Rejecting the Transplant

rolland542

I pulled into the parking lot and see the signs. NURSING JOB FAIR HERE TODAY! I know my future is held within these walls. I gather my resumes and letters of reference, so carefully bundled together for that professional look and head into the building. I stamp the snow from my boots and survey the area. Booths as far as the eyes can see. I begin wandering from table to table, speaking to recruiters from all over the United States. The Dakotas are well represented and offer good wages. We begin to discuss the weather, and I discover it is actually colder there than in my area. Move on! Next stop, New York! I see that the wages offered there are not much different than what I make now, and I know they get more lake effect snow than where I live, so I bustle past, leaving a resume package in my wake. I gather my reserve and keep trudging on, visiting the United States as I go without ever leaving Canada, from booth to booth. The resume stack is getting lower and the information brochures are getting heavy. Next stop, Texas. Oh, glorious Texas! The recruiter is actually the Director of Nursing, now that's a refreshing change. Someone who can actually answer my questions about the equipment, the facility, the management!

We chat and get to know each other a little. I am feeling comfortable as is she. The Texan is amazed that I drove two hours in all this snow! We start to talk about money, and she offers a nice salary. I discover that Texas has no income tax, wow, I can be free from the "man". We talk of the small town and how quaint it is. She describes her community, the shops, the people with a twinkle in her eyes. She loves where she lives and you can see it. She assures me that a job offer will be coming.

I head out of the convention center, back out to the snow. I shovel off my car and head back to the highway, thinking the whole time, what will it be like? Texas has a wonderful climate, that's a big advantage as my car slides around trying to gain traction on the slippery roads. I'd never had to shovel again! I am attracted to the Dakotas, but hey, they are actually further away from my hometown! Texas is beginning to look even more attractive. Before I realize it, I am home.

I sit on my couch and begin to peruse the brochures. A decision is made, Texas it is. Now, which facility? Big or small? I am drawn by the way the DON spoke of her town. So I start to research it; What is the crime rate? What is the average age of the population? How long is the drive back to Canada if I want to come home to visit? And then the personal debate steps in; What if I get homesick? What if my co-workers give me a hard time about being Canadian? I know I want to do it, I want to make the move but...

Over the following weeks, my mailbox is stuffed with offers of employment, but one stands out. I call and accept. I am moving to Texas! My friends are wondering if I have gone crazy and my family is supportive but worried. It's a big move, but I am ready. I head to the border crossing at Hill Island, NY and secure my TN Visa. It was a relatively painless process, so I begin to feel really good about my decision. I head home and start packing. Two weeks later, I load the trailer, say my tear-filled farewells, and hit the highway. Texas here I come!

The weather gets warmer, the further I head south. I am really liking this! Days later, I pull into the driveway of my D.O.N.'s home. She has offered me her garage to living in until I can find an apartment. She has been so great through the whole process, I feel as though she is family. I unload my stuff and get settled in.

The facility is nice. The other nurses greet me and four other Canadians, but you can sense something is not right. There is animosity in the air. I am not there long before the facility owners renege on the offered contract. Three of the five nurses leave and head back home. I start looking around the area at other facilities, I did not make the move so I could be run off by discrimination! I am scooped up by another facility and part company with the D.O.N. I am hurt and discouraged, but I push along. It seems like every two years, I am moving on to another facility, the draw, and attraction of better wages and the sign on bonus is too strong to resist.

Years later, after a one failed marriage to a Texan girl, and a 2-year-old son. I make the move to Oklahoma, not by choice but by necessity. My ex-wife has moved here, and I want to be close to my son. Another job hunt, another offer, another facility. Two years pass, and I discover Oklahoma is not so bad after all. I meet and marry another Canadian and transplant her into the American way of life. But then that ugly beast rears it's head again, only this time it's the Great State of Oklahoma practicing discrimination! House Bill 1804 has been passed, I just discovered how it will affect me. The State of Oklahoma has passed a law that says I have to have my visa before I can renew my license, and my license will only be renewed for the time period of the visa. But hey, the Federal Government says I have to have a nurses license valid for the time period of the visa I am applying for, or they won't issue a visa! The body of Oklahoma is rejecting me like a body rejects a transplant. What do I do? I know that there is still a huge shortage of nurses here, why are they rejecting us?

So I fight. I fight for my life. I fight for my wife's life, I fight for my son's life. My wife takes over, she is more adept at bringing about change. She contacts a friend and starts letter writing. The letters become the drugs to prevent the rejection. We fight the law. We educate the people. We question ourselves, should we just go "home"? But America is our home now and we don't want to leave, so we stay and fight. Hopefully, we can use the one "drug" that will prevent the "rejection" and our lives will be saved.

Rejecting the Transplant

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