Nursing license denied by California

[superveronica]

I am starting this thread to find out if anyone has run into problems with the California Registered Nursing Board. If you have, could you please give me some advise as to what I should do.

First I have a 4 year BSN (with honors) from Canada. I have written and passed, on the first try, the NCLEX-RN and the CRNE (Canadian Registered Nurse EXAM). I am a Registered nurse in 1 canadian province and in Nevada and Alaska. I have been working in a Nevada hospital for a while and have experience in both countries.

My husband, who is in the US military, has beed transferred to California. I have been trying to get my RN license in California for 4 months and I keep getting denied with "you don't have enough hours in obstetrics and pediatrics to qualify for a license."

What I don't understand is that I do have hours in pediatrics and obstetrics but it was during my community clinical and not in a clinical specifically called "obstetrics." I spent 160 hours assessing newborns (obstetrics) and immunizing infants and preschool children (pediatrics) in the community.

I've asked my school to send a letter to the nursing board to clarify this as they refused to look at my coursework when I brought it into the board. they still denied me even after the letter was written.

They told me that I should take two classes here in California to make up the hours. Okay I thought, I'll give in and do what they want. I called up about 20 schools on their list within 100miles from where I live and got the same response; you can not just take two classes, you have to be registered in the program full or part time, from the beginning, in order to do clinical.

I went to the nursing board again to talk to them about the impossible task they've given me. My licensing agent said "yes it's hard to get in to do classes, that's why we give you 3 years to do it, try university of Phoenix." So I called the university of Phoenix, same response, they just told me to do my NP, which will qualify me to work in California and I can get it in 2 years.

I am so incredibly frustrated that I don't know what to do. I have been commuting to Nevada to work one weekend a month so we have a little extra income but I can't keep driving 8 hours to work!!!

HELP!!

p.s. they will not let me do the hours at work, it has to be done though a school. My current hospital offered to send me to obstetrics and pediatrics as a clinical.

[westcoastlife]

I am not the original poster, but I went through the exact same situation when my significant other took a job in California. (Canadian RN with licenses in other US states and was denied by California for OB and Peds)

I didn't want to do the classes in Canada or another state for fear of being denied again by California. So I contacted every school on that list that the BRN sends you, and after much frustration, got into a school to complete those two classes. The classes were exactly the same as the classes I did in Canada....but in the end you just need to complete them. So, @Aziafch it is doable

[Aziafch]

Thanks @westcoastlife. I am noticing here that a lot of Filipino RNs have to show record of clinical cases (5 major/5 minor/5 deliveries/5 assisted deliveries/ 5 cord dressings). I also note that this is not a requirement of the schools listed on the California Board of Nursing website. Are they simply asking for these cases because they want proof that they were concurrent with their theory courses as indicated on their transcripts? Would they ask this of an RN educated in Canada, where this is not a requirement for graduation per our boards of nursing? I was lucky enough to be a part of a few deliveries, but I know that RNs in Canada and the US have "clinical shifts" in Maternity Wards etc. It does not always guarantee that we will have actually delivered lol. In my maternity rotation I mostly cared for women in active labour and some post labour. We did cord care but we did not have specific "cases" that were kept by the school.

[westcoastlife]

They require a copy of your transcript and an additional form that just breaks down your lecture, lab and clinical hours. It is all based on hours breakdown that the school submits to them not how many deliveries you have done. Plus in Canada or the US, you would never do a delivery yourself.