YeXinZhi

Sure go for it.

Hi Jenny, Based on my experience, no you do not need your SSN to obtain your NY license (my first US license was NY). Washington state however requires it so when you apply for reciprocity. Hopefully you would already have obtained an SSN by then. Vince

Good day y'all, I'm planning on a move to the LA area, and looking at Cedars-Sinai as one potential employer. They don't have a nurses' union so I don't know how much they pay their nurses. Does anyone here have any idea how much they pay a nurse with 14 years experience? Thanks

Hi Ann415, I sent you a private message. I don't think I'm allowed to share private contact details here.

You should ask your agency directly. They and they alone can set a figure or penalty for pulling out of a contract. If you have no intention of ever moving to the US, I wouldn't worry about it. Your US-based agency can do little to enforce a breach of contract penalty.

I find that highly unusual. The first state I ever got licensed in was NY but I passed my NCLEX through California but did not get my license then because I didn't have an SSN. When I applied for my NY license they asked for my NCLEX results which I then requested from California BON. Last year, I applied for my Washington and Oregon licenses and they asked for my NCLEX Results, so thinking that NY now has my NCLEX results I asked them to forward it to Washington and Oregon. They told me that since California was the original NCLEX state, I should request my NCLEX result letter from them. It maybe different with NMI though but it seems in my experience it has been consistently California BON. I believe the NCLEX-RN candidate report and pass letter are the same thing.

You need to send a written request to CA BON, there is a fee involved which was $40 last year. (call them for the exact amount as it is always changing). You should include which State BON you want CA BON to send your NCLEX results to.

OMG hahaha

That's not too bad then. I left after 1 year of a 3 year contract and I still had to pay the full amount. DO NOT ever feel bad about leaving your employer. Do you know how much money they made out of you? On average, nursing agencies earn somewhere between $2 to 4 per hour worked by you. If you work 2000 hours a year, that's $4,000 to 8,000. Plus some agencies make money by not paying you sick leave or public holidays/personal holidays/401k/etc. I'm not saying all nursing agencies do that, it's just an example of how they could possibly make money off of you. I also heard that some agencies take the sign-on bonuses rather than giving it to the nurse recruit. It's a lucrative industry because they make so much money out of it. My agency for example rakes in $8million a year in revenues and they are a small recruitment agency. So don't ever, ever feel bad, you are within your rights to leave.

I have worked in 3 different countries (NZ, Australia, USA) and I have to say, in terms of needing orders from doctors, there really isn't much of a difference, if I had to quantify the number of times I had to chase a doctor for an order. In both Australia and NZ, nurses can make use of medication standing orders for commonly used OTC drugs. Say for example you need paracetamol (acetaminophen) for a patient but it is not prescribed, you can initiate a once-only order (without a doctor's approval) for that medication as long as your patient meets all criteria. In NZ, I worked in an ER setting and I could basically obtain blood specimens and order blood tests on my own based on the patient's presenting complaints. In the U.S., there PowerPlans. These are order sets where you can choose which orders to initiate based on your patient's needs. For example, your patient complains of a dry nose, so you can select normal saline nasal spray and initiate that order based on your patient's condition. So technically, it's already been approved by a doctor for that specific patient and all you need to do is initiate it (after making sure your patient does not have allergies to it and they meet criteria). There are certain blood tests that you can order for a patient too but they have to be again, part of a PowerPlan. An example of this would be the Electrolyte Replacement Protocol. If for example, your patient's potassium levels fall below normal, you can initiate potassium replacement and order a basic metabolic panel test for the following day. The U.S. Healthcare system is so diverse that working in different hospitals can be entirely different experiences. So what other hospitals allow nurses to do without a doctor's order, other hospitals don't. And vice-versa. For most other things though, because of insurance and litigation purposes, a doctor's order is warranted.

Anyway, that should not lead to the revocation of your green card. It looks like you tried your best to stick to your commitments by working for them for 28 months. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out and there is now law in the U.S. that will compel you to work for someone against your will. Your green card CAN be revoked if your agency can prove that you engaged in fraud to obtain your green card. An example would be using forged documents or credentials (such as a fake nursing degree). Other examples that could lead to a green card being revoked is the green card holder having no intent of working for the petitioner. So for example, if you got your green card in January and started working for your employer that same month, then resigned your position in February, that can be considered construed as fraud because it appears as though you never had the intention to work for the employer. Unless you can present proof of extenuating circumstance (like your employer not paying your wages). Okay honestly I don't know why you couldn't have waited to apply for a job until you finished your contract with your agency. Are they asking for the full breach of contract amount or just a portion of it?

I work at EvergreenHealth and I love it so far!

Which part of the state are you planning on relocating to?

Hi MikkieZhzh, I guess mine and Silverdragon's points are, what one state accepts as sufficient credentials do not necessarily mean another state will accept it as so. However, your NCLEX-RN exam is valid in ALL U.S. states. Having said that, passing the NCLEX-RN exam does not automatically grant you licensure as a nurse. The NCLEX-RN exam is ONE of the components of a licensure application, which may include criminal history check, credentials evaluation, mandatory education (i.e. HIV education in Washington state). Your best bet is to apply to the State where you are planning to relocate to. If they say you need to do obs or peds or whatever deficiency they say you have, ask for a list of accredited schools. I say this because, as previously mentioned, states like California have very strict rules, and will only accept supplemental education from a very short list of schools within California ONLY. Most states also require an SSN or an ITIN (tax number) before they will even consider your application while some states like Vermont, do not require. You will have to check with the relevant state board of nursing as each one has unique requirements.

I would use caution when saying 'you can endorse in any other state' because as I mentioned earlier some states are much stricter in terms of educational requirements than the others. Some states like California have very stringent concurrency rules and will deny your application based on that. Others will require a credentials assessment from an agency like CGFNS. While your NCLEX-RN exam is valid in all States and territories, each individual state has its own eligibility criteria.