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Discussion

Help me!

Hi, I have a question: I'm new in CA and I'm RN in my country, I worked alomost 10 years in a emergency hospital, but now I don't have the CA RN License. Do I have a chanse to work here in CA until I will pass the RN exam?

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    • Featured Replies

    Contact the CA Board of Nursing. They can answer all of your questions better than anyone on this forum.

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    • Expert

    Where are you from?

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    I will venture to say that no, you will not be able to work in the US without a valid US RN license.

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    The answer is no, you will not be able to work as an RN until you have a license.

    Go to the CA BON web site - they have all the information you need to apply (i.e., forms). You will have to contact the school where you trained as an RN for transcripts, as well as transcripts for any other relevant qualifications; you also need letters of recommendation.

    Once the BON has all the information they need, they will decide if you have the US equivalent in terms of RN training and clinical experience, and give you the go ahead to sit the NCLEX. You also need a police check and of course, a green card or work permit if you are not a citizen. The process took me almost two years!

    If English is not your first language, you might have to prove fluency - a test I think.

    Good luck!

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    • Author

    Thanks for answers,appreciate!

    I'm from Romania.

    I have:work permit,SSN, ID.

    My school from Romania sended already the transcripts and everythings to BON.

    I was at Adult School and now I applied to College for 1 year ESL.

    But in this time I can't work any position in hospital ? Because I want to see the differences (european hospital-american hospital) until I will receive the CA RN License!

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    But in this time I can't work any position in hospital ?

    Any position? Not as a nurse but transporter? Housekeeping? Maybe in food service?

    I don't see why you can't apply for non-nursing jobs.

    Go in and talk to human resources and even nurse recruiters.

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    • Author

    Sorry-any position in nursing!

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    • Expert

    You cannot work as a nurse without a state nursing license. That is true in any US state.

    As SandyB noted, if you want to get inside a hospital to see how US hospitals work, there are lots of jobs in hospitals that aren't nursing jobs and don't require a license. They don't pay as well as nurse positions, but they pay a lot better than no job at all. :)

    However, you will have to have a state nursing license to work as a nurse.

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    • Author

    Please, tell me about the volunteering, because I applied at Kaiser but after a month they told me that are many people who wait on a list and the process will be 3-4 months!

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    • Author

    Thanks for every answer! Appreciate!

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    • Author

    Can I work as caregiver ?

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    Can I work as caregiver ?

    Really the CA Board of Nursing will be your best bet to understand what you can and can not do in the state of California.

    Best of luck to you!!!

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