State license (Oregon)

P_RN, ADN, RN · Oct 12, 2010

How difficult was it for your fiance to find his Nursing job? That is if his career is Nursing that is. The NCLEX test is the same in all states wherever you take it.

You may have heard of compact states. Those are states where your license can be used in other compact states. Map of NLC States

There is a map an a better explanation there. You have to reside in the state where your original license is awarded and the state you use it in has to be a member of the compact. Good news Wisconsin is a compact state. Bad news Oregon is not.

There is a forum on allnurses for Oregon Nurses, you might want to look for opinions there. Good luck

nickos · Oct 12, 2010

Hi, OP!

I couldn't help but respond, as I lived in Wisconsin for my first 20 years and have been here in Oregon for my last 10. Although I am not a nurse (I have been a caregiver/CNA pretty much since I moved here), I do currently work in a hospital and would like to help you if I can. Where in Oregon do you think you might land? Portland? Eugene/Springfield area? Feel free to PM me :)

DogWmn · Oct 12, 2010

I think you should try closer to home for at least a year, you will be competing with Oregon new Grads and they will hire them first for the most part. Oregon has had a very high unemployment rate for a long time coupled with high cost of living and low wages...I was born and raised there and would love to move back but based on what I find it looks like it will be WA or ID.

Good luck to you both tho.

sincerebliss · Oct 12, 2010

How difficult was it for your fiance to find his Nursing job? That is if his career is Nursing that is. The NCLEX test is the same in all states wherever you take it.
You may have heard of compact states. Those are states where your license can be used in other compact states. Map of NLC States
There is a map an a better explanation there. You have to reside in the state where your original license is awarded and the state you use it in has to be a member of the compact. Good news Wisconsin is a compact state. Bad news Oregon is not.
There is a forum on allnurses for Oregon Nurses, you might want to look for opinions there. Good luck

So you're saying that if you're licensed in a state that's not a compact state and happen to move to one, you cannot transfer your license?

silverfox56 · Oct 12, 2010

Take heart, I applied and got an Oregon recently. Not hard or difficult, just jump thru the hoops!

I worked with the Providence group which is marvellous. I loved the state, gorgeous coastal scenery. I moved to the desert after 3 years and still miss the place badly. I even went back this summer to hike the Oregon Coastal Trail.

All is not lost, be brave and explore your world.

Good Luck

silverfox56 · Oct 12, 2010

Regarding your question of compact states. If you live in a state that is a compact state then you can move freely around all the other compact states. If you move to a state that is NOT a compact state then you have to apply for one. If you live in a state that is not a compact state then you again have to apply for one,,,, but then you can move around the other ones. Gee hope you understand that!!!!!

Up2nogood RN, RN · Oct 12, 2010

It's been very hard for new grads here in Oregon. You may have better luck in a rural area. There are jobs for experienced RN's in Portland but the hospitals just aren't hiring many new grads these days, and we have close to 10? colleges here in the metro area.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Oct 12, 2010

Hi, I'm the moderator for the Oregon Nurses forum along with this one, and I was going to move this thread to that forum; but I think I'll leave it here for now as there have been some good responses from multiple posters in different states. :)

Unfortunately, the job market here in OR is very tight right now even for experienced nurses, as I can personally attest. I was unemployed for two months this summer after being laid off essentially because I had knee surgery, and underemployed for two more before landing a fulltime position w/ benefits last week. (This was in LTC, which used to be one of the easiest types of nursing jobs to get.) Worse, the hospitals in my area (mid-Willamette Valley) tend to post what I call "ghost jobs"---the HR departments will often post a number of 'open' positions, but almost all of them are geared to employees who are already in the organization, and are posted publicly for seven days only because the employers are required to do so.

Salem Hospital does have some new-grad orientation programs, however, and if you're planning to locate here on the west side of the state, you may want to visit their website and look into their availability. It's a large hospital, some 400+ beds, and their floors are laid out really conveniently for the nursing staff (yes, I have a friend who works there, I've seen it, and was impressed). They are also a Magnet hospital, which may or may not have a great deal of meaning for you.

Good luck to you, and do keep us posted.

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Oct 12, 2010

As a new grad in Oregon the job market is awful.

Legacy ( 5 hospital system) was on a hirring freeze, they now have opened up thier residency program again. This summer when they were accepting applications it was 700+ applications 546 got interviews, and 60 got hired.

Oregon Health and Science has openings mainly for experinced nurses, I have 2 former class mates who were hired on the floor where they did their practicium

Providence (mutiple state system with 4 hosptials in the metro area) will not look at your app unless you have 1 year and a BSN, occassionally they will have a intern ship open so you just have to keep checking

Kasier ( 1 main hospital on east side of Portland, building a new hospital on the west side) wants you to have at least 9 months or complete an internship program only problem is they closed theirs.

Adventist (1 hospital) will hire new grads, however all their current open positions state 1-2 years required

Those are the hospitals in the Portland metro area

You didn't state where in Oregon you where looking to move to, as may be other areas in the state that are more new grad friendly.

Could you stay in your home state and get 3-6 months experience before moving to Oregon?

I work flu clinics just to get some kind of experince and one of the girls I worked with had moved to Oregon to be with her boyfirend.

She had told me the problem she has run into, that she went to a well known and respected University in her home state, it was unknown to facilities in Oregon

oregonmom · Oct 12, 2010

In southern oregon there is Asante and Providence. Not many jobs in Southern oregon, I live in a rural area and we have a 16% unemployment rate. Can't get called back for anything and I mean anything.

elkpark · Oct 12, 2010

Regarding your question of compact states. If you live in a state that is a compact state then you can move freely around all the other compact states. If you move to a state that is NOT a compact state then you have to apply for one. If you live in a state that is not a compact state then you again have to apply for one,,,, but then you can move around the other ones. Gee hope you understand that!!!!!

I know this is a little off-topic, but I wanted to respond because there is a lot of confusion and misinformation "out there" about the NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact). Having a license in a "compact state" (a state that is a member of the NLC) does not mean that you can "move freely around" the other compact states if you mean physically moving. You can use your "home" state compact license to work in any other compact state, but only as long as you maintain your permanent residence in your home state (maintain a home, pay property taxes, etc. -- however that state defines "residence"). If you move to another state to work, even another compact state, you have to apply for another license. If you move to a non-compact state, you retain your previous license, but it loses its "compact priviliges" and becomes just a regular, traditional license that is only good in that state and is not recognized by other compact states. If you move to another compact state, you have 30 days to apply for (and receive) a license in your new "home" state before your old license becomes invalid, because part of the compact agreement among the participating states is that you can only hold one "compact license" at a time, and it must be in your "home" state.

The easiest way to understand the NLC is that it works exactly the same as our drivers' licenses. Everyone understands perfectly well, with no confusion, that you can use your current, home state, driver's license to drive as far as you like, for as long as you like, anywhere in the US -- as long as you still live in your home state. If you move to another state, you have 30 days (or however long the state law says) to apply for a new driver's license in your new home state -- you can't just keep driving indefinitely on your old license. The only reason we're able to do that, and don't have to stop and apply for a new driver's license at each state line when you're driving cross-country, is that long ago, at the dawn of the Automobile Age, all the US states got together and signed a compact, an actual physical document like a treaty, agreeing to recognize each other's drivers' licenses temporarily for travel purposes. The NLC works exactly the same way, except that not all 50 states have chosen to sign (join) the compact.

The NLC really only matters to two groups of nurses -- a) travel nurses, and b) nurses who live close enough to the border between two adjoining compact states to live in one state and work in the other (e.g., I live on the border of my state and am currently working in the next-door state, which is also a compact state, on my "home" state license). For the majority of US nurses, the NLC doesn't have any impact at all.