scotnurse

Welcome to the US Hope it brings you all that you had hoped. Stand back and wait for the summer to come as it is very very warm there. I live in the Desert in Socal and its not to bad but we still have about 30 to 50 days in summer where the temp does't go down below 100f thats 38c and gets up to 116f. But welcome to a land that speaks the same but is very different and don't feel to bad when people don't have an idea here your from. I keep them happy because I am Scottish by saying "Donkey" and "Fat Bas!#rd" from Shriek and Austin Powers. Don't need to wish you luck as sure you will have a blast Best Wishes

good luck to everyone who is trying to get here by whatever means they can. i am a survived the trials and tribulations of getting to the usa and have gone from exacerbation to adulation at times. now i am working here and making decent money it has all been worth it. please be aware that nursing agencies are not a nursing advice agency who help you get here out of the goodness of their hearts. they are multi-million dollar businesses who make money from you and from the hospitals who employ you. if you come here with an agency the maximum they will pay you for up to 2 years, depending on hours worked, will be around $25 per hour in la and as little as $16 per hour in florida thats 12 pounds and 8 pounds in uk speak. these companies are paid $100 per hour in la and $70 per hour elsewhere for you skills. it doesn't take a genius to realise that over 3000 hour contract thats thats up to $225,000 profit for one nurse. but it dosen't mean you are poverty stricken just don't expect to be much better of right away. saying that i live in a lovely house which i could never have afforded in the uk and spend my weekends in las vegas or venice beach or haiwai. my wife drives a convertible and i have a large suv. my nursing has changed and my skills are far different to what i required in the uk. i am a now a charge nurse in what is the second busiest trauma centre in california having worked before in a busy city er i saw 3 gsw in 4 years i now see 70 gsw in a year. but do i have any regrets not on you life. life is good and work is good i hope that you all enjoy it half as much as i have. please don't hesitate to contact if you have any worries

Wondering if something legal was going on in California. MY Agency has consistently denied my claim that I should be getting paid 8 HRS standard time and 4 hrs overtime, as is stipulated in Californian Labour Law. This has rolled on for the last 6mths with them denying everthing. You can imagine my suprise when they contacted me and told me they were going to start paying me the appropriate overtime rate and back pay as well. As long as signed a disclaimer absolving them of any further claims know/unknown. Call me an old cynic but I beware greeks bearing gifts. Anyone got any idea what is going on? I smell a class action somewhere Thanks for any info

Taking a job in Bakersfield. Kinda strange as can see the sea from my house and love the ocean and I believe that its a sea of desert out there. Never been to California but looking forward. Met loads of Californians in Edinburgh, you know the castle and the golf brings lots. Worked with a few californians in trauma receiving in Iraq very laid back about most things. Was intending to work in Florida as have family there but plenty of time to see lots of things. Think I will miss the greenery of Scotland and how passionatly proud Scots are. But new life new begining

Hi thought I would ask if you took your job in California? We fly out in March. There seems to be a few positions comming up in the west more so than the east. Hope everthing works out for you and your family.:rotfl:

There is no quick fix in how to obtain your joc in CA Some people swear by going it alone and some by using an agency as a means to an end. I am about to start in a hospital in southern CA not through choice as have brother in Florida but it is a means to an end. The basic steps to getting there are:- Register with an american nursing board. To do this you need proof of training of which you can get from your nursing school at a cost. You need to have practical and theory in MedSurg, Obstetrics, Mental Health and Paeds. Sit your NCLEX. I sat mine in the states but as from this year you can sit it in international centres. UK - Austrailia. Apply to a central nursing board for international nurses in Philly. At cost You have to find a hospital to sponsor you and give you a letter stating that you can do a job that no american can. After clearance from them you must apply for your green card interview at local embassy. At cost You must declare all your past problems/convictions since you were born. And any crimes of moral turpitude will exclude you from entry but you have one right of appeal. If you use an agency you will pay a little upfront but you will be paid around $10 an hour less because that is what the agency take and you don't get any real choice in where you want to live but the agency is not a charity and has to recupe all they have paid out to get you this far and make as large a profit as possible for there shareholders. If you go it alone you will have to employ an imigration lawyer at large cost but you can pick where you want to live and enjoy higher wages. Its a personal choice but there is no quick way to do it I am afraid to get there you have to junp through the hoops whatever you choose to do. Best of luck

Will be taking the ER job in Bakersfield as the climate is good and its 2 hours from most places. Will probably take 20 months to go round and sightsee everything I want to. Sort of accepted that my wages will be similar if not less per year on a basic wage than over there set out expecting big wages but will be around £24000 per year and I make more as a Top E and unsocial hours on top of that give me £27000. Cost of living is high for USA but still slightly less than here. My interview with recruiter was good and he showed me his work in Florida, nice home, nice weather told me would love it there. Signed on and went through the whole process only to be told after passing NCLEX that the only very rarley get facilities in Florida they are the exeption rather than the rule and their rate of pay for Florida could be as low as £10 per hour £2 less than here. But its is a means to an end and after 20 months we can do what we want. Some good websites are cnn/money Bestplaces.com They both look at crime rates and costs of living in most large towns and can compare two together. Best of luck Sarah and hope that you find a great job in California Bill

Thanks to all who wrote back will let the board know how I get on Bill:rotfl:

Having sat my NCLEX in Feb 2004 and passed I found a that you could purchase course work from the likes of Kaplan for around £1000 and you can go onto Pearson Education website, as that is who runs the NCLEX for the boards and book where you want to sit it for around £200. You could book a flight and stay near the test centres you can find the location of the test centres on the website. A friend combined a visit to florida on holiday and sat her NCLEX in Orlando. A short breakdown on costs would be . Money to register with a USA nursing state board £300 . Money to Pay for Transcipts of your Nursing Education x2 £300 . Admin charge for visa application £320 per person . Medical with embassy doctor £150 per person . Monies for flights to the US. The good thing is that if you pay for your own education and NCLEX, some US facilities pay a signing on fee and you can have your pick of where you want to go and live. You may get where you want to live withan agency but only if you want to wait. I would set aside around £10,000 to get your NCLEX if you pass on the first attempt and to get the US. Thats the bad news but the best of luck in your study Bill

I am a UK nurse coming over on an international nurse sponsership with O'Grady Peyton and have a chance to work at Kern Medical Centre, Emergency Room. Can anyone advise me if Bakersfield is a nice place to live as seems to have quite high crime ratio. Also can anyone tell me what the Medical Centre is like to work in? Thanks in advance. Bill.