Moving to California

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 28, 2005

Hi!

Once you have your LPN/LVN in another state all you need to do is apply for reciprocity in California. All states have a reciprocity procedure. Since traveling nurses came into being the process has become much faster. What you're looking for is the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians at http://www.bvnpt.ca.gov/osfacts.htm where you will find the Fact Sheet for Out of State Licensed Applicants. This web page will tell you every thing you want to know about getting a California LVN license if you are already licensed in another state. That should help you with your planning.

The other good place to start is http://www.cccco.edu/find/find.htm (I found it by doing a search for California State Colleges). It is the home page of the Chancellor of the California State College system. Over on the right side of the web page there is a link to a listing of all the state supported colleges. Check it out. There is a link to each college website. Each college has their college catalog on line and you can read through it with Acrobat Reader for the information you are looking for about nursing programs. Applications for each school are also on line. They have been working very hard to transition a lot of the various programs of study from JCs right on into the university bachelor programs. You should be able to find every thing you have questions about from the comfort of your computer screen. You should be able to access all this information very easily with just a couple of mouseclicks.

I am pretty sure that the JCs have LVN to RN transition programs because I hear them talked about. I do not know what the going wage is for LVNs here, but I think you can find that information very cleverly by checking out the job postings on line. Some of the big hospitals will list pay ranges for their open positions.

RE: finances. . .the California state supported JC's have started charging tuition, but it's only $26 or $28 a unit. LVNs are working here. If you are a nursing student you can get a job as a nurse tech with the help of your nursing instructors.

MQ Edna · Jun 11, 2005

I am also in Houston, TX and have contemplated going to California. I'm an LVN and doing the LVN to RN transition right now in Houston. Once you get your LVN in houston, all you have to do is contact the state board for California (The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technitions). You can email them from their website. Request a license transfer packet and they'll email you a big packet of legal mumbo jumbo to fill out. Once you get that done you can have your LVN license California as well.

In Cali once you have your LVN, you can go through a 30 unit hour LVN to RN transition program. This is about half the length of a regular program like you would have here so it takes about 6 months. But you do NOT graduate from the college, so you can sit for the RN boards but you cannot leave the state of California as an RN. If you plan to stay in Cali forever this might be a thought.

If I were you, I would go straight for your RN. #1 THE PAY! #2 you do the SAME job almost #3 respect.....nothing's worse than going back to school to get your RN and doing all the same work all over again, and being told a million times every day how RN's are professionals and LVN's are not.

stevierae · Jun 11, 2005

Actually, yes, I would encourage you to go straight for a 2 year AA in nursing--that is, an RN program.

In CA, not to be argumentative, but LVNs and RNs are NOT doing the same job, so I am glad you added the word "almost." In some areas, yes, there are overlapping roles and nursing responsibilities--HOWEVER, there is one huge difference--and that is that LVNs in CA are not allowed to ASSESS patients. This is one reason that LVNs cannot substitute for RNs in the mandated RN to patient safe staffing ratios--not even for breaks or lunches--if that would mean there are not enough RNs left on the floor to meet safe staffing ratios. AB 394 (the safe staffing act) and the CA Nurse Practice Act spell it out very clearly. In fact, in CA, there is the BRN--Board of Registered Nursing--which makes the rules for RNs. LVNs are regulated by an entirely different body.

LVNs can, I am told, REASSESS---that is, evaluate nursing interventions--according to JCAHO. How one can reassess if they aren't allowed to assess in the first place, particularly if they are "evaluating" another professional's (that is, the RN's) initial nursing assessment, care plan and interventions is beyond me, and I don't even know if it's necessarily true, or just an argument used by managers who want to cut costs by not following AB 394 and The CA Nurse Practice Act as written. It'll all catch up with them if it isn't true----it always does when institutions choose to flout the rules, thinking they don't apply to them.