What does this mean?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Dec 7, 2014

WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) is a regional accreditation versus NLNAC which is a national accreditation.

They are saying that they are the only nationally accredited school in PR and since they have the national accreditation, their program is at the same quality as schools in the US that have the national accreditation.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Dec 7, 2014

I see. Thank you for helping me. So if you go to school in Puerto Rico and want to work in CA, can you transfer your license from a school with a national accreditation in PR?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Dec 7, 2014

You need to call Cal. BON on that question. PR is a US territory but not a state and Cal. BON has a lot more rules about license endorsement than most states. You do realize that California is saturated with nurses and they have an extremely high nursing unemployment rate, especially new grads.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Dec 7, 2014

Thank you. I tried looking online about license endorsements/transfers on CA BON, but did not see much information pertaining to schools in Puerto Rico.

Yes, I do know that CA is saturated and thankfully I have a few family members and former employees in nursing.

RunBabyRN · Dec 7, 2014

Thank you. I tried looking online about license endorsements/transfers on CA BON, but did not see much information pertaining to schools in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I do know that CA is saturated and thankfully I have a few family members and former employees in nursing.

Having good connections is still not always enough to count on for getting a job. I've worked connections, but it has still taken me a good 6 months to have any good prospects (waiting to hear back on a couple of promising leads right now). Places won't waive the requirement for experience just because a floor nurse's niece is a new grad that needs to work. Even knowing managers isn't enough sometimes. Getting your degree in PR may really set you back, as far as marketability goes.

Was that blurb copied and pasted from their website? The spelling and grammar are... perhaps telling of their program.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Dec 7, 2014

True. I do agree. Currently I 've been working at my job as a mental health worker/CNA for 6yrs so if anything I can go back to my current job to gain experience once I become a RN, but true the job market is fierce.

I was wondering about that if going to school in PR would be marketable or not. ..despite the clinical training etc. .Its something i'm looking into..nothing set in stone, but will know for sure this week. I will be asking several rn's that I know what type of feedback would a nurse who received a degree in PR be in the job market. I did hear about some people learning Spanish in that period of going to school. Yes, that was a repost

Nienna Celebrindal · Dec 8, 2014

I agree call the BRN. California has VERY strict reciprocity requirements. You don't want to not be able to transfer your license here.

I personally think moving away from home while you are young us a great plan. PR is awesome. I moved away and joined the military when I was young and single and it was a great experience.

Natasha A., CNA, LVN · Dec 9, 2014

I agree call the BRN. California has VERY strict reciprocity requirements. You don't want to not be able to transfer your license here.
I personally think moving away from home while you are young us a great plan. PR is awesome. I moved away and joined the military when I was young and single and it was a great experience.

Thank you. I did contact BON and spoke to someone who referred me to the website to look under the Nursing Practice Act title, 1426 requirement. Puerto Rico schools starts in August, $15000 for ADN(2yrs) program and $25000 for BSN(3yrs) which is a while from now. I was willing to give up my LVN acceptance spot and take my savings to move outside of CA to a school with no GPA/prereqs, no wait list and fast track to a state that is low cost of living and low cost tuition. I guess my best bet is to now continue to seek a hospital job that offers tuition reimbursement for private school lvn-bsn in california. I did have some people on here tell me about schools in Wisconsin and Kansas that have low cost living and tuition as well as florida and Arizona.