StudentRS

Thanks for the info! That's sort of what I'm expecting for pay based on 4yrs for me depending where I go (maybe I can get a bit higher in the major cities), however I was not aware Florida does not have state taxes. The cost of living seems to be cheaper there as well, so despite being paid much less it may work out to be somewhat comparable considering the high cost of living and higher taxes where I am.

I have worked in both countries and applied for a license in Michigan a year after graduating. My intention was to apply by endorsement to California, so you if change your mind about New Mexico and consider Cali I'm not sure if it's worth the money to apply as they didn't deem my BScN as being up to their educational standards and denied me a license. Anyways, my experience in Michigan was not good. Less pay than here in Ontario (although cost of living in Michigan and other places in the US is cheaper than here and your income is taxed less), hospital was very short staffed and they fired nurses over insignificant incidents (I was mandated to work 16hr shifts overnight because of sick calls), patient admissions/discharges were driven by profit from their insurance as opposed to suitability of that patient for our hospital (worked in psych, this led to many assaults and a patient killing another patient), healthcare benefits weren't very good (you have some coverage, but there is a co-pay for everything so you basically still pay for healthcare), and there are guns everywhere down there. I don't know if it's because I'm from a small city in Canada, but that was unsettling for me and working in psych you actually see how many people who have access to firearms that are mentally unstable. If you truly want to work in the US, it is worth it for experience, travel, taking advantage of shopping and cheap wine (haha), but if it's just something you want to have "in case" you want to work there don't bother until you are sure. You have to pay state licensure fees, NCLEX fees, CGFNS fees, and other additional fees depending on the state then to upkeep your license many states require continuing education hours plus the usual renewal fee. It wasn't difficult to get a TN visa, but the process for licensure can be long depending on the state so I would only go for it if you are serious, or if you have a few years experience in a specialty go through a travel agency so they can assist you with the process and find assignments for you in your state of choice. I am considering applying for a Florida or Hawaii license soon. To live in a warmer climate and enjoy the outdoors more outweighs the cons of some of the US working conditions for me.

Hi there, I am thinking about moving to Florida in about a year and wondering if anyone can give me an idea of the RN wages there and job availability. I have my BScN and will have 3 yrs psychiatric nursing experience and 1.5-2 yrs operating room experience by that point. I have left the psych field and will be looking to work in the OR. Right now looking at anywhere in south Florida or Tampa area. Any info would be very much appreciated, thanks! :)

Yeah that is true. I contacted some schools and spoke to someone at the BRN and basically the only course I could take is one that is a semester and a half long and it would cost me $4600 in tuition. So, it's not really worth it when I can easily get licensed elsewhere, like Arizona for example. I still find it strange that there is no post-graduation courses at any schools for nurses to get certified in a specialty. I wonder how nurses specialize down there and get certified to work in some fields.

Or would a travel nurse agency be able to help me with this issue? I know and have heard of lots of Canadian RNs who have gone to California to work as travel nurses, how did they get their licenses? Or would I have been denied a license regardless? I may contact an agency just to find out!

I'd just like to say to those who criticize people who are being told they have deficiencies in their education by the CA BON that it is not necessarily the case that they chose a school with "inadequate" education. I am Canadian and completed my BScN at one of the largest universities in North America located in Toronto. I still was told I am deficient in obstetrics hours, which makes no sense because I wasn't deficient in psych and they have exactly the same number of theory and clinical hours. It's obvious the CA BON is rejecting foreign applicants for any petty reason and picking apart our nursing education because they don't want to give out licenses to foreigners who will compete with US citizens for jobs. I passed the NCLEX and am licensed and working in Michigan. I could probably attain a license and work in most US states, and despite that along with my education CA will still reject me because of this "deficiency".

Hello, I am a Canadian RN licensed and working in Michigan. I have applied to California by endorsement, but they have informed me my nursing education is deficient in clinical and theory hours in obstetrics so until I make up those deficiencies they cannot grant me a license. The Cali BON wants me to take an obstetrics course at an accredited nursing school IN California, I cannot take it elsewhere unfortunately. My issue is that I have contacted universities and colleges and it does not seem possible to just take an individual obstetrics course out of an entire RN degree program. In Canada, you can take post-graduation courses at a college that will certify you in a specialty such as OR, ER, ICU, and so on. This also includes postpartum. Does anyone know if post-graduation specialty courses are offered anywhere in California and where? Or if there is a way I can take an obstetrics course to make up these hours at all? I am definitely not interested in going back to school for an entire degree program just for this. Any help would be great, thanks!

Hello, I am experiencing essentially the same problem. I am a Canadian RN and my goal is to be licensed in California. I could not apply though with a SSN, so I got licensed in MI, got a job, and once I got my SSN I applied to California by endorsement. California denied my license because of deficiencies in my nursing education, which is a 4 yr BScN, in obstetrics. The letter indicated the only way I will get my license to is make up for the deficiencies by taking an obstetrics course at an accredited nursing school IN California. Problem is, I am having a very difficult time finding a school where I can take a course. So no, applying by endorsement will not get you a license because they still hold the same requirements as if you were applying by examination. All I can say if find out what those "deficiencies" are and see if you can find a course in Cali that will make those up.

I already have written the NCLEX and gotten my visascreen. Forgot to include that in there that I need to bring the visascreen too. I'll probably just bring everything I can think of just in case. I don't want to get denied and have to try again when I don't have very much time. Thanks! :)

Hello, I am a Canadian RN and currently live and work in Ontario. I was just offered a job in Michigan today and must move there in the next two weeks before orientation starts. I have been trying to find out exactly which documents I need to present at the border in order to get my TN or I-94 or whatever it is work permit I need. Everything on the web is very confusing and there's no real official site outlining all of this. I even bought and downloaded this application kit for $60 and it's all just general information and doesn't actually tell me what I need to bring. I know I need a letter from my employer, my nursing licenses for ON and MI, passport and probably other identification, and my nursing school diploma. Do I need official transcripts from university? What about my high school diploma and/or transcripts? Do I need anything else? Any information from someone who has done this or knows anything about it would be very very helpful! :)

I will check it out, thank you!

Hello, I am a Canadian RN living and working in Ontario and looking for work in Michigan. I'm just wondering if anyone has anyone suggestions as to safe/nice areas to live and work in. I'm a young female that will be living alone. I've never been to Michigan and am not familiar with the cities- except the bad rep Detroit has. Any tips would be very much appreciated :)

Another thought- it would probably be quicker or the same length of time to go the nursing route as opposed to research. By the time you would even get an employer to hire you in research, sponsor you for a visa, and receive the visa to work there you would likely already have a California nursing license and visascreen. For nursing, you can get the TN/NAFTA visa which you get at the border when you go there, other visas take at least 6 months to get and often require the use of an immigration lawyer (my cousin's husband got transferred to Cali for work in a solar company last summer and it took him about 6 months to get a visa and they had to hire a lawyer to get it). You don't need a sponsor to get the TN/NAFTA visa, just a job offer and a letter from the employer explaining your contract.

No, I haven't gotten that far yet. As of right now I am licensed in Michigan and I just received my visascreen a few weeks ago. I will be applying for jobs in Michigan soon and hopefully if I get one I can get my SSN and apply to California. When I had contacted the California board of nursing about the SSN issue they told me I had to work in another state first to obtain one. I contacted numerous hospitals in California regarding this and if they assist Canadian nurses with no response whatsoever. From what I've read on here, the job situation in California isn't good enough for a hospital to hire, assist, and wait for a foreign nurse to become licensed there when there are nurses within the state looking for work and tons of new grads too. You can't write the NCLEX for Cali without a SSN, but Michigan, Alaska, and Arizona don't require one to apply for a nursing license. Arizona is close to Cali, that might be your best option for now. Actually, as of January 1st 2012, Michigan changed their requirements so that Canadian nurses now have to obtain CGFNS certification as a part of the application requirements. So, maybe not Michigan as an option, I applied prior to so I never had to do the CGFNS cert. My friend recently applied to Arizona and it was easier than Michigan- no transcripts or crazy paperwork. Just their application, verification from the CNO, and fingerprints. I'm probably going to apply there as well just because it's closer to California and would be a better travel experience. If you start studying for the NCLEX now or already have and apply to let's say Arizona, the process will be fairly quick and you can write the NCLEX as soon as you get your ATT (or when you're ready, I waited the whole 3 months) and you'll have your license in basically a few months. You could fall back on working in research, but it won't get you anywhere in nursing and the longer you wait to write the NCLEX and find work the harder it will be. If nursing is what you want to do just do it, it will be worth the effort and wait! In the meantime work around here, build experience and your resume and that will increase your chances of getting hired in the states. Did you write and pass the CRNE yet? I believe you must hold a nursing license here in order to apply for licensure in the states as well. Anyways, good luck and feel free to ask if you have any more questions!

Hi Patri, I received the private message you sent me but I am unable to respond as I apparently do not have 15 quality threads yet so I can't use private messaging. This was the only way I could respond to you. I have applied for my visascreen and am waiting for them to receive all my documents. I applied online and they give you forms to print out during the process that must be sent to your licensing bodies and university. I did my BScN from York as well, but it is collaborative so my first two years were at Georgian. I had to send the request for transcript forms to both Georgian and York to the Registrar's offices. They know what to do with them there and they will send the paperwork to the nursing school to be filled out then they will courier it with your transcripts to CGFNS. Btw, applying online was quite frustrating as the CGFNS website kept freezing and wouldn't bring up the next page and I had to go through it multiple times to get my information in each step, it took forever. You have to pay more to do the paper application though so I stuck with the online one. I am hoping to work there on a TN/NAFTA visa this fall. It's taken a month so far with the visascreen and I hope they will review everything and issue it soon. Oh and fyi York takes 3-4 weeks to get the paperwork filled out and send everything off, Georgian only took a week. CGFNS received all my documents within 2 weeks and they finally received the documents from York a few days ago. If you have any further questions feel free to private message my your email. Good luck with everything and congrats on your nclex!