So I guess it has been a while since I checked in here....well it sure feels like it has been just based on the amount of stuff that has happened....
Only days after my last post, there were some pretty big changes in my life. My relationship ended 😞, my car completely kicked the bucket💀, on top of my contract being cancelled.... it was alot.
I spent the month of January feeling all the things, trying to come up with a new game plan for travel nursing since it became glaringly obvious that Minnesota was not going to work out, no matter which angle I came at it from....and just trying to find my footing again, all while living out of suitcases at my mom's....not ideal but life happens I guess, and she's a pretty rad roomate, not gonna lie.
My Arizona licence FINALLY came through, after waiting 13 weeks for my fingerprint checks to be processed and that turned out to be a GIANT waste of time and money.... I do not reccommend. My license was issued..... and expired the same day, because I live out of country... so I have a license number, but it is considered "inactive" until I can provide them a TN visa...so I can't get a job without an active license and I need a job in order to get a tn visa.... so... ugh, a big waste.
........I needed a new plan....again.
I talked to New York again and at that point they were still processing applications from May....mine was sent in October.... so I knew that one was a ways off. I reached out to a senior recruiter at Cross Country at the advice of several Canadian travel nurses currently working in the States. She ended up submitting me for a job at Minnesota Childrens', that almost immediately was put "on hold".... this usually means they have over hired, or they have alot of applicants and don't want any more resume's. Since there are only a couple of different hospital groups in Minnesota, and we already discovered that all of Fairview Health was saying no to international nurses, it was our last shot. Crickets for almost 2 weeks before I decided I needed to take action. I gave up on Minnesota.
On Jan 13, I applied to both Texas and Washington. I know girls that were able to get into Texas, and I was also talking to a recruiter at Tailored Staffing, and he said Texas was super easy to get into, that they would hire me with a ssn pending and I could start while waiting for that. He also has experience placing Canadians and says almost all his Canadian nurses go through Texas first.
My recruiter at Cross Country told me not to bother with Texas.... just depends who you talk to I guess.
The application process for Texas was pretty straight forward and they utilize the nurse portal, identical to Arizona, which I quite like because you can actually see the documents you have uploaded, what is pending, and message them right on the portal. I had to write an exam for Texas on practice standards for the state, but it was open book and there was lots of time to do it. I didn't study at all, and only got one wrong. My Texas license came through quite quick! I applied Jan 13 and my temp license was issued Feb 4! So just over 3 weeks....even faster than Minnesota I think. So I have a temporary license, pending fingerprint checks, until June. For Texas, they want you to do your fingerprints at a livescan place, and you have to be in the USA to do that. Where ever I end up in April/May, I can stop in at one of the approved places, and have prints done for Texas, and my license will then be permanent. Easy Peasy.
The application for Washington was a bit more complex. I applied on line. There are only options for applying by exam, applying by endorsement, or internationally educated.... I fit both of those last 2 categories, so I had to make a few phone calls. On top of that, I was told by my recruiter at cross country, that I shouldn't need the CES from CGFNS since I already had another US license....I heard mixed things about this online from other nurses applying to WA, so I had to be sure. When I called, the woman I spoke with looked into it, and said that if applying by endorsement as a Canadian, I had to fill out the internationally educated application, and where it asks if I am required to provide a CES, check no, because it only applies to internationally educated nurses outside Canada and the Phillipenes. Sweet....
So that's what I did... I then recieved an email from them stating that because I am internationally educated, I was required to provide a CES....ugh.......
So I emailed back and said that I was told that because I already have a US license, this was not required.... She told me that I needed to fill out an endorsement application and had me print and fill out that application, and email it back to her...which I did. I also had to provide my original license in the province I passed the NCLEX, a Nursys for MN, and any other current license....which I did.... then I waited.
A couple of weeks later, I recieved an email stating that they needed me to send my license from my original province, as well as my NURSYS and I had 30 days to do so before my application would be discarded.....ugh... so I called again. I also replied to that email with screen shots of all the confirmation emails I had recieved that showed clearly what dates those documents were sent. When I called, I was told that it could be the case that they just hadn't processed it yet....Which didn't seem right considering it had been 3 weeks since my nursys was sent and that is emailed to them immediately... so I gave it a week and called back JUST to confirm they had indeed recieved everything. The staff I spoke to this day, was the nicest by far, and she looked into it, saw it there online, told me she was attaching it to my file, and sending a work order for it to be processed....and that she was also going to send an email to ensure it got done....a girl after my own heart lol.... no estimate on how long it might take though.... nothing yet.
I realized my life was feeling super unsettled, I had alot to process, and I really just needed a break. I reached out to select medical connections, a travel agency within Canada that I had talked to previously, to see if there were any NICU openings in BC...Travel Nursing in Canada is not like travel nursing in the USA, the pay in Alberta is pretty hard to beat... BUT like I said, I needed a change of scenery pretty bad.... She told me she did have an opening in Kelowna!! I told her I could commit to 8 weeks, and she submitted me....within a few hours, she called me back to tell me I was booked!
Everything felt like it was happening pretty quick all of a sudden... my start date was 2 weeks out and I had to find accommodation, book a flight, and mentally prepare for this adventure. I am writing this today from my temporary home in Kelowna, staring at the mountains, right accross the street from the lake, having completed my first week as a travel nurse....and I feel AWESOME. I am doing 12's again but my schedule is super nice....at least for Febuary...I am walking distance to work...and to everything else I need, and I am getting lots of chill time with Zoey. So it's not the states....but it IS a travel assignment which is good for my resume, and it is BC which is good for my soul.
I am on days off right now, it's my Sunday, and 2 days ago I decided it was time to check in with New York again....knowing what I would hear on the other end of the phone....."We are currently processing applications from July"....sigh.."ok, so maybe 3 more months?" ..."yes, potentially"..."ok, thanks so much, bye bye". I saw that coming.
Yesterday, I woke up to an email from Comparative Ed simply stating
"your education has been approved"
...WHAT?!! seriously??? I literally just talked to you guys, but AMAZING!! I immediately called the nursing department to see what happens next and was told I am now eligible to sit for the nclex... umm excuse me??
no no no.... I already wrote the nclex... I paid cgfns 360 bucks US to send a cvs that should include all my education including the nclex confirmation... he said he was going to have to transfer me to processing to figure it out because according to the application he was looking at, it looked like I had to write the NCLEX.....uuugggghhh, ok FINE transfer me please and thank you
"there are 86 callers ahead of you".....this is the department you can only speak to on Tuesdays and Thursdays... I mean, maybe if they were open a couple more days a week perhaps they wouldn't have to deal with hundreds of phone calls.
1 hr and 32 minutes I waited on hold until I was disconnected going down the elevator in my building!! you gotta be kidding me... I also recieved an email from this department at this point stating I could now register for the NCLEX... I replied, hoping it would get through, explaining my situation.
"there are 68 callers ahead of you".....here we go again....except this time I was smart and I used the stairs....there were only 17 callers ahead of me when zoey decided it was time to go outside...I managed the stairs last time without dropping the call, and yet....for some reason, my stupid phone dropped the call again.....
at this point, the office was only going to be open for 1 more hour, so my hopes of even getting through at all were pretty slim...I checked my email.
They had replied "please send your full name and dob so we can look into your file" I sent it, and a detailed description of the process I had already gone through with my application, and I called back.
"there are 56 callers ahead of you".... no way they were going to answer more than 1 call per minute, but I waited anyways... what harm could it do.... and I was still going about my day anyways...when it hit 445 New York time, there were 30 callers ahead of me, and the recording just came on "our offices are now closed, please call back during normal business hours"... oh well, that's that. The hold music isn't even enjoyable so I regret that choice. I checked my email.
"Hello, I apologize for all the confusion and trouble. I looked up your file and found the NCLEX passing report from Canada sent with your CGFNS. I updated your file and sent it to be licensed. It should take around 1-2 weeks due to the high volume of applicants at this time. Take Care"
One to Two weeks??? Girl I have waited 6 months! 2 weeks is nothing! lol. Needless to say, I am very happy with this outcome. I don't have it in hand yet, but it's being processed and on the way. I am definatly planning/hoping to go to New York in the fall, and it looks like Texas or Washington for April/May.....home for summer...home hunting I suppose...
It's all coming together, and now that I am here, getting actual travel experience in a somewhat familiar setting, I am thankful everything has worked out the way it has. It's always in retrospect isn't it? 1 week down 7 to go.
Xo
Alana
