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!

This is to Bethlearning: Sorry, this site won't let me email you back because apparently I do not have "more than 15 quality threads" yet. In response to your email, although I know it doesn't answer the question in this thread really, I have had to apply to another state in order to obtain a SSN before I can apply to Cali. The California board of nursing told me this is what I must do, and from what i've read on here it doesn't look like there is much chance of a hospital being desperate enough to hire a Canadian nurse and wait for them to get their nclex, visa, visascreen, ssn, and all that. You can't get a visa without a license, and you can't get a SSN without a visa, and you can't get your nclex without a SSN basically, so it's a huge mess. I applied to MI, was deemed eligible within 4 weeks, wrote and passed the NCLEX, and now i'm just waiting on my "official" results and license. It's fairly easy for Canadians to apply to NY, Arizona, and Alaska with no CGFNS requirements (I think NY might only require the one that verifies your education but not the actual cert that you write the qualifying exam for). It's really a roundabout way of having to get there, but once we're where we want to be it will all be worthwhile :). And to Yassi, that's unfortunate about your hours not meeting the board's requirements. That makes me worry about my bachelor's degree too. I went to school at York University in Ontario so i'm not sure how different it is. We practically did no hours in peds in my program. What did they suggest to you, do you have to do an extra course to make up those hours? It blows my mind how everyone up here says our nursing education is superior to that in the states and how they love Canadian nurses when we apparently aren't meeting their requirements. I came across things studying for the NCLEX and on the NCLEX that were never even taught in my nursing school. Ridiculous. Anyways, good luck and I hope you can figure everything out!

I am just wondering what the job situation for RNs is like in Michigan right now, particularly for new grads with less than a year's experience. I live in Ontario, graduated with a BScN last April, have been working as an RN at an acute and long term care maximum security psych hospital for 6 months now (although I worked as security/patient care for 2 yrs prior at this hospital). I also have my ACLS, NRP, and coronary care 1 certs (I would like to get out of psych). I recently passed the NCLEX and am waiting for the official results and my MI license from the board. I figure it will take a few months for my visascreen to come in. I am also considering applying for licensure in Arizona and New York as well to increase my chances of finding a job. Also, can anyone give me any advice about Detroit? Bad place to go for a young female living alone even if it's the only place I may get offered a job? Any info would be great! Thanks :)

I am hoping to work in California as well someday as I have family there. I am currently licensed and working in Ontario. I applied to Michigan first and I am waiting to write the NCLEX. Once I become licensed in MI I will work there for a bit in order to get a SSN, then I will apply to California by endorsement. I don't believe you can apply to California by endorsement without a SSN because the requirements of applicants are still the same.

That's ok! Yes, you must fill that out and mail it to the CNO with the $16.95 (sorry I just double checked my bank account and saw the money order was for $16.95 not $16.75). I called the CNO and they said you cannot request verification over the phone or online, you must send them Michigan's form to request it with the fee (they require a fee for their license verification service) and they will fill out the verification on their own template and send that to MI. Hm that is strange they do not have the FBI cardstock when the Commissionares here do. It does just say on the form though that it must be done on cardstock, and when I called the board of nursing in MI about it they said whatever card your local police department uses is fine. However, to be safe I got my prints done again on cardstock (it just happened to be the FBI card) because my police station used normal thin paper and I was scared they wouldn't accept it. I couriered my prints on Nov.15 and apparently MI has my background check done already as of today. I thought it'd take weeks like it does here so maybe you can get everything done in time for Jan.1. I would just find a place that does them on cardstock since that is basically all they require, it says you can go to a police station or private agency so look around before you decide to go to MI, I don't see going there being any faster than doing it here if you can find somewhere here with cardstock and courier it right away.

Hm yes the CNO takes forever to process your registration, but you will get your number before your actual license is mailed to you. MI requires them to send a license verification, so you must mail the request for verification form to the CNO with a cheque or money order for $16.75 to request it and they will fill out their own template and send it to the MI board of nursing. I`d just mail it to the CNO now so as soon as they have your registration number they can send that verification to MI. I`m not sure what MI`s requirements for application by endorsement will be once they institute the CGFNS requirement for Canadians, or else i`d say don`t bother doing CGFNS and applying to MI first and get licensed elsewhere then apply by endorsement. They might require anyone who applies by endorsement to have CGFNS too...so if you`re really wanting to go there then you might as well do it. Good luck to you, I hope it all works out, and congrats on becoming a nurse!

Oh and Alaska doesn't require Canadian nurses to take the CGFNS or have a SSN, you just have to fill out a SSN exemption form and get one once you get employed there. Just another idea for a backup plan if MI doesn't work out, you can always apply there by endorsement once you get licensed somewhere else if you are wanting to work there.

Hello! I graduated from York University in Ontario in April and I am currently in the process of applying for a Michigan license. My end goal is to get to California, but they require a SSN to apply and Michigan does not so leave that space blank on your application. HOWEVER, Michigan will require Canadians to have a CGFNS certification as of January 1st, 2012 so I suggest you apply ASAP and send EVERYTHING by courier. I called them and they told me as long as my application is approved and deemed eligible by Jan. 1, 2012 I am ok and can write the NCLEX whenever. As for the school code, I think I googled York's and found a random code that may have been it i'm not 100% on it, but i'm thinking the school code is more of a US thing. They accepted my application anyway and they are just waiting on my school transcripts and criminal background check. I highly recommend sending everything by courier, you will pay more but it will definitely get there and will get there literally the next day. I had my transcripts sent by regular mail and that was 4 weeks ago and the MI board of nursing still haven't gotten them, so I just reordered them and had them sent by courier. Oh and for your fingerprints, go to a Commissionares place and do them. They do them on the cardstock FBI cards that are accepted by L-1 Identity Solutions and you can just walk in at any time and get them done, with my police department I had to make an appt 3 weeks away and they didn't use cardstock. I mailed my application and got a response back saying they recieved it with a customer number a few weeks later and they reviewed it shortly after, so it didn't take as long as I thought and that was sending it by regular mail. You may have a chance to get everything done if you do it in the next week and send everything by courier. If not, I was just looking at New Hampshire and it looks like they don't require CGFNS or SSN from Canadian RNs. If you have any other questions let me know and I will try to help, I know it can be a confusing and frustrating process :)

Yes I was wondering between my chances of finding an employer and whether I could get a TN visa with a license pending or just applying to the Michigan state board of nursing, which doesn't require a SSN or CGFNS certification from Canadian nurses. If I do become licensed in another state, I would still require a SSN to apply to California regardless. I would have to become employed in another state, get my SSN, then apply to California by endorsement. Ohh what a roundabout way to do things! Thank you both for your replies and advice.

I just graduated in April with my BScN and am currently working as an RN in an acute, forensic psychiatric hospital here in Ontario, Canada. I have family in California and wish to find work and move there for some time. I need to write the NCLEX, so I have filled out the applications to the state board of nursing in Cali and have given the forms to my school to process and mail in to the board with my transcripts. I have my application, the fingerprint card, and everything else done and ready to mail- my only problem is that I recently read on their site they are not accepting applications for licensure without US social security numbers. Is a Canadian social insurance number sufficent/transferable? That is what I had put on my application. If I need a US social security number, I need a TN visa, which I would need employment for, which I don't know if I can get without a California RN license. I have been trying to contact the board of registered nursing in Cali with no response. Any help? Would I even be able to get hired down there without a license yet?

I go to York and chose it due to location as I could still live at home. If I could go back I would choose a better nursing school father away. York's school of nursing is pretty unorganized, you don't know your placements until right before or sometimes a week or two after you should have already began clinical. You only have choice in placements for consolidation 4th year, other than that you only do two: med-surg and community. There are at least 4 pointless courses at York you waste your money on that involve caring, client centred care and dialogues, and random stuff they use to fill your schedule to stretch their RN cirriculum into a 4 year degree program and make money. On the good side, the profs are really good, the lab is really nice and has a lot of equipment, the computer labs are good, and there are a lot of resources for papers and such. If you enjoy the medical aspect of nursing, York is not for you, if you want a fairly easy ride and to write flowery papers about caring, then York is for you. If you are looking at the 4 year program and going to Georgian College...it is not at all like university. The profs are too easy and everyone slacks off and gets extensions and all the lazy students get away with their laziness instead of being penalized for their lack of work effort and punctuality. The students I didn't understand how they passed 2nd year definitely did not cut it at York, I haven't seen them in 4th year, thus showing the difference between the college and university standards.