Important Information for Applicants

Applicants with Foreign Education

In addition to application requirements for equivalency applicants already stated in the Board’s instructions, the Board is requiring all equivalency applicants’ foreign nursing transcripts be evaluated by a nationally accredited credentialing agency to determine program equivalency. The California Board does not accredit nor formally approve credential evaluation services. However, please see contact information below for two (2) such recognized services:

• Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS)
• Educational Records Evaluation Service (ERES)

Other recognized credential evaluation services may be downloaded from the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.

The credentialing reports from the credentialing agency must be received in the unopened business envelope of the credentialing agency and include the credentialing agencies course by course report and evaluation results, as well as a copy of the original transcript and a copy of the envelope the transcript was received in by the credentialing agency. The board will not accept an evaluation report that was received by the credentialing agency from an unofficial transcript.

Applicants with Paid Work Experience

To ensure the protection of the public, the Board has implemented an additional step in the evaluation process of paid work experience. The Board requires a verification from the Human Resources (HR) office where paid work experience was received, in addition to the supervisor completing the Employment Verification – Nursing Experience form (55A-12). The following is the verification information the Board is requiring from HR:

• Employee’s name while employed at the facility;
• Social security number/Tax ID number;
• Employee’s working title;
• Employment period;
• Indicate if the position was paid or unpaid.

This information must be completed by the HR office, on the employer’s letterhead. The person verifying your employment must include their printed name, signature, title, and date signed. The HR verification must be submitted to the Board in the employer’s sealed business envelope to Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians 2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 205, Sacramento, CA 95833.