Hi Everyone. I have lived in MN most of my life but about a year ago became a WI resident. I live across the bridge(s) from Duluth in Superior. I work full time at a non-profit but am looking to get into nursing (slowly but surely!). I am hoping to soon get my CNA and then start on PreReqs for nursing school which will hopefully be at St. Scholastica (in their Post BA Certificate program - I have a BA in Psych). My first question is does anyone have experience working in one state and living in another. I assume it makes sense to get my CNA in MN if that's where i expect to work. Since there are more facilities in Duluth that's what I think would be the smartest. However I don't know if there's any legal issues that your license has to be in the state where you live. Or is it at all possible to have a dual license? I would assume not but I know sometimes MN and WI have reciprocity or other special arrangements due to close proximity. I haven't found anything about CNA licences though.
Also since I already have a BA does it make any sense to just get my Associate RN degree? I know the pay his higher for a BSN (which is essentially what you have when you finish St. Scholastica) but I don't know if it's worth the very high cost of the program. I went to a small liberal arts college and so I think the atmosphere of their small program would be nice but it's extremely expensive and intensive.
I didn't read through all these posts completely, so I apologize if this has been said already. MN and WI do not have reciprocity anymore, as of summer '09. If you take your CNA in WI, you CAN work in MN, but if you take your CNA class in MN, you CANNOT work in WI. WI upped their hours for the class, so MN is 40 hours less than WI now. So if you think you may want to work in WI at some point, take your CNA class there. I took mine in MN because that's where I'm attending school for my LPN, but that was a bad move, because I cannot work in WI. There is a home just a few miles from my house in WI that I want to work at, but I would have to take the entire course over and pay for it and the test again.
Busia
169 Posts
I didn't read through all these posts completely, so I apologize if this has been said already. MN and WI do not have reciprocity anymore, as of summer '09. If you take your CNA in WI, you CAN work in MN, but if you take your CNA class in MN, you CANNOT work in WI. WI upped their hours for the class, so MN is 40 hours less than WI now. So if you think you may want to work in WI at some point, take your CNA class there. I took mine in MN because that's where I'm attending school for my LPN, but that was a bad move, because I cannot work in WI. There is a home just a few miles from my house in WI that I want to work at, but I would have to take the entire course over and pay for it and the test again.