EMR Conversions: Meditech Travel Nurse Jobs Available In West Virginia
Beckley ARH Hospital, an acute-care facility located in Beckley, West Virginia, is looking to fill 35 travel nurse needs to help with an upcoming EMR conversion, according to a source with LiquidAgents Healthcare. The hospital is transitioning from paper charting to Meditech as part of an ongoing EMR conversion rollout to all Appalachian Region Healthcare facilities that started in 2017. Contact LiquidAgents Healthcare for more information about these EMR conversion travel nurse jobs in West Virginia >> Currently, 35 positions are available for primarily medical-surgical/telemetry travel nurses, but other specialties are available as well. Days, nights and variable shifts are all available at this time. Nurses with a compact license can now use it for West Virginia, as the state joined the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact this year. Travelers can still apply for a single-state license, but West Virginia is not a walk-through state so it could take 5-10 business days to process. What travelers should know about Beckley, WV Beckley is one of the largest cities in the state and is one hour south from Charleston, the state’s capital. The city also has one of the lowest cost-of-living ratings in the U.S., with average rents at 36 percent of the national average—or about $570 a month on average for a 1-bedroom apartment—so travelers can potentially save hundreds over the holidays on living expenses.
Oklahoma, West Virginia, Florida Adapt To Compact Nursing License Demand
More than a month has passed since five new states–Florida, Oklahoma, Wyoming, West Virginia and Georgia–joined the Enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact, which allowed these states to issue compact nursing licenses to new and practicing nurses. Nursing and licensure boards in these states are working to meet the demand for compact nursing licenses by adapting their procedures to process federal background checks, with varying levels of success. Today, we look at the process in three of the new states. We’ll have updates from Wyoming and Georgia next week. Oklahoma: Preparation, early applications make process smooth The Oklahoma Board of Nursing has received 859 applications from existing license holders and 76 for endorsement, said Jackye Ward, Deputy Director of Regulatory Services for the Oklahoma Board of Nursing. Oklahoma has 56,490 registered nurses and 18,381 licensed practical nurses, according to their FY 2017 Annual Report. The board squeezed processing time down to an average of 1.78 days, thanks to a combination of a well-prepared staff and early application acceptance date, Ward said. The board worked with state staff to accept compact nursing license applications as early as Jan. 5. Applicants “are getting fingerprints in for background checks so quickly,” Ward said. “It’s going really well. We’ve worked very closely with applicants and provided calls and callbacks to keep people updated on the process.” West Virginia: Interest strongest with nurses near state borders West Virginia’s Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses is seeing similar demand, with about 1,500 out of 34,000 RNs applying for compact nursing licenses, executive director Sue Painter said. Most of the applicants live near the border and are looking for work opportunities in nearby compact states like Kentucky and Virginia, Painter said, which is precisely why the board pushed for the state to join the eNLC. “I was a nurse in another state and held a multistate license for a short period of time, and when I returned I went from being able to work in 25 states down to two,” Painter said. “The board has been in support of joining the eNLC for some time.” Application turnaround time has also been fairly rapid, Painter said, mostly because of the board’s ability to accept background checks electronically, which was implemented by a stringent approval process prior to the eNLC launch. This helped cut down a potential 18 week waiting period for returned background checks to five days. Misinformation has been the biggest speed bump in this process, as some staffing agencies have demanded for their nurses to still apply for single state licensure to work in West Virginia, but this has only happened for a handful of cases, Painter said. Florida: Criminal background check slowing licensing process Florida, the largest new state to join the eNLC–in terms of both active nurses and number of compact nursing license applications–is still struggling to meet the demand. As of Feb. 19, the Florida Board of Nursing has received 9,064 applications from current RNs and LPNs to upgrade to the compact nursing license, Florida Department of Health deputy press secretary Brad Dalton said. More than 5,000 applications were received in the first eight days after eNLC implementation. Of that number, 1,253 new compact nursing licenses have been issued, Dalton said. “The primary deficiency with the pending applications is the Livescan (fingerprint) criminal background check,” Dalton said. “Some applicants are also having to provide additional documentation for claiming Florida as their primary state of residence.” To address filing and processing issues, the board has revised information in their applications and on their website to hopefully help applicants better understand the background screening requirements, Dalton said. eNLC critical to addressing nursing shortage, patient care Despite the challenges, the boards a in new eNLC states are happy to be able to provide these new licenses for their state’s active nurses. “Florida, along with many states in the U.S., is committed to addressing nursing shortages,” State Surgeon General and Secretary Dr. Celeste Philip said in a press release. “By joining the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact we are reducing regulatory burdens on nurses with the goal of increasing patient access to quality nursing care.” eNLC implementation probably won’t have a major effect on travel nursing in West Virginia, since most travelers would’ve already had their single state license, but the joining the compact will help reduce costs and time waiting for the old license, Painter said. “One of the most beneficial things is that the law (eNLC) makes the practice across state lines safer because we are allowed to share discipline information,” Painter said. “It’s easier to protect the public and provide the best professional care.”
The eNLC: How To Get A New Compact Nursing License
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing implemented the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact on January 19 this year. On that day, five new states joined the compact. For those who already had compact nursing licenses that means you now have five more states where you can practice without having to get an in-state license: Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For nurses with single state licenses in those five states, compact nursing licenses are now available. In almost every state, acquiring one starts with the same two things. The nurse must meet the new uniform licensure requirements (including completing a criminal background check) and have a proof of residency. Florida Florida is charging nurses with current active licenses $100 to convert to a multi-state license, a fee that seems to be middle of the road. The board will accept fingerprints done within the last 90 days when applying for a license upgrade. Fingerprints older than that will have to be redone. Florida nurses ready to apply can do so online through the state board’s website. The state board has also created a list of frequently asked questions for Florida nurses who want to know more. Georgia In addition to requiring proof of residency, Georgia requires applicants for a multi-state license to be fingerprinted for a background check through the COGENT Systems at least 48 hours before applying. The state board also reminds applicants that they can not leave fields on the application blank, that they need to download and complete the GBON Criminal Background Check Release Form to submit with their application, that they should enroll in e-Notify at nursys.com, and to include an accurate email address so that they can communicate with the board about their application. More information is available on the Georgia Board of Nursing website. Oklahoma Oklahoma is charging nurses with an existing license a $150 fee to transition to a new multi-state license. You can download the forms needed to verify Oklahoma as your state of residence from the state board website. You can also apply for a multi-state license online. West Virginia West Virginia has been accepting applications for a multi-state license since November. The process for West Virginia nurses is four steps and explained in more detail in a flow chart on the state nursing board’s website. West Virginia has by far the lowest fee for transitioning a license, approximately just $7, assuming the nurse has already paid for a license renewal for this year. After the fee has been paid, nurses should save their receipt. It indicates their application is pending board approval. Nurses interested in applying for a multi-state license must schedule an appointment to submit fingerprints for a state and federal background check with identtogo.com. An application for a multi-state license can be completed on the state board website. Since West Virginia has two separate nursing boards for registered and licensed practical nurses, LPNs need to visit a different website. Wyoming Wyoming nurses will need to pay $85 in fees to transition their license to a multi-state. Like the other states, an application is available on the state board website.