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If you get a decent offer, go for it. Los Angeles is an exciting place to live. Don't believe all the nay Sayers here and see for yourself. This forum, like pretty much any forum or social platform is a magnet for the angry, sad and worried, who look for a place to validate their anger, sadness and worries...an echo-chamber...like so many places, creating a skewed view.

Remember your key nursing school lesson: " If it is not documented, it never happened...." Same here, if there is no documentation regarding your abuse, then it never happened. Shut up and stop creating proplems that don't exist.

Depends if the state in which she lives has a nurse title protection act. California does and you can't call yourself a nurse if you are not but some other states might not.

Go into research, you don't need 2 years of bedside experience, that is just a myth... I got into research right after I finished nursing school and most of my co-workers did not even have any nursing/medical experience. You need to be lucky to get into research and once you get in and have 4-5 years experience, you take the next step to become a CRA. End-of-story, home-based, no more patient/co-worker contact ever, get to travel around the country and with great potential. Don't do MD, PA, or NP, waste of time, money, and sucks the joy out of your life.

You could look into clinical research. Maybe start as a clinical research coordinator, they hire nurses, even with little or no bedside experience.

You should be able to apply for F1-OPT after you finished your ADN. This gives you the opportunity to work for 1 year in nursing after you graduate. It is virtually impossible right now to get sponsorship and a working permit with a ADN only. You need to apply to other colleges and get at least a BSN and even then you need to be lucky. You can have all the education and qualification you want but it is even more important to be lucky. If nursing is your calling, don't despair, keep an open mind and keep looking. Good Luck

It's bad being a F1 student but it's worse not having a SSN. One way to get a SSN is to enroll into a college (e.g. community college) and after being enrolled for one academic year (2 semester = 9 months) you can apply for on-campus work. You need a SSN for any type of work, even on-campus F1-student work and that is your opportunity to apply for and get a SSN. Good Luck

It is not advisable to go from F1 to greencard because of non-immigration intent status of F1. One of the the best ways is H1B to greencard. To get into H1B you have to find a niche. Either find a hospital that is not-for-profit or educational (H1B cap exempt) and/or find a health care job that is not typical nursing. I also was an international student and I graduated from an ADN program back in 2010 (but I had a bachelor in a different field as well). I applied for OPT and since I had no choice I grabbed whatever I could get. I found ALL of my jobs on Craigslist. I was a flu-shot nurse, I worked in Home Health for a month and finally I found a job at a big hospital (yes, through Craigslist). The job at the hospital is not a typical nursing job, I work in Clinical Research, but as a foreign student you need to find a niche. I got my H1B through this niche. Clinical Research hires BSN nurses and if you find a clinical research job at a not-for-profit organisation you are H1B cap exempt and need not to worry about April 1st deadlines, H1B lottery, etc. This is not an easy way, but possible. If you want to stay, work, and get sponsored, think about non-traditional nursing jobs. Good Luck

I also was an international student and I graduated from an ADN program back in 2010. I applied for OPT and since I had no choice I grabbed whatever I could get. I found ALL of my jobs on Craigslist. I was a flu-shot nurse, I worked in Home Health for a month and finally I found a job at a big hospital (yes, through Craigslist). The job at the hospital is not a typical nursing job, I work in Clinical Research, but as a foreign student you need to find a niche. I got my H1B through this niche. Good Luck

I find the comments of the original poster somewhat moralistic and righteous. People go into professions, such as nursing, for many reasons and there is nothing wrong to try to combine previous education or experience with your new profession. The condescending attitude of the OP and of some of the commentators that apparently only bedside nurses are "real" nurses or that only working 12-14 hour shifts are proof of compassion and commitment to nursing is unhelpful and perpetuating stereotypes about nurses and nursing that we should work hard to overcome.

Try to get an ON CAMPUS student job. If you get one, administration will likely give you a letter so you can apply for a SSN. Everybody who works needs to have a SSN, even if it is just a student job. As an international student you qualify for an ON CAMPUS job after you have been in F1 for 2 semester or 3 quarter. Good Luck

Whatever education you acquired in the U.K. has also be evaluated as equivalent to a bachelor in the U.S. if you are trying to go the H1b route. If you don't have a formal bachelor education, then depending on how many years you worked as a RN in the U.K., work experience might be allowed as an equal for formal education. H1b sponsoring does not require proof that no U.S resident could do the job. However, a typical nursing position in the U.S. does not require a bachelor, which makes the case for H1b difficult for typical nursing positions (e.g. floor nursing). But whatever you try, being allowed to sit for NCLEX and get a U.S. license might be the biggest hurdle.

this a difficult decision but it seems you are too readily considering only your fiances side of the story. if nursing is your passion and after you invested so much time to get there, why do you need to leave the country to readily support your partner's dreams? your dreams and career wishes are just as valid. why can't he have his music school in this country? if you are ready to go to china, that's fine, but don't give up your own dreams because you feel obligated (or love has blinded you).

You are not a nurse until you pass NCLEX and the sooner you have the chance to sit for NCLEX the better. Therefore, I would go for ADN, even if the market looks better for BSN in your area. Also, community colleges are much cheaper than universities. It is always better to have as little debt as possible, especially in this economy.

You need to analyze what went wrong the last 7 or 8 times you took this test. The test is challenging and tricky but after failing it that many times, I think you are not analyzing enough what went wrong the last times. I would think you are doing the same mistakes over and over without learning from them. Do you have a close RN friend who could review your learning strategies?