Mishey2

Thanks for replying! Well if those nurses can work with one eye, so can he. He might have to just be selective in what nursing fields he chooses to work in. His worry right now though is with the State Board if he should disclose now or after some more treatments. He showed me the self-disclosure part of the application form and it says that the disability may affect the State Board's decision in accepting his application form. However, if it doesn't hinder him from taking the exam or even working, they may not reject his application.

I am posting this for someone who is not a part of the All Nurses community and is too upset to post himself. A person I know from Canada applied to sit for the NCLEX for a U.S. state last month with no visual problems whatsoever. A week after submitting his application, he suddenly lost sight in one of his eyes. He was seen by two ophthalmologists and then was referred to a retinal specialist. He was diagnosed with Exudative Retinal detachment in Coats disease in that one eye. His other eye is not affected. He currently has a follow-up appointment with the retinal specialist. His plans to immigrate to the U.S. now have been delayed as he will continue treatment in Canada. His plan now is to move to the U.S. possibly in 2019. He is worried that his application will be rejected by the State Board if he follows up with a notice that his vision is affected. On the application form, there is a self-disclosure of any disability and at that time of application, he did not have any. How should this be handled? Especially wording and timing of notification. Has anyone you know been rejected by a State Board for a visual impairment?

Hi Carol, You did not mention anything about wanting to work in the U.S. immediately as a nurse but I'm assuming that's the case. Before applying to a state board, take care of the immigration requirement first so that you will have a required U.S. social security number or ITIN before you can work legally in any job anywhere. The following information is what I have heard only from the experience of others. An EB3 visa will allow someone with a Philippine citizenship to work as a nurse in the U.S. I am not sure if you will need to find an employer to sponsor you first before applying for an EB3, but quite honestly from what I've read it will be very difficult in the state of California to find an employer to sponsor a foreign nurse graduate as California has a surplus of nurses. If any forum member has an experience of being sponsored in CA, feel free to chime in. If you absolutely must apply to sit for the NCLEX for California, it can even more months up to a year for documents to be processed and evaluated before you can sit to take the NCLEX exam in addition to the waiting for EB3. It might be easier to find someone to sponsor you in the state of New York, South Dakota, maybe Arizona and New Mexico. I know of a neighbor of my grandmother's who just immigrated to the U.S. 3 years ago and was sponsored to work in New York but she applied over 10 years ago. In most other states,since you have many years of experience, your paid work experience might give you an advantage over the hundreds of foreign graduates that only have only a few years. The process can take many years as there is a retrogression of visas being processed from all countries and all professions into the U.S. so start the process right away if you choose to work in the U.S. You can visit the O'Grady Peyton website for more information about the immigration process and also the recruitment for nursing jobs. There is also Avant agency but I've heard they have not been responding so O'Grady Peyton will be a better choice. I hope someone with experience with the same situation will reply to you. If you are on Facebook, join the group: California Board of Nursing- Foreign Graduates. It is a very informative site. Enjoy your stay here!

Happy you found a job :)

Is some states, they will only allow you to take a refresher course after you pass the NCLEX and are licensed for that specific state. I'm not sure how that works in Missouri. I think what you mean is a review course. I would highly recommend a live content/strategy course that provides Q&A and rationale as part of their review. As for jobs, if you can't find a dialysis patient care technician job that is willing to train near you, you can try applying as a CNA in any nursing home. I do not know how stringent the requirements are in the facilities in Missouri regarding current bedside work experience, but you can try applying because you have that BSN. I would caution working as a caregiver in someone's home on your own unless you work for an agency. You can apply to certain agencies in your area as a private duty/private pay aide which requires no license in your state of Missouri. This is not to be confused with In-home care (Medicaid covered) or Home Health (Medicare covered) which require more classes and some sort of certification or license. Private Pay: Missouri Alliance for Home Care (MAHC)

If you want to work as an LVN first, apply to sit for the CA NCLEX-PN on the CA BVNPT website and have your school send your school documents to CGFNS for evaluation and wait a few months or so for them to evaluate and process everything and approve you before you apply to sit for the NCLEX-PN. Do any of the foreign BSN graduates turned U.S. LVN's you know of have jobs? I have been hearing from others and noticing on job postings online that there are not that many available jobs for LVNs in CA (given the high competition as there are many LVN schools here in CA) but maybe it depends on the location. I don't know what area of California you're in but in my area, LVN's are found mainly in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, psychiatric institutions/hospitals and in dialysis units. When I worked as a CNA in a SNF (before I started my BSN program), there were only 2 LVN's working on a shift so not that many LVN's are hired. There were more CNA's in that facility than LVN's. There are even fewer LVN's that work in the doctor's clinics/offices. I know of only one LVN in a hospital in a big city but she started in that hospital as a Certified Medical Assistant. Certified Medical Assistants pretty much dominate doctor's clinics/offices nowadays. There are many LVNs that work in the 2 mental institutions/hospitals that I know of that are in Northern California but I don't know if they are temporary, permanent or contract/agency filled and if there is a current demand for LVNs or not. I will agree with Mr. Edwino for you to take those classes to complete the deficiencies if the CA BRN found your curriculum to be deficient. The school you choose to complete those deficiencies will affect how long you have to wait to complete those classes. Many have waiting lists. The CA BRN will only allow 3 years to complete all classes/clinicals after you receive the deficiency letter and again, be very careful of which schools you choose. With a BSN, you will be more competitive in the fierce CA job market that values the BSN degree and BSN experience. Many hospitals prefer to hire internally (students with clinical rotations in that specific hospital or those who worked as CNA's in those hospitals) and taking those classes to fulfill deficiencies may provide you references that will help you land a job. Whichever you choose, the NCLEX-PN process can take anywhere from 4-8 months just for the document evaluation and processing from what I've been reading on certain Facebook sites. For the BSN process, completing the process can take anywhere from a year after receiving the deficiency letter of up to 3 years for the BSN process (because again, 3 years is the limit) if you have to retake classes depending on the start of the classes at the schools and their waiting lists. I even know of one person who is trying to do both the LVN and BSN processes. I can't imagine the amount of stress that he is going through but luckily he has family to financially support him.

Definitely a daily/weekly/monthly planner so I could plan for upcoming project deadlines/tests/exams, clinical rotations, et cetera. Cell phone calendar for short-term planning. Laptop plus a printer, of course, are staples. Cloud storage for document back up. USB flash drives as a backup to the backup. App for meds, app Quizlet where you can make your own printable flashcards online. My favorite Dr. Grip pen for lecture note-taking, different colored pens, highlighters, a stapler, mini scissor, tape, mini sewing kit, perforated color-coded notebooks for each lecture class, a backpack with padding for a laptop and compartments for a water bottle and travel coffee tumbler, small packs of nut/fruit mixes or granola snacks for when I am on the run and have no time to eat. Ear buds and inexpensive headphones preferably noise-cancelling. An alarm clock or 2 for a back-up to my cell phone alarm clock for those days I swore I WILL wake up after only 2-3 hours of sleep. LOL. That's when I didn't have a roommate anymore. Good quality padlock and shelf for locker. If I had parked close enough, my car trunk as my locker. Clipboard that provides privacy for clinicals + typical clinical equipment school expects you to provide for yourself. Lots more but can't remember.

Hard lesson learned too late. I went on their site and yes at first, they make themselves sound like a bridging nursing school until you read the lengthy footnote that they are only a test prep site. Thank you AN members for posting about this business many years ago and now.

Glad I was of some help. Thank you!

I just realized you still have to take the GE and prereq requirements at either CSUEB or SFSU before you can register for the nursing core classes. I was thinking it was like a straight 4-year BSN program. Do note that they give priority to students who enrolled and completed the GE and science prereqs at their school (2 of my cousins did that). If you go to a CC first to take prereq, to transfer over, they say will accept minimum 3.2 GPA but those who have 3.9 to 4.0 GPA are at the top of their waitlists. And even then, read some of the other threads here on AN, some were rejected because there's only so many open slots available after their own students are accepted into the nursing program. I was waitlisted for 2 schools for 1.5 years, one was CSU Channel Islands where I was accepted, passed the TEAS but was offered very little in Federal student loans (since I already had another Bachelor's degree) and couldn't afford to take out private loans. I ended up finishing a BSN in a top accredited nursing school in another country and being licensed in that country, applied to sit for the NCLEX and now am reviewing for it. The NCLEX is the national nursing licensure exam you will sit and take to be licensed as a nurse. You don't have to worry about that until your 4th year of college. Good luck to you and your endeavors!

If you have a high enough GPA, I say go straight to the 4- year BSN. Honestly, it's best to go straight to a 4-year nursing program right out of high school if you are in Northern California. I heard from a cousin who went through SFSU's BSN program that they had to find their own clinical placements, not sure if that's the case now. It is best if the school helps in placing you. I don't know about the nursing program at CSUEB. Look at the NCLEX passing rates for these schools to help you determine where to go. If finances are a concern, consider CSUEB since living in the East Bay versus in SF or even Daly City will be somewhat more affordable unless of course you have family near SF where you can stay with them. From my personal experience and a few others here in California, doing your prereqs at a CC will put you at a disadvantage because 1) CSU's and UC's continue to add more and more required classes to take before you transfer and not all classes are available every semester at a CC, 2) GPA requirements for prereqs and especially core science classes also increase and 3) you are only accepted for transfer on a space available basis and admission to nursing schools here in California is fierce. BTW, I passed the TEAS test after taking prereqs at my local community college to transfer but that was years ago. So i think it's more of a self-study/preparation thing.

CGFNS took a few months because of a few problems: they said they lost some pages of my original files that were transferred from CP to CES. I had to re-request many of the other documents from my nursing school and PRC to send to CGFNS. I made an error entry and had asked CGFNS to delete the entry, but instead of deleting it, they incorrectly placed a name of a school (that I never attended) in that entry causing my file to be delayed while they waited for those records. I had to contact them three more times to remove it, but I guess the system would not let them remove it, so that requirement was just waived. I graduated 2014, applied to CA-denied due to concurrency, then applied to PA (required CGFNS-CP and qualifying exam), then applied to WA state and was able transfer some, not all documents from the CGFNS CP to CGFNS CES. I did not encounter any concurrency issue with WA state.

I need to update this. I applied to WA state mid-last year and was accepted to sit for the NCLEX after being denied in CA due to the concurrency issue. At first, I believed that list of states enforcing the concurrency rule and instead of applying to other states on the West Coast outside of CA, I applied to PA. Due to family circumstances requiring me to be closer to my parents, I decided to try to apply to WA anyway. I am not sure if it matters in the case of WA state, of what year you graduated. You don't know until you try.

I'm weighing the options here only based on experience of friends and relatives and what research I have obtained online. The typical salary I see online for an RN in KSA is 3,000-6,000 per month but since you have free accommodation, you will be able to use your earnings on other things like transportation (if not provided), personal expenses and saving up money. I have heard from relatives that unless you are a man and an civil engineer, it is not advisable that a Filipina work in KSA. I have read many cases of abuse on Filipino OFW' s. I have a cousin who is a civil engineer who worked in Dubai at first and is now in Riyadh and is doing well- accommodation, food and transportation were all included. He lived with other staff and had saved up enough money to rent his own place, petition his wife and now have a daughter and they raise their family in KSA. I have another cousin who went to work in KSA as an office employee and ended up living in the manager's house to be treated like a personal assistant/driver/cook and was forced to sleep on the floor like a dog. He came back broken- spirited and traumatized. I think he was abused but he refuses to talk about it. The need for nurses is there but as a woman, it is not safe. Plus I believe you will have to speak/write in their language? What type of free accommodation will that include? And does that include transportation? Hopefully, the accommodation is not in somebody's house where you might be maltreated and/or abused. From what I've seen in relatives pictures, the food provided is mainly meat-based. Singapore is one of the most expensive countries to live in. The minimum salary is about SGP 1,000. Many English-speaking expats live there so English is widely spoken. I know of a friend of a friend who lives and works there. Just be careful that the company is not misrepresenting themselves. Is that patient care assistant/ healthcare assistant position in someone's house or in a facility? This is a website I found that compares cost of the living expenses in Singapore.Cost of Living in Singapore. Updated Prices Mar 218.

As SilverDragon102 said, unfortunately, there are no visa sponsorships for CNA. I checked for PCT, there are also no visa sponsorships. I incorrectly assumed you may already have a U.S. work visa because you said you were moving to California next year.

I don't see my other post, so if this double posts, I apologize. Davita Dialysis STAR PCT training is 9-10 weeks and it is paid. As for the CNA program, I believe the training is in Napa and you will be contracted to work for a nursing home there. If you live in Northern California and are willing to train/work in Napa, I will look for the information for you.

Only after approval from both the credentialing agency and the WA DOH, then you can register on the Pearson Vue website to sit for the NCLEX. After the credential evaluation with CGFNS (can take months), they will forward your documents to WA state. During that time of waiting, apply for WA State. You still need to take an HIV/AIDS awareness class (can be online) before you submit your application to WA state. After both accept you, WA state will e-mail you an ATT (Authorization To Test). After receiving an ATT, register to schedule the NCLEX-RN on the Pearson Vue website with the provided ATT ID# from the e-mail that WA state will send to you.

I'm not a nurse yet in Washington State but I did apply there and did not have any problems with concurrency after my application was denied in my home state of California. I graduated in 2014. I know of somene who graduated in 2012 or 2013, was denied in CA also, but accepted in WA.

Correction: BVNPT

Double posting error-ignore

Because you have partial nursing education and therefore do not have a diploma or Philippine license, I suggest that you will need to make sure that you have official/certified? (I don't remember what they call it) copies of your TOR before you leave the Philippines. You should also be in contact with at least 3 professors or clinical instructors who you can ask to be a reference for when you apply for jobs and ask for Letters of Recommendation. I don't know your immigration/U.S. residency status, but as long as you have a Valid U.S. SS# or ITIN, you can work in the U.S. as a CNA or sometimes, as PCT without listing your nursing education but will have to go through a training program. You don't need a BSN to work as a CNA or PCT you just need proper training. You can apply to work for Davita dialysis as a STAR Patient Care Technician or maybe Fresenius as long as they train. I've heard of one instructor that offers CNA classes somewhere in Northern California for a discounted price as long as you work with the affilated nursing for, I think, 2 years. I'm not sure if you will be able to take the NCLEX-PN for LVN without taking classes, because now for California for internationally-educated nurses who graduated with a BSN, they require your TOR, diploma and other records to be submitted through CGFNS before it will be even evaluated by CA BVTN. California's even stricter now in that those who still do not meet concurrency and are applying for the NCLEX-PN need to retake MCN/OB and Med-Surg. Demand for PCT's are higher than CNA's and LVN's from what I've observed in Northern California.

Hi welcome to the SF Bay Area! You can join this Facebook group but prior to posting you must be verified through your employer. The posters renting out are verified as well to prevent scams. It all depends on what neighborhood you want you live in and if you have a car or not (in many neighborhoods, a neighborhood parking permit is recommended if there is no paid garage parking- it doesn't save you a spot just helps in finding parking near to you where you live). In some other areas, you can get away with street parking without a permit as long as you're not parked between the restricted hours. Good luck! SF Bay Area - Rooms, Apartments, Rentals, Sublets Public Group | Facebook

Yes she did take the PNLE and passed and she is lucky WA is one of her choices otherwise, other states require a current license from the country of nursing education. If she were to move to another state, they might require a current foreign license and since I'm assuming she took the PNLE in May/June or Nov of the same year 2011 and has not worked in Nursing at all nearing 5 years (Phil licenses expire in 3 years), she would have to take refresher courses to renew her Phil if she ever decides to use it to apply for another state, but since she currently is not applying to other states besides maybe NM and WA, she doesn't need to take refresher courses. Hopefully, WA doesn't change their rules like other states did in regards to foreign licensure.

Congrats! People say Hurst.com or ncsbn.org for content review, KAPLAN for content, test strategies (which I've heard from some people who took the NCLEX these past 2 months did not really help them) and KAPLAN'S Qbank (Select All That Apply questions and other practice questions) and UWorld for practice tests plus Lacharity book "Prioritization, Delegation and Assignment" is great! All are not needed though. I just finished the KAPLAN online course, will be reviewing KAPLAN'S Qbank, utilizing UWorld and brushing up with LaCharity

Hi, The best source would be to check with the CA BON directly (916) 322-3350 and ask them if they will allow license by endorsement for a foreign-grad with _ years of experience working in a US commonwealth and in a US state, before submitting your application as your situation is quite unique since you are a Philippine nursing graduate (with no current Philippine nursing license?), but you had received your first RN licensure in a US commonwealth, Saipan, and you also have a license in another state which uses the Nursys license verification. When applying to sit for the NCLEX-RN for California, they typically require a nursing license from the country of your nursing education; I'm not sure if your case will be an exception. According to be able to endorse into California from out-of-state: "To qualify for endorsement (reciprocity) into California as an RN, you must hold a current and active RN license in another U.S. state or Canada, have completed an educational program meeting all California requirements, and have passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) or the State Board Test Pool Examination (SBTPE). If you do not possess these qualifications, you do not qualify for licensure by endorsement and must apply for Licensure by Examination instead." The last sentence means, you must reapply to sit for the NCLEX-RN again for California, but if your education does not meet the CA BON requirements, there is no point in sitting for the NCLEX-RN again and it is best to apply to another state. However, if Nursys license verification is not enough, since you are a foreign-graduate and worked out-of-state, California will need to re-evaluate your credentials to endorse your Virginia license to California. Which means you need to read if you haven't already: http://www.rn.ca.gov/applicants/lic-end.shtml and http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/schools/edp-i-35.pdf and in small print of the application form, I read "If you are licensed as an RN in a state that is a member of the Nursys® verification system, visit Nursys® - Nurse License Verification & Nurse License Lookup to complete the online verification request application process. International Graduates: Must also submit a Nursys® Verification Request Application from the board of nursing where the examination was taken. (See detailed instructions.) 7". California does not participate in the Nursys verification system but Virginia does and was it the Northern Mariana Islands Board of nursing that issued your first license? However, the NMI does not participate in Nursys license verification either. https://www.nursys.com/NLV/NLVJurisdictions.aspx When I applied to California, they required the Livescan fingerprinting as it goes directly to the FBI which I read has to be done within the state of California since you will be endorsing into California. I hope this helps in some way. Good luck to you! Hope someone who experienced this would reply also.