CGFNS question

bgkrider · Oct 13, 2001

If you already possess a Tennessee nursing license you should be able to apply for reciprocity to Michigan without taking any test. It should be just a matter of a fee and a little paperwork.

If you would like to talk about it more, you should probably write to me off the bulletin board because I work for a nurse recruitment company and further discussions might be deemed inappropriate by some.

Good luck.

Bruce Krider

([email protected])

lynnellirving · Oct 23, 2001

Hello Martha: If your TN license (I worked in Hermitage before our move to France, btw!) is still valid, you can apply for the Michigan license without the hassle of CGFNS test. Your Canadian license wouldn't even factor into the equation. Good luck to you. :)

YukonSean · Nov 4, 2001

I am wondering about the differences between CGFNS and WES credential evaluation services. It seems to me that the more populous states such as NY or CA ask for these services. Is there any advantage in one over the other? Is one more appropriate for university application, as compared to work licensure? Any replies would be appreciated.

JLP · Nov 16, 2001

Hi Martha. Yes, you still do have to write the CGFNS exam to obtain you Michigan license. I recently obtained my MI license. I am educated in Ontario (nursing-RN) and also wrote the NCLEX-RN for Minnesota but Michigan requires CGFNS before you apply for reciprocity (which I did). The CGFNS is written 3 times/year....next one is in November sometime, then March and July. They do have a website. http://www.cgfns.org

GOOD LUCK!

State of Michigan's website http://www.cis.state.mi.us/bhser/genover.htm:)

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Nov 16, 2001

i am also a canadian, and when i came from nova scotia to maine i was able to get a license through reciprocity with no problem.

however once i got here i got many letters from cgfns (a private company) saying that the regulations with immigration had changed and that i had to take their test ($400) in montreal, in order to be able to continue practising in the usa. apparently their test predicts the chance that you will be able to pass nclex.

so i thought to myself, why not just take the nclex here in maine? well the maine board of nursing would not allow me to register to take it because as far as they were concerned i had already passed it, through reciprocity. they had no problem with my license, in fact i had been practising for a year by the time i heard from them.

so i called ins and they said that the cgfns test was possibly in the works some time in the future, as a federal government requirement, along with toefl for all foreign grads.

stupid, sez i, because i am already licensed by my board, and being a profession nursing regulates it's own practitioners. along with the fact that i already speak english (see?) and i can prove i graduated from an english speaking university.

the guy at ins agrees with me, and we both figure it's a government thing. no use fighting it, so i'll probably have to take it anyway so i registered and off i went on the hottest day of the year, no ac, to montreal, and cgfns says they'll test me nursing wise and for english at the same time.

i passed nursing but they decided without telling us that they were not going to do the english part of the exam, and no refund. :(

i went back to maine fuming, butthat was 3 1/2 years ago and the law that was going to be passed so we had better get ready for it has not yet passed, and the guys at the border say they have not heard anything else about enforcing it.

i also know that the maine hospital association wrote letters to ins saying it was a damn stupid senseless requirement, so that may have something to do with it not being enforced.

but cgfns has my money, and i have the piece of paper that proves i jumped through their hoop. cgfns actually told me in the letters they sent that their test was a requirement at the time, when actually the law was in the works, but was not being enforced.

so i would not do anything on cgfns say-so, just go through the process of reciprocity state to state, and if you meet the requirements of the board let it be. cgfns is a private company in the business of making money, they don't seem to care about much else.

and i think that if one state has reciprocity with another, why not just apply to write the nclex, and get the existing reciprocity. they are offered more often, and at more convienent locations, for a cheaper fee.

JLP · Nov 16, 2001

canoehead

It is not that I wanted to write the CGFNS exam .....it is REQUIRED for licensure in the state of Michigan if you were educated in a country other than the USA. Believe me ....I never would have applied to write if I did not have to. Certain states still require CGFNS certification as well as NCLEX-RN before they will grant your license (if you are foreign educated). Canadians do not have to write the English part of the exam (only if from Quebec). The INS only requires license in the state of your job offer to obtain your TN visa, therefore they have nothing to do with CGFNS. If your license if granted in Michigan (and you are foreign educated) then the INS will see only the license and won't even know that CGFNS has been written.

Yes, the exam is very expensive but once written , that is it ....do not have to write again and basically gets you into all states (again...some states require it and some don't). The Michigan hospital I am employed with is working very hard to abolish CGFNS......it has been nothing more than a pain for the Canadian nurses trying to obtain employment within Michigan. You can apply for an initial temporary one-year Michigan RN license as well..must have an active Ontario (or other province) license. After one year, you are required to write CGFNS and NCLEX-RN.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Nov 16, 2001

If the purpose of CGFNS is to predict whether you will pass the NCLEX what is the point of writing both? Why not just do the NCLEX and get it over with?

Marthaj777 · Nov 30, 2001

Ok, now.... I am really confused... After reading a reply here I have to ask this... So.... A nurse educated in Ontario can get a 1 year temp license in Michigan before having to take the CGFNS test??? When I applied a few years ago, that option wasnt given to me... They told me that I had to take that exam before getting any license in Michigan... I so much with that Michigan would abolish that stipulation. How stupid is that???? CGFNS is to prepare you for the NCLEX but I have already wrote the NCLEX in Tn.. and have been practicing here for 6 years... I really want to get my license in Michigan because my family is in Ontario, and I want to be close to them...

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Dec 1, 2001

Have you called the Michigan Board of Nursing?

JLP · Dec 2, 2001

If you have already written the NCLEX then you still have to take the CGFNS but they have been talking about getting rid of it for the past year. Contact the Michigan Board of Nursing (517) 335-0918. They just started the Michigan temporary one year ago to help with the nursing shortage. Good luck. You could still work in Michigan while preparing to write the CGFNS.

Marthaj777 · Dec 2, 2001

There was another nurse that had posted in a forum at Delphi.... and get this.... CGFNS has deleted her file.... Now she has to pay more money to them to get her nursing credentials "verified" (cant think of the right word) and you know how they are... They take their own sweet time. I would be fumming. I hope Michigan does eliminate them.They are a worthless piece of sh--, that is only a money gimmick organization..