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

CES report is just a breakdown of your transcripts. It is not an exam and usually the documents you supplied for CGFNS exam can be used for CES report. If you want to be licensed in a new state you really have no choice but to meet requirements of International trained nurse. At least you do not have to resit NCLEX