Why do all foreign nurses want Cali.?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

It seems like every foreign nurse wants to know how to get to America and work in California. Does California put out nursing ads in foreign countries or is California so exciting in American TV that foreign nurses want to live the "good" life in California despite the 40% unemployment for nurses. I never hear about a foreign nurse inquiring about wanting to move to Fargo.

[Fiona59]

For the Europeans it's Florida or California most often because they've been on holiday there.

For the SouthEast Asians it's usually family ties.

[FlyingScot, RN]

Even Ohioans don't want to be in Ohio! ?

[steppybay]

A few other factors are:

(1). Years ago, CA did not require international applicants to have a SS# that was work authorized just to take the NCLEX-RN and then if they passed, they could receive the license without it, that is until April 2010, when that changed to having the SS# or else the application would be rejected now.

(2). CA does not require the English proficiency exams (and the cost to the applicants).

(3). CA does not require the added expense to having their transcripts evaluated since the CA BRN has their own evaluators. So the applicant can save the cost of that.

(4). CA did not require having a valid nursing license from the country one got their BSN degree from before, but do so now. For the time being, the CA BRN has been waiving this requirement if you can provide them proof that you're an American citizen, dual citizen or a green card holder.

(5). CA was once perceived as the "easiest, fastest and cheapest" state for many years, as the newer applicants have all heard how the process was more "streamlined", but for the past two plus years, CA has now become the "hardest, slowest and expensive" way to get licensed (with the crackdown on the transcripts and not meeting certain course requirements and or curriculums not being "concurrent" with clinical and theory classes and or lacking in subject hours).

In some cases, many applied in CA only to later endorse to another more desired state only to find whatever they were trying to avoid in applying into that first truly desired state, they find there was no escaping the new state's requirements and had to do them anyways.

Or vice-versa, many applied into another state for whatever reasons, then try to endorse into CA and today (from Nov. 2011 onwards), this "backdoor" approach they are finding out it's now been closed due to not meeting the strict CA requirements (concurrency, lacking courses, insufficient class hours).

I last saw a report whereby there's over 6,000 stranded applicants in CA just from the Phillipines alone and I think that number is conservative and exceeds that and it will keep growing as many find out it's too late after they applied.

Even if most could get licensed, the job market for the vast majority will be very bleak as by the time, they get ATT approval and assume they pass the NCLEX-RN for the first-time, almost a year's time will have gone by and many will not be considered "new grads" any longer as the one year application deadline will have almost expired, especially if it's the prized hospital jobs they are after.

Yes, some employers say it can be zero to less than one year of RN experience to be considered a valid applicant for a NG program (residency).