Rnapproved

you can work in California without a California RN license. Working for a federal agency is your key.

I, too, am a Philippine BSN graduate and had problems with applying for California RN license just like everybody else, but believe it or not, I am a Registered Nurse in Los Angeles, California and I don't even have a California RN license. How, you ask? I applied for a job at the job at the VA and got accepted. If you do not know yet, the federal government honors any RN license from any of the US states. So if you have a RN license in Texas, you can work for any VA hospitals across the United States. Of course you have to be a US citizen and the hiring process at the VA is a pain in the butt, but anything worth having is worth working and waiting for. So yeah, that's how I got around this California BON loophole

I finally got my final job offer last Thursday! I'm boarded as Nurse 1, Level 2, Step 4- $88,368/year at the VA Greater Los Angeles with BSN and 1 year of nursing experience. Orientation on Monday. So excited!

I'd just like to share my hiring experience at the VA. I can't remember exactly when or if I applied for the position. I say "if" because I don't see the RN position(MedSurg) that I accepted on my USAjobs portal. I got called for an interview anyway in February. I was out of the country so the managers set up a phone interview. When they did call, my reception wasn't at its best and the managers were kind enough to re-schedule the interview when I got back to the States. Face to face interview happened in March 21. 2 weeks prior to the interview, I got another call from the VA in a different location(but same state and county) for a position of ambulatory nurse. April 5, I got a call for a tentative offer on the ambulatory nurse and April 17, I got a tentative offer for MedSurg. I had accepted both positions in the hopes that I'd go with whichever one finishes the process first. I was later informed by the HR that they realized I accepted 2 positions but could only accept 1, so I went and chose the MedSurg position. April 18, I re-submitted documents to the HR specialist. I am a foreign graduate so my documents were not complete yet at that time because I still had to request transcripts from my school and had them evaluated. That process alone took 1.5 months. April 20, I had my physical and fingerprinting. April 21, I was sent a link to Eqip. May 7, I was sent a link to vetpro. From May 7-June 30, I had to have to send and re-send documents to HR specialist and follow up with my references. June 12, I was informed that I had to re-do my fingerprints and the eqip because during that entire time the VA system was down and was not able to take my fingerprints June 13, I had my fingerprints re-done and they re-sent me the link to eqip. Today July 10, I was called by HR specialist to tell me that they're ready to send my package to service chief and that I should be able to hear about a firm offer soon. She said the process usually takes 1-2 days, which in my understanding, is 2-3 months in VA's standards lol. I will update again once I receive a final offer.

Hi! I wanted to ask if there's anybody here who's had their Florida RN endorsed to California? I graduated from the Philippines and because of the concurrency issue, I didn't try to apply to California anymore and instead applied in Florida. I passed and moved here in Florida and got a job at a level 1 trauma hosp in Tampa. Unfortunately, I am very unhappy here so I sent an application to endorse my license in California which I know they will deny and ask me to take classes. I got ahead of myself and called a community college nearby if they accept students to just take 1 or 2 classes that I am deficient in instead of having to take the entire RN program and they said yes, they do accept students like that. I'm still waiting for CA BON's response as to what classes im deficient in sp i could take those classes right away but i just wanted to know if any of you ever took a deficient class here in Florida?

Well turns out passing the NCLEX is just the start of a long journey. I have now moved to Tampa, Florida and got hired for a nurse residency program at Tampa General Hospital. I'm 2 months into my orientation and I dread going to work every day. I started with 2 patients and now they're giving me 3. In 4 weeks i'll be on mentorship and then I'll be on my own. I dread going to work because I don't know what to do. My coworkers are very rude(not to mention most of them are white and seem to hate Asians like me). My preceptor always dings me on my charting and if i ask her something, she looks at me like "how do you not know this?!?!". Seriously guys i am so depressed. Working as a CNA was way less stressful. I hate living in florida. I don't like where i work. I'm really thinking of just quitting and go back to california and work as a cna while i take the entire RN program again just so i could get licensed in California. Seriously, Florida is such a racist state and i'm just not happy with the people i work with. I just really want to get out of here. I'm not even sure anymore if passing the NCLEX was a blessing or a curse. Right now i feel like it's the biggest curse of my life. Help me...

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting more out of your career. We are, after all, humans with everyday wants and needs. Bedside nursing is fine, but why would you exhaust yourself taking care of other people for the entirety of your life with such meager pay when you can advance your education and career and live a comfortable life without being peed and pooped on? There's nothing wrong with wanting advancement. Everything around us is advancing and you'll get stuck if you don't advance with it. There'a nothing wrong with wanting to be a bedside nurse because that's what we all entered the nursing career force for anyway, but at the end of the day, you have the choice to either take care of other people and earn lesser money or take care of yourself, your own family and have more time for them and earn more money and live more comfortably. It just depends on ones choices.

Also, if I were to give you an advice on what to memorize, I'd say memorize your lab values, insulin time and duration of action and immunization. I did not study pharmacology at all because it's worthless because I knew i won't be able to retain any of it anyway. I'm just glad i did not get complicated meds durig the NCLEX. I wouldn't suggest you don't study pharmacology like I did because everyone gets different questions but I would suggest taking it easy and just memorizing and understanding the actions of the classification of drugs. Don't force yourself to memorize all the drugs. I don't think anyone could actually do it

I think it's fair time to say that the NCLEX RN is not as hard as a lot of people play it out to be. In fact, the hardest part about the NCLEX RN are the negative thoughts you accumulate in your head whilst studying. I took the NCLEX 2 weeks ago and while a lot of people say they were almost positive they failed, i felt otherwise. The questions are basic, nothing like the Kaplan questions which are too mind boggling. In actuality, the NCLEX RN is very simple. I did the NCSBN, Kaplan, Saunders and PDA by La Charity reviews and found all very helpful except for Kaplan. Kaplan may work for many people with very strong content foundation but would not work on people needing a brush up on contents. Also, Kaplan questions are very hard compared to the actual NCLEX. NCSBN questions are very similar in wording and difficulty to the actual NCLEX. The content review that goes along with NCSBN is also very good and is a simplified version of the Saunders book. But i would still suggest you read the entirety of Saunders book at least once just to brush up on contents. PDA by La Charity is also very helpful. It really tests critical thinking skills and if you want to be on the passing line in the NCLEX, you'd want to get as much prioritization questions and be able to answer them correctly. Also, do not fret the SATA questions. The SATA in the actual NCLEX are nothing like the onex in the review questions. The actual NCLEX SATA are very simple and straightforward. But if you do find yourself having to pull your hair with each SATA, just treat each choice as either True or False. But take my word that the SATA questions are not out of this world and are actually very basic questions. Also, I do not believe in test taking strategies. It may work well with other people but strategies are nothing without a foundation of contents. Even if you do know how to strategize but have no idea what it is you are strategizing about, chances are high that you will not be able to choose the correct answer. Then again, do not fret. Just study the best that you can. You'll find out once you take the exam that NCLEX isn't hard. But if you do fail, take it as a challenge. Study harder. You can take it again. There's no need to mope around and feel sorry for yourself. It's just a test. Don't be defeated by it

I told myself I'd come back here whether or not I passed the NCLEX RN. This has been my source of encouragement through the entire process of applying for the NCLEX RN. Let me tell you that my journey through NCLEX RN took 7 years. Yes, 7 long years. I graduated in 2009 in the Philippines, came to America that same year, and took the NCLEX RN for the state of California for the first time in 2010. As you may have guessed, I failed. I took the Kaplan course and I was highly confident that I'd get by without studying. After all, that's what I did in school. I went to school with an empty brain and somehow still managed to graduate from college. So when I was preparing for my first take of the NCLEX RN, I did not take it too seriously. My parents thought I was studying really well while I was in front of my computer with the Kaplan window on, but the truth is, a minimized window with Facebook on was on the lower corner of my computer while I was chatting with friends. haha! When I failed, I was broken. I felt like I was entitled to pass because I just always pass! I thought the NCLEX was stupid and 2 years went by and I just didn't try to re-take again. All the while, I worked as a nurse assistant. By the 3rd year since I first sat for the NCLEX, I was getting tired of being bossed around by lazy nurses, so I tried to apply for NCLEX again, this time determined that I will study to the best that I can. Unfortunately, California began implementing laws about the congruency issues so I got denied to sit for the NCLEX. Again, I thought NCLEX is the stupidest thing to have ever happened on earth. 6 years went by, I was still a nurse assistant, and some people from my class, who had the chance to come here to America several years after I did, were already practicing RNs. I decided to re-apply to the state of Florida and luckily, I received an approval to sit for the nclex December of 2015. By this time, I started buying the Saunders book and PDA by La Charity and started to skim through it(not really study) but I didn't take the exam right away because well, I'm stupid. haha! If it weren't because my parents(who I haven't seen in years) are coming here from the Philippines for a vacation, I probably still wouldn't have taken it by this time. But, well, God has plans. When my parents told me 2 weeks ago that they're coming, I decided to just bite the bullet and schedule for the NCLEX RN. I had 2 weeks to prepare, which I would say, was pretty stupid. I purchased the NCSBN 5 week course, and the KAPLAN 4 week qbank and for 2 weeks, I'd wake up at 9:30am and slept at 4:00am, studying through all those hours. I took a break from my job as a nurse assistant that's why I was able to do this. I'd be honest to say that all through those weeks, I felt like there was a lump in my chest and my heart is pumping out and I was always nauseous and wanted to throw up. I cried like I've never cried before because 7 years out of school does really bad things to your memory. I couldn't quite remember anything that I was reading. I'd go from reading about Myasthenia gravis and knowing about it, and literally 5 minutes later forgetting what it's all about. I was seriously out of my mind. Despite all these, the most important thing I learned was to pray. I prayed like I've never prayed before. I acknowledged God with the realization that without him, I couldn't go through this. I was born Catholic, studied in Catholic schools all throughout my life, but I never really acknowledged God in my life. I even consider myself an Atheist. Many times I blamed him for everything that's happening in my life. This time though, I had no one to turn to about my fears but him. So I accepted that I'm weak and stupid and couldn't go through this without him. Test day came and I could hear my heart pumping through the noise cancelling headphones that was provided at the site. Some questions, I was confident of the answers, but most of it, I had to guess and every question I don't know the answer to, I whispered a prayer for clarity of mind, as well as the strength to accept if I fail this test. After all, everything happens in God's time. Well folks, i'm proud to say that after 7 long years and 2 NCLEX exams, I am finally a REGISTERED NURSE! All glory to God!!!! As for my review sources, Saunders was a pretty good, comprehensive review and I'd suggest you get it especially if you need to brush up on content. To be honest, I do not believe in test strategies. Many may have been lucky to use it and pass, but luck doesn't always turn out that way, and if luck turned its back on you, at least you have your content based knowledge to backfire it. I also did the PDA by La Charity and I have to say that it really helped my critical thinking skills. Most of the questions I got during the exam were prioritization questions. NCSBN was a great source too. Aside from the fact that they have over a thousand of practice questions, the course also came with content review which I found easy to understand. In fact, their content is easier to understand than the Saunders book. I wasn't able to finish reading the entire course(I didn't study Pharmacology and musculoskeletal at all!). I was just so lucky that I didn't get much questions about those 2 topics because if I did, I will for sure fail it. I also have to say that NCSBN questions are very, very similar to NCLEX. It's straightforward and doesn't mean to trick you just like how the NCLEX is. I also didn't get to finish the questions. I have 150 questions and 3 weeks left on my subscription. I also purchased KAPLAN and unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I thought their questions were too hard and it just boost down my confidence. I would score 50%-90% on NCSBN but I would score 20%-50% with Kaplan qbank so I stopped using it. I still have 785 questions unanswered in my qbank and 2 weeks left on my subscription. I know it's easy for me to say now because I've already finished this part of my life, but if I were to give you advise, it is to not fret the NCLEX. The NCLEX is an exam, provided by a computer. Would you allow yourself to be defeated by a computer? This was something that I always thought to myself. And if all else fails, well, you have 45 days to re-take it again. The way they administer the NCLEX here is even better because nobody has to know if you fail, unless you tell them when you're taking the exam. In the Philippines, the board exam for nurses is given on specific dates once a year for the entire country and they would publish the names of those who passed on the newspaper. You can just imagine how much more terrifying that is knowing that all eyes are on you and would know that you failed, if you ever do. So don't fret. It's just a computer. If you fail, take it again. There's no limit to it. The NCLEX doesn't define you as a person or as a nurse. I know you can do it!!!!

Hi everybody! Just in case some of you, specially Philippine graduates, are out of hope to ever be licensed as a RN in the US, I have good news. I, too, had the same worries since graduating in 2009. I got approved for CA RN Nclex back in 2010 but failed... And then life happened. I never got the chance to re-apply again and sit for the NCLEX. I have been working as a CNA since 2009 and when I learned of the concurrency issue, I lost all hope. Recently, 2 of my friends who are in Virginia applied to take the NCLEX RN and got approved. I tried my luck and applied in Florida. The process took roughly 3 months. I had my credentials evaluated by IERF(it costs $345), sent my application to Florida Board of Nursing(it costs $110) and had my fingerprints(i live in California so I had to do the fingerprint card here and send it to an approved livescan provider in Florida. I used Morphotrust. All in all it cost me $100). Today, Florida Board of Nursing sent me the confirmation that I am eligible to take the NCLEX RN!!! I have been really anxious these past few days because my credential evaluation from IERF says that I don't have Long Term Care Experience. It does say, though, that my education is comparable to US BSN. So there guys! Don't lose hope. My journey doesn't end here though because I still have to review and pass the NCLEX but I'm staying positive! If I ever pass, I plan to transfer to Florida and work. I'd still want to live and work in California but I know that I won't be able to endorse my license in California so my plan is to go back to school and become a Physician's Assistant and then take the Boards in California. I originally planned to become a Nurse Practitioner but I'll still need a California RN license to sit for the California nurse practioner boards so I'll just do the Physician assistant programs since that doesn't need any RN license at all. All they need to enter the program is a Bachelor's degree. I probably need to take a couple of classes before i could get admitted but that's fine. For now I'm just happy I got the eligibility letter from Florida to sit for the NCLEX!!!