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No matter where you get your credits, the only thing that the various State Boards look at is where you graduated from. Nursing is one of those sets of degrees where each school is protective of their own method. Now the school in St. Kitts might take a lot of transfer credits from other schools, but they might take them as "elective credit" rather than 1:1 replacement of core classes. The same might also be true of CSU. If you plan to graduate from a US school, make sure you find out exactly what they accept transfer-wise from other schools. On the other hand, if you're taking the NCLEX in NM, our laws specifically grant access to NCLEX testing from graduates of recognized international programs. You will have to prove that your education was in English, though and that the program accreditation is appropriate. Other states may or may not honor your NM license, however, if your education was not handled in the US. I don't know the law in any other state yet, because I've not tried transferring my license yet.

The best luck I've had finding jobs online is through http://www.indeed.com. They don't list their own, but they scour other job-list sites and link them. It seems many places hiring LPNs and CNAs don't post to the big job-sites, and unless you know what you're looking for or you're already in a particular system you miss a lot of the jobs posted on the little sites around here. Bonne chance!

Not sure if you're settled in NM already, since I'm new to the forums. In Albuquerque, the Maxim agency takes LPNs, and I too have found it difficult to find LPN listings on internet searches. I know St. Catherine is looking for LPN staff, their patient load is way too high for someone with very little experience like me, but they might be an option for you. They're long-term care. They also seem to be running 8-hour shifts, which I've not seen a lot of other places. Hope this helps even a little. O! and welcome to the land of enchantment if you're already settled in!

Hello all! I'm a fresh-off-the-press LPN currently living and attempting to find a solid, permanent job in Albuquerque.

I did some of my pre-reqs at UNM, but I was daunted by the competitive entry to the BSN program. I'm planning on going back for the RN-BSN bridge if I'm still in this town a couple years from now.

If Apollo has it's BSN up and running, it's an RN-BSN program, so you'd need to get the ADN first. Pima and Apollo can get you in right away for that (provided you pass entrance exams). CNM is a 2 year wait for guaranteed ADN entry, but they do have classes to train you as a CNA while you wait to learn nursing. UNM can take you from nothing to BSN, but they have competitive entry, and if you didn't graduate with a 4.0 on your first Bachelor's, it will really hurt your chances. ITT wasn't advertising a nursing program when I started in '07, so I'm betting they have a very new program, or an RN-BSN bridge. New programs are extremely frustrating because their curriculum, scheduling, and faculty can change suddenly and with very little warning. Also, new programs may not be fully accredited and can be excessively demanding. I went through Apollo as one of their early classes. It was tough, but with luck a lot of the hurdles my class had to jump have been removed. It's also important to know that CNM and UNM have priority for clinical sites, making scheduling rough for Apollo and Pima. Apollo will try to take your transfer credits for prerequisites, but core nursing classes really don't transfer from one school to another. I don't know about Pima. Hope this helps!