Wifes Nursing here in the USA: Help with Where to start paperwork?

[delish 29]

On 11/13/2018 at 8:24 PM, chwolff11 said:

Hello everyone. My wife and I breezed through the VISA process with the help of visajourney.com. We have been married for  2 years now with a one year old and a second child due in the Spring. It's been the greatest two years of my life and I'm grateful for all the help this website provided us.

 

At this time she's ready to get a job and begin her American working life. She's a nurse and would like to be a nurse here also. Can anyone direct me to the resources we need to do the NCLEX, IELS and any other paperwork that will be required for her to interview and get a job with a U.S. hospital?

 

Thank you

It depends on what state. For me, i live here in east bay cali, i coordinated with the california board of nursing. Long process, lots of waiting, until i got my att and took nclex last september and thank God i passed. 

[SalishSea 16,776]

On 11/14/2018 at 5:54 AM, Cyberfx1024 said:

We are getting ready for my wife to go back to school at a Community College to get her RN degree here in the USA. She already has a Bachelors in Teaching from the Philippines but said "Hell to No I am not teaching here in the USA". What got me angry though is one of her pinay friends in CA told her you can make good money doing it, but what she failed to tell my wife is that she works 50 hours a week. Once we finally decided that it was time for her to go back to school, we had to figure for what program. So I had to sit her down and tell her exactly what you said the CNA's are ok but they don't get paid jack and quite frankly it's not worth your time to do and time away from the kids to do that. So we are getting her signed up to start next fall at a Community College here. 

Working 50 hours per week is definitely a choice as an RN, and maybe more common amongst new grads.  For many RNs, part-time wages = full-time salary.  Experienced RNs working part-time in certain regions can gross six figures.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Working 50 hours per week is definitely a choice as an RN, and maybe more common amongst new grads.  For many RNs, part-time wages = full-time salary.  Experienced RNs working part-time in certain regions can gross six figures.

Yeah but I would much rather my wife work 50 hours a week as a RN than a CNA, which that was what my wife's friend is and was wanting my wife to be. 

[geowrian 22,335]

6 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Working 50 hours per week is definitely a choice as an RN, and maybe more common amongst new grads.  For many RNs, part-time wages = full-time salary.  Experienced RNs working part-time in certain regions can gross six figures.

That's definitely possible. However, in my area that's far from the norm regardless of experience. Most nurses work overtime (> 40 hours) and they shuffle the hours to minimize anybody getting assigned too many shifts. My wife has done 16 hour shifts. It's not a choice by any means...unless the choice is work the hours or work elsewhere.

Salary also isn't a thing as an RN here..it's almost all hourly.

Edited December 7, 2018 by geowrian

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

That's definitely possible. However, in my area that's far from the norm regardless of experience. Most nurses work overtime (> 40 hours) and they shuffle the hours to minimize anybody getting assigned too many shifts. My wife has done 16 hour shifts. It's not a choice by any means...unless the choice is work the hours or work elsewhere.

Salary also isn't a thing as an RN here..it's almost all hourly.

Thank you. 

 

My point is here in NC CNA's make maybe $30k a year if that while a RN starts off usually around $45k at least. 

[SalishSea 16,776]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

That's definitely possible. However, in my area that's far from the norm regardless of experience. Most nurses work overtime (> 40 hours) and they shuffle the hours to minimize anybody getting assigned too many shifts. My wife has done 16 hour shifts. It's not a choice by any means...unless the choice is work the hours or work elsewhere.

Salary also isn't a thing as an RN here..it's almost all hourly.

Yes, most nursing wages are paid hourly.  Personally I would never accept a salaried position.  In the Seattle area (at least at the major hospitals), RNs are compensated based on years of service to the profession.  RNs with ~20 years in and a board certification in a specialty (i.e oncology) can earn $60/hour, which at 24-30 hours per week, makes for a 'full-time salary' at the end of the calendar year.

 

Honestly, I'm surprised there still are states where nurses are working mandatory OT.  Even though my labor group is not union, we have benefited greatly from all of the union work against mandatory OT.

[chwolff11 1]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:01 PM, BerhaeLee said:

Im a pinay nurse working in VA. Let her go to cgfns first and have all her credentials check off. Before she can apply for NCLEX, they need cgfns. Once she finish that, eveything will be easy. Cgfns -> ncsbn -> check your state BON -> pearson vue (i dont know the order but those are agencies involved). Its a process but its all worth it. I suggest she needs to start reviewing now so by that time everything is approved then she can take the test right away. 

It's very confusing so far but this information is helping. I'm going to call the contact number at CGFNS website tomorrow and see what we have to do. BTW, we are now living in CO so I think English language test is mandatory. 

 

My wife thinks she needs to renew her license in the Phillipines which so far has been a real problem because their website is down and we'd have to get some documents notarized at the consulate then send them to her brother for him to pick up her license. I am hoping that we can get these verifications done through CGFNS and we won't have to jump through hoops in the Phillipines. What do you think? Is that possible?

[SalishSea 16,776]

5 minutes ago, chwolff11 said:

It's very confusing so far but this information is helping. I'm going to call the contact number at CGFNS website tomorrow and see what we have to do. BTW, we are now living in CO so I think English language test is mandatory. 

 

My wife thinks she needs to renew her license in the Phillipines which so far has been a real problem because their website is down and we'd have to get some documents notarized at the consulate then send them to her brother for him to pick up her license. I am hoping that we can get these verifications done through CGFNS and we won't have to jump through hoops in the Phillipines. What do you think? Is that possible?

I wouldn’t see why her Philippines nursing license (as a recertification) would matter so much, as she will have to take the state board exam in the US anyway.   And her nursing degree equivalency from PH is a separate matter from her license.

 

i wish I knew more about foreign credential rules, but anecdotally, we here in Washington we have MANY excellent Filipina RNs within our profession.

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

I wouldn’t see why her Philippines nursing license (as a recertification) would matter so much, as she will have to take the state board exam in the US anyway.   And her nursing degree equivalency from PH is a separate matter from her license.

 

i wish I knew more about foreign credential rules, but anecdotally, we here in Washington we have MANY excellent Filipina RNs within our profession.

Some states require a current license in order to take NCLEX, some other states don't .  Just depends on which state you apply for.

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

3 hours ago, chwolff11 said:

It's very confusing so far but this information is helping. I'm going to call the contact number at CGFNS website tomorrow and see what we have to do. BTW, we are now living in CO so I think English language test is mandatory. 

 

My wife thinks she needs to renew her license in the Phillipines which so far has been a real problem because their website is down and we'd have to get some documents notarized at the consulate then send them to her brother for him to pick up her license. I am hoping that we can get these verifications done through CGFNS and we won't have to jump through hoops in the Phillipines. What do you think? Is that possible?

Again, You need to look at the state you want to work in,  Go to there Nursing Board website and they will have the directions to follow for international students.

 

If they require a degree evaluation, then look that up and get back here and let me know which ones they accept.  I will tell you which one is the easiest to deal with.  Most states require that and want the transcript to be sent directly from the school to the degree evaluation company in the USA.  What you do for that is go pay for Fed Ex envelope for document and have the school use that to send the documents for evaluation, they will usually put a school stamp on the envelope as well. Do not use PhilPost.