suzanne4

Licensure and immigration are two very different items. Even if you possess a green card or a US passport, but have trained out of the US, you will have to meet these requirements for licensure. Nothing is waived for you. 1. You must have the CES report completed by CGFNS, their website is www.cgfns.org. They may take a little longer than some of the others, but their report is then accepted by all of the universities here as well as all of the states that require a credentials eval. Please get this done before submitting any actual application to Illinois for licensure. The CGFNS exam is no longer needed so no reason to want to write it for them. It will not get you a license and you are still required to write the NCLEX-RN for the license to practice in the US. 2. You are going to be applying for licensure as an RN in the state of Illinois, there is no such thing as applying for the NCLEX exam. The exam is only one step in the licensing process and you need to have permission to even sit for the exam. 3. When you send in your application, please make sure that all of the required information and documentation is submitted at the same time, or closely related. This means that the CES has been sent already or is ready to be sent in, as well as fingerprints are submitted at the same time as well. They are unable to do a thing without the CES report as well as the fingerprints and it should not be there responsibility to hold onto a file that is not complete. Many states are starting to return applications if all of the documentation asked for is not received in a very timely fashion. 4. If your nursing program was 100% in English and is documented as such on your transcripts, then you are exempt from the English requirement for Illinois. However, this does not waive the requirements for immigration and obtaining the Visa Screen Certificate. All of the specifics for licensure and what gets sent where can be found directly on their website including contact numbers for them if you need additional information from them. Thank you.

We will start this as a new sticky thread to give you ideas of what can be done and started in your country, and you can get credit for the experience. But it is going to involve work on your end to do it. This is not going to be used as a thread to make complaints about your government, but it is to be used as a source of what you can do to make things better for you as well as the patient population there. All of these things were started in other countries as there was a need for it and there is absolutely no reason that one of you could not create your own job. And actually do something in nursing to help someone. 1. Patient education with setting up training centers for new mothers, or teaching patients about their medications, providing education for any area of nursing. 2. Outreach programs, such as what was done or should have been completed when you were in your nursing program. These all started from nothing and with minimal expense. 3. Parish nursing,. All churches should have something in place; even for just blood pressure checks, etc. 4. Hospice nursing. This started by individuals and now is a thriving area of nursing. 5. Outpatient clinics on islands where there is little to no medical care. Please feel free to add to the list here...................... And use this thread only for listing things that can be done.

we are seeing more and more new grads begin their posting history here with using titles in their user name that they have not earned. graduating from a nursing program does not give you the title of rn or lvn/lpn. that is conferred only upon passing of the nclex exam here or the equivalent in another country. please do not use the title rn, lpn,lvn, or nurse if you have not taken and passed the licensing exam. this is per the terms of service that you agreed to abide by when you signed up as well as per the requirements of each and every board of nursing in the us. we do not permit one to use other degrees that they have not earned as well, such as crna or cnm or np in their user name if something else is not added to make sure that one would not assume that they have actually earned the right to use that distinction. thanks for your understanding on this. the moderators edited 11/16/2008 please do not change your user name to include nurse in it until you have actually taken and passed either of the nclex exams or an exam or hold licensure in another country. graduating from a univeristy and having a degree in nursing is not the same as holding a license. and this is what is required by every bon in the us. being a graduate nurse is not having a license, you are working under the license of another nurse, therefore you should not be using the designation nurse here as well until the exam is passed and you have an actual license number that is issued to you. i am updating this to make this point. thank you for your understanding on this. please reread the tos of this site and the section called user names if you have any questions. suzanne4

And if you take the time to do some reading on this forum, you will see that many have posted about usins another company and later on wishing to move and then finding out that their new state requires the CES, but does not accept it from one of the other companies that they have used. All that require the CES, will accept the one from CGFNS, but not all of them accept them from the smaller companies. So you can end up paying much more in the end. Easier to get it done where it will be accepted all over to begin with, and with the full course study in case she ever decides to go on with her education. There has already been much discussion on this very same topic on this forum.

Thread moved to the International Forum since it is not related to the NCLEX exam. I always prefer www.scottsenglish.com and have seen great results with them. They are based out of Australia and you can do their program on-line.

The UK is now under a hiring freeze, that is the point that I was trying to make. Things have changed significantly in the last two years in the UK, as well as across the entire EU. Thanks for your understanding on this.

Thought that I would post a few tips that should be at the top of your list when looking for a travel company and what should be in the contract. 1. If it is not in writing, then it does not exist. It does not matter what your recruiter promises, they do not have the authority to make special offers to you. All contracts are signed off on by the head of the company or the official that can sign the contract to make it official. Anything else that is not written in that contract just does not exist. 2. Check out what the per diem pay is in the area that you are choosing. Your pay should be similar to that, not significantly lower, and should be in at least the same range when living expenses such as rent are added in. Anything significantly different and your agency is taking money that should be yours, not theirs. There are quite a few of them that hope that the nurse is not aware of this. 3. Housing deductions need to be compatible with that area. Not that you are getting $3000 for housing and the apt is only $600 per month. erd flags go off and then you are responsible for the taxes on that other money. 4. Sharing an apt with another traveler does not get you the full deductions on expenses as they are being shared and that leaves you subject to taxes on what was not spent towards the housing by you. 5. Do your research on the agency, the facility, as well as the area. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. These are a few of the prime issues that I am seeing pop in many of the threads that I have been reviewing today. I will be adding to this as the need arises or will make it more helpful for you. I have also taken over as the new Super Moderator for this forum, as well as the Agency Forum, so feel free to post questions to me as needed. I have years of experience in both of these areas. Regards, Suzanne4

There are no working visas available, they just do not exist. The only avenue is the green card for you to work legally in the US. No shortcuts to that.

A Bachelor's degree in palliative care is not equivalent to the BSN in the US and will not give you the same title. The US wants the generalist training in all areas, and will not consider it the same as the BSN.

Since I get asked this quite often, thought that I would set this up as a sticky to have. If this works out well, then perhaps we can set up a sticky with all of the states for a current list and update it as needed. Think that it would make it easier for all to find things.

Over and over again, the moderators here have posted about not going thru CA for initial licensure, especially if you do not have a SSN#. You do not see you name posted on the website for the BRN, as you will not be issued a license until you are in the US and have a visa that will permit you to work. It also takes about four weeks for you to receive your results out of the US, via regular air-mail. And the letter just informs you if you passed or did not pass; nothing more. And since a license is not issued, then you cannot endorse to another state with that procedure. As many of you are aware, CA gives you three years to present them with a SSN#, or your file is destroyed and you start all over again. For those of you that decided to go with CA anyhow, you can apply to another state for licensure by examination while you still have a valid file with CA, and have them forward the results, and then get a license that way. Make sure that the new state issues a license without a SSN#. Suggest that you do not do that until it has been over two years of waiting, until you know what will be happening with visas. Right now, you are looking at several years wait, depending on place of birth, for a chance to get to the US to work, there are no guarantees anymore; no matter what an agency tells you. They do not have anything to do with what USCIS does, and the fact that there are still more applicants than there are visas per year available. We tell you things here for a reason, to help you. It does not make a difference to me as to what someone does, but when they come back later on when things are not working as they wanted, then it is time for me to say something. And this has been happening over and over again lately. Best of luck to all of you, but please take the time to do some further reading before sending in one application for licensure. There is no application for the NCLEX exam, there is no such thing. In the past, a few years ago, CA and NY were the only states that did not require the CGFNS exam; but that has changed significantly over the past couple of years, where only four do not require it out of all in the US. Things have changed and are always changing, recommend that you always check with the website for the BON/BRN that you are interested in. They can change requirements, and they do change requirements.

If you are not working in a hopital in the Philippines, then these classes will not help you at all. The BLS offered in PI is not accepted in other countries, nor is the IV certification. If you do not use the skills that you have learned in the IV course, then you will become rusty. You know that saying : If you do not use it, you lose it. Save your money.

Since we are all aware that there is a retrogression in place, and that it will be sometime before many of you will get to the US, lets come up with ways that can make things better for you working in your country. What do you think could be done to make things better? What if you were creating your own facility, what would you like to see done? Or not done? What work conditions would make things better for you? What do you think that you could be instrumental in getting changed? This is actually how we do things in the US and get to best practice status? Why should it not work where you are now?

Sorry, but if the nurse is not going to work there, then they have to go thru the License by Endorsement process. And that can take much time and money. If this poster is going to be working in Texas, he is not going to be able to get around the requirements of the state where he will be living. You still need to take and pass the NCLEX exam. It is not just a simple process, there is much more to it than you even know about. Please take the time to do some reading here.

CGFNS has to request the documents from your school, if they are received without the letter from CGFNS, then they will be rejected. This is per the requirement of NY, not CGFNS. If you train overseas as an RN, you still need to go thru the CVS process. Even if additional coursework in done in the US. No way to waive that requirement. -------------------------- No other organization or agency can do an evaluation of your credentials for NY. They accept the CVS only. The only way around that is to work in a neighboring state to NY, and commute, such as CT or NJ, or even PA. No other way.