If you read my blog regularly, then you should be familiar with my bittersweet experiences working as a locum tenens nurse practitioner in California.
After spending 7 months in California in 2016, I was ready to move on. I told myself I had no reason to ever return to California for work. A few months later, I received a letter in the mail from the California Board of Nursing notifying me that my licenses were going to expire at the end of the year, unless I paid for their renewal.
I immediately thought I would renew my CA licenses since it was such a hassle to obtain them. As the deadline drew closer I realized I would have to pay several hundreds of dollars in renewal fees. This seemed like a lot considering I was not even sure I would use these licenses again.
I do not plan on going back to California in 2017, as there are many other states I have licenses in that I haven’t yet worked in. On the other hand, there are ALWAYS tons of jobs available in California. I contemplated keeping active licenses there as a back up in case I ever needed a locum tenens assignment to start immediately.
After weighing the pros and cons, I decided NOT to renew my California licenses. I worked with 4 different sites while in California, and I hated all of them. Before and after California, I have loved every single job. Thus, I know I have no intention of ever returning to California for work. I am grateful I was able to explore almost every inch of that state while I was there, and had a fabulous time doing so.
I’d love to read a post about how you maintain multiple licenses. I’ve had so many issues with Texas BON. My initial temporary APRN license with my ND compact RN license seemed simple, but then came renewal.
I’ve spent hours on the phone with them, drove to Austin to expedite my renewal after they screwed up twice. And then I get a certified letter last week notifying me of investigating if I was violating the nurse practice act by practicing without a license. The dates listed were when I had the ND compact RN license/TX APRN (I recently declared resudency here and re-activated an expired Texas RN license). When I called and explained and told her that the BON website showed the ND compact she told me it wasn’t her job to see if I had an RN license from another state!!!
Oh wow, yeah I guess since FL isn’t a compact state I haven’t had any issues. FL is probably the only license I renew.