The road to travel nuring and choosing my first assignment

To get my nursing license in other states took some advance planning.  Unlike Oklahoma, several of them require finger printing and detailed background checks.  In Oklahoma, the background check consisted of filling out a piece of paper, paying money, and then 15 minutes later getting the paper back stamped that you passed.  I am sure if anything showed up things would have been different.  J

I started, back in December, working on getting a license in Arkansas, California, New Jersey, and New York.  These states do require fingerprints and extensive back ground checks.  The procedure was started by printing out all the required forms and requesting fingerprint cards from each state.  I made the decision to move my official residence to Arkansas so that I could have a compact license there.  A compact state means that that state has made an agreement with other states to honor their nursing license.  It is very convenient for nurses.  As of now there are 24 states that honor this agreement.

It took about 2-3 weeks to get the fingerprint cards in.  New Jersey required 2 sets.  I decided to work on getting my Arkansas license first.  The paperwork was filled out and fingerprinting was done, then I had to go buy cashiers checks.  One to send to Oklahoma to verify that I had a license (that cost $40.00) and a second one to Arkansas to get my license there.  I also paid extra to get a temporary license.  I was told it would take up to a month to get my temporary license.  Imagine my surprise when after mailing it on Monday, my temporary license arrived Friday.  Since the temporary license is also compact I was ready to start the search for an assignment.

I had done extensive research on travel companies trying to make a decision on who to go with.  In the end, I made the decision based on who could get me assignment, who called me back when I called, and last, but not least, who had the best compensation package.

Today I had to make a choice between Austin, TX and Lebanon, NH.  New Hampshire did have a better compensation package, but I was having a problem finding a place to stay.  I spent several hours on the internet and phone looking for an RV park near the hospital.  I finally located one 27 miles away.  There are other parks in the area but they don’t open till the first of May.

I also researched Austin and found several parks that were within 20 miles of the hospital.  There are some that have heated pools and spas. 

I finally made the decision that I would be submitted to both places and see which one I received an offer from. 

I had an interview with the hospital in Austin and received a formal offer.  So it looks like we are off to Austin.  I would still like to go to New Hampshire, maybe in the summer.