Empowering Stories: Immigrant Allied Health Professionals in Kentucky

Good morning, Good afternoon and Good evening. My name is Luciana Da Silva, you are watching Onwards and Upwards everything a global nurse needs to know to live and work in the United States. Yes, of course. If you would like to start your American dream, go to our website it's AMNHealthcare.com/International. Turn in your application our recruiters are waiting for you. We have an amazing show coming up today. First of all, we're going to, of course, be speaking with several of our wonderful, wonderful health care workers talking about life in Kentucky. What's it like living in Kentucky? Then we'll have Joy, special Joy, dream jobs with Joy to tell you about the latest opportunities, followed by Holly with your clinical corner, latest clinical tips.  

So let's go ahead and get started. Please put your name in the chat. Let us know where you're from and why. How about this? What are you grateful for? Put that in the chat too. Let's get some conversation going. Here we have, okay, I gotta pull my computer first see the chat. Good morning everyone from Jamaica. Arlene is saying Williams is in Ghana. Welcome Williams Liesl Saudi Arabia wonderful to see you. And Bilal saying Hello, good morning, good morning to everybody. Let's get started and bring in our guests for today. Hello welcome both of you. Let's start with some introductions, ladies first, please.  

Hi everyone I'm Wendey. I work in Kentucky as a medical technologist. I work in a special lab, and I'm working night shifts. I'm about one year and seven months now. One year and seven months exciting. Alright, now, gentlemen, go ahead. Introduce yourself. Hello. My name is Bashar Ibrahim. I'm a medical technologist. I work at University of Jewish Hospital, I will also work night shift, night shift, so you're probably just getting off work then perhaps, well, we so appreciate for both of you taking the time to join us. We know that you're very, very busy, both medical technologists. We do hire allied workers here at AMN Healthcare again, go to our website, AMNHealthcare.com/International. So let's go back to Wendey here. Why did you decide to come to the United States. 

Well, at that time, it was pandemic, and in the Philippines, you know the when pandemic happened, the opportunities opened in all over the world, not just in USA, also in Australia, Canada, but at that time, I feel like USA is the easiest way to go out the Philippines to, you know, to grab opportunities for personal and career growth. Absolutely and you said you've been here for a year and a half a year and seven months. Wow a little bit more than. Bashar, why did you decide to come to the United States? Well, I was just browsing on LinkedIn, and I saw Elisa requesting for medical technologists who would like to work in the US if you have ASCPI certification. And I just decided to send my resume, and that's how it started. 

That is the first step to becoming a medical technologist here in the United States, you have to get your ASCPI certification, and then you can apply, and we will hook you up. You know, we have a lot of medical technologists, and you both are just such an amazing example of the wonderful life you can you can have here. Wendey, tell us about your journey. What was it like getting ready to come to the United States? What's involved there? 

Well, coming from the Philippines, if you're going out as an OFW or like Overseas Filipino workers, you have to have documents with POEA it's like an agency in the Philippines that has something to do with the people going out by the Philippines for work. So it's kind of not smooth, really, because it was working with AMN. Actually, it's like a blessing in disguise with for me, it's like because I was actually a direct car higher in this in my hospital, but then because of all the documents that I need to process in the. Philippines, I have to be under an agency to process that, so they referred me to be under Amn, which is the partner agency of my hospital. And it was nice it was nice. It was just smooth and no problems at all. 

What about you? Bashar, what was your journey like? Well, after submitting my resume to Lisa, I think she set up an interview. We did an interview within maybe other two weeks, and then she requested for some okay, so if we have a specific we want to work in the US. I said, Well, my only option is I don't want where it's so called, where it smells a lot. And she said because she already have mine. She said, no, the place is like in the Midwest, and that is not a lot of snow, so the place will be okay for me. And I remember my friend wanted not to be in the countryside, and she said, it's still okay because it's the city. So that's how it started. 

And where are you located? I stay in Louisville, Kentucky, in northern Kentucky. What's the name of the city there? Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville. Wonderful and Wendey where are you located? Louisville as well, correct? Yes, yes, we're the same. That is an amazing experience for our guests who have never been to Kentucky. You are in the south, and there is a culture that is absolutely beautiful, and we're going to learn more about that today. Wendey, what did you heard about Kentucky before you decided to take the position and move here. 

Honestly, when I was in the Philippines, I really don't, I know nothing about Kentucky. I know nothing about other states. You're like, I didn't know what are the states here? I just know the famous states that we know, but Kentucky and really nothing. So when I heard about Kentucky, I researched it, and then I learned that it's like, it's like, I think it's a horse. It has something to do with horse. I'm not sure if it's a horse capital of this of United States, but it has something to do with the horse. They have, like, a derby season here, and that's pretty much it, the Kentucky Derby. Everybody wears these big hats. Yeah, the big hats, and you go to the races with your gloves, right? First of all, something like that. Absolutely. 

Bashar, what were your What was your impression of Kentucky whenever you arrived, when, I like, when, by the time I arrived, I have already researched about Kentucky. I know is the city of Muhammad Ali. I know the Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC, and one of my favorite bands that the backs the boys. Two of the members are from Lexington, Kentucky. So that's what I do, the Backstreet Boys, that makes you larger than life. Yeah, I like to sing on the show every now and then, apologies on that. So here we are. It is fall, and Wendey, what is the fall like? There the leaves changing. Oh, it started to change. It's not going to fall bloom like the peak of the fall, but the leaves are starting to change and the weather is starting to cool down. So yeah, Bashar, have you celebrated Halloween yet? 

Well, I have not celebrated and globally at work, so I have not celebrated, but I have seen people decorating their houses, and I think last year, I can't remember whether I'm at work on that particular day, but I expected to see children waiting for tickets, but I don't see anything. Well, Halloween is a really fun holiday here in the United States. Wendey, tell us about your Halloween experience. Oh, well, I can say that Halloween here is, like, a big thing, like da really. Yeah, those are the photos. So that's a neighborhood here in Louisville, and that neighborhood, like, that whole street is covered with, like, Halloween decorations in their houses. It's like, it's a big thing because it's not cheap to decorate the house, especially a. So I saw last year, like, like, a very big skeleton. It's like, more, it's like a giant skeleton.  

So, and when you look at it in the prices of it's like, it goes up to $500 so it's, yeah but it's nice. It's nice all kinds of costumes. And do either of you have a costume for this year picked out already? None. I'm not planning to be a part of any Halloween party, but in our apart, in our apartment, actually, they do host Halloween parties. Wonderful. Well, you both seem to already be pros at Halloween, whether you know it or not. Alright, now that we've had some fun with Halloween, let's get back to Kentucky. Here, Wendey tell us in in the city that you live, what is it like? What is the city like? 

It's a pretty it's a pretty decent, pretty decent city. It's not a big city, like, big, big, but I like it this way, because it's, like, it's nice, because it has a lot of groceries, like, your complete groceries with your you have, like, coffee shops, you have a lot of parks. Workout gyms, climbing gyms, you know, it's like, it's a complete it's a complete thing in in Louisville, but it's not like other states, like where it's so chaotic. So I think that's yes, it's like, it's just okay, it's just fine, wonderful. 

And Bashar, what are your thoughts about Kentucky in general? Have you traveled around the state? Well, I've been to only Boston, Kentucky. I've been here for one year, 10 months, I think I've been to Cincinnati and Chicago, been to Cincinnati and Ohio and Chicago. Where are these photos here that we're seeing? Yes, some are here moving. Others are in Cincinnati and some in Chicago look like you have a wonderful family and a lot of friends. Speaking of friends, Wendey, what's the social scene like? There have it? Was it easy? Has it been easy to make friends? What are people in Kentucky like? 

I think people in the Midwest are generally friendly and warm, even if the climate is not really warm here. But yeah, so it it's just easy to be friend people here because it's like, everybody says, Hello. It's like even it's like strangers. They love small talk. And I also like it here, because there's a big Filipino community in Kentucky, so there are nurses, there are medical technologies, there are also other other professionals, like j1 visa. So everything is 

like, finding everybody's friendly. 

We have heard that that is a wonderful area of the country that people are very, very warm. Bashar, what do you do in your free time? Have you also made friends? What do you like to do for fun? Well, specifically I have I only sit down at home, watch television sometimes, and apart from sleeping, since I work night shift mostly in the daytime, in the morning, I sleep on in the morning, and then later on, baby, I watch television and that's it. But we have also a Nigerian community and the Muslim community that we voted among sometimes, but generally, I don't go out much unless the family wants to go out to maybe ship in the other places. 

Well, speaking of going out. Let's talk a little bit about the food. I understand that Kentucky has some delicious food. Wendey, what have you eaten? What have you tried? And what was delicious? Everything it's like here in Kentucky is like, it's like a melting pot. I think it's not really like a melting melting pot like other states, but it's melting pot in the sense that you can see other nationalities in here. So it means also that they cater, I mean, the businesses in here cater for the taste buds of this other nationality. So I have a very generous director in my laboratory, and he always like, every month when he comes to visit us, he always buy us foods, and we always like to explore different restaurants, Mediterranean, Mexican, Italian, Asian, like, name it all. It's all in here, so it's very nice. 

Yes, we love to eat. And actually, Bashar, you had mentioned the Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, I think that's what I said. And then we have been to an Indian restaurant with friends. That's one of the pictures that I said we some of my colleagues, my family, we went there, and it's an Indian biryani and sun club. And then I think I tried the Cuban, Cuban food at, yeah, is it for some more. I think that is very true that in the United States you can get any kind of food you want, and it can be from any country you will find it. Is that right? 

 Let's talk a little bit about transportation. So transportation in the United States and in Kentucky is very different than other places in the world. Wendey tell us about that when you first got here, how did you go about transportation? And what advice could you give our audience? I Well, transportation here, because it's a city in Louisville, there's a variety of transportation. We have Lyft, we have Uber, we have bus, we have taxi, and we have scooters and bikes on the summer. But when I arrived here, it's part of the AMN services that they provide a concert for a certain period of hours. So I never had a hard time with transportation, because I have like, a concert or a driver with me for assistance. 

Did you buy a car? Oh, I just recently bought a car. Yeah, so, but, like, it took me, what, a year and a half before I buy a car, because it's like, because I we have the bus here. It's on our salary. We have a portion that we that we have a portion of our salary that goes to this public transportation system. So when you're employed in the hospital, in my hospital, you're actually free to ride on this public transportation systems. And for a year and a half, that's what I've been using for grocery is for whenever, whatever I want to go into places here in Louisville, because, you know, it's part of my salary deduction, so I use it, but a car. It's always a necessity here, especially it's a big state, if you want to go around, it's probably a good idea. Bashar, do you take a bus to work? Do you have a car? How are you getting around? 

When I came, I used to walk to to my place of work. I know the bus is free, but I used to work initially, but when my family came, then I started using the bus because we stayed together with a friend because there she cannot walk. So we use the bus because it's free when we want to go out shopping or other things, then we can call lift Uber and then move around the city. And Uber is pretty inexpensive, isn't it? In in Louisville? Well, it's only it's not like every, every now and then, just once in a while when you need it, that's when you call it lift. But Bashar, you mentioned you moved here also with your family. What is that? What was that like for your family? 

Well, they like it because I have three children who are in University of nubel currently. One is sohomo, the other one is freshman, and then the little one is a middle school. So it's because of the little one now that I'm planning to buy a car because he lost. Transportation with the transgender transportation system, school transport, JCPS transportation system in Louisville in the Jefferson County. 

That's wonderful. What about Wendey, whenever you came to the United States and it's your first day of work, you've moved here, what was your first day of work like? What was that like? First day of work? It was fun. No, really, it was fun. Because in my work, we all, we all, it's because it's a special lab. We are only composed of a few people. So it's like, it's a small team. And amazingly, when I was a when I was it was actually it was winter when I started here. So my manager really picked me up in the hotel, and we, we go together. We went together to the hospital, and then when I came there, like, there's flowers, there's greetings, they are very so welcoming. And aside from that, because we're only a small team, we, they, I'm actually, they gave me, like a, like a welcome gift. Was this warmers, because it's like it's winter at the time, warmers, kitchen things and just for to start life in the US. 

Bashar, what about you? What was your first day of work like? Well, the first day of work, there was an orientation, which we did at home. We just stay at the hotel, and did the orientation from 8am to 12pm so it's like a Thursday or not the first day. But after the orientation, I received a text message from my supervisor saying that, okay, I should be at the lab the next day by 6am I was saying, what? 6am It's like she made a mistake. It's supposed to be so I call her back, and she said, No, it's 6am but if I cannot make it, I should come by it. I said, No, since it's 6am that day will start. Okay? I'll be there by 6am and that's how it started the next day. Tuesday, I went there by 6am and started with my training. 

How did amn support you during this time? Bashar, well, from the airport, they said the concierge will pick me up. Took me to the hotel the next morning, he took me to the hospital for the medicals, and then shopping, getting a phone, everything that I needed within those few days, I think is was handled by EMF to the consent that they sent and Wendey you, you mentioned Some welcoming gifts and things like that that you received, but tell us the other ways that AMN supported you throughout this whole journey. 

Well, I've mentioned a while ago that da provided a concert for certain of hours to help you with go around the city, especially with the medical getting your SIM card or your phone, groceries and such things. But then they also provided the one month accommodation, and that is very helpful, because when you arrive here, you really you don't have anything to go in, like a shelter, or you don't have, like, even if you have friends, you don't even know if they could provide you a room or dad. So it's very pricey if you're going to pay daily for a hotel. So it's nice that they cover that also sounds like such a journey, just from the beginning to the end there and it's still going right. Of course, if you are watching and you would like to start your journey to the United States, your journey to success, to the American dream, go to our website and apply now. Am in healthcare.com, forward slash International. We are ready to take your application, so please apply. Bashar Wendey mentioned about, you know, just her journey and the arrival, and you did as well. I want to back up a little bit. What was the recruitment process like for you. You applied, then what happened? 

Well, I applied. Within a few days, I got an interview with Lisa. And then after that, she said, Okay, we are coming to Luciana, so she will say that an interview. I think within the another two weeks, we had an interview with the lab management. And then we got an offer. I applied in December until December 2022 and then by first of February 2023 I have an offer at hand. So it was smooth. It was the process of the visa screen, because I had to consult all the institutions I attended to get a transcript, which in the English exam, that was what delayed the whole process, but the interview, the offer, and after getting the visa screen, everything was smooth. 

Wendey, were you? Were you scared? Did you have any fear before you came? Was it what kind of feelings did you have during that time? To me, I would be so scared. It's a mixed feeling. Actually, it's I've been waiting for this for about a year. I mean, I've been waiting to step into the United States for about a year, like, I have complete papers already, so I was so excited. But at the same time, when it's like, a week before it's like, your flight, it's like, that's the time that it's really sinking in. It's like, oh, I'm I'm going away. It's like, it's gonna be a 26 hour flight. I'm gonna be 1000s of miles away in my comfort zone here in my home country, so it's a mixed feeling, but it's part of career and personal growth, and you just have to go and grab it. And Bashar, you know, you 

mentioned your three children and that they're they're going, two of them are going to university here. When you came and you came with the family, what were the feelings of your children? Were they excited? Were they sad? Were you know, did it take them a long time to adjust when they got here? 

Actually, I came along after getting accommodation and then getting set. Then that's when I sent them. They went for the visa, and then I came in January, January 11, I think, and they arrived near april 24 so it was later that they came and then started getting used to the place they were excited were coming. Yes, you were excited, but the journey was a long journey, so they were really tired when da 

and Was it easy to find schools for them, especially your youngest? 

Yes, it was easy. I applied online, and within, within Is it a week or two weeks? Within a week or two weeks, she was assigned to school, my daughter that has to go to the University of Google, she applied. We did everything, and it was fully sponsored by by my by the place of home, because they have a tuition benefit, so 

there was no housing to get the admission. 

Congratulations, then to have your children in in university here. That's absolutely wonderful. That's them achieving their American dream now, right? 

Yes, 

I love that. We absolutely love the stories here, that that everyone shares. Wendey, now that you are in Kentucky, you've been there for a while. Where have you traveled? Have you gone around the state, around the 

state, yeah, but I think I only went to, I think it's was named Red River Gorge that's from other states. Sorry, 

talk about your travels. Yeah. 

Okay, oh yeah, here in Kentucky, I already went to Red River Gorge and natural bridge. That's the only thing that I that I went here because I don't drive much in around Kentucky, because I just had my car right now so, but then all over the US, I already traveled to quite a few states? Yeah, I've traveled to Utah, to West Virginia, to Missouri, Illinois, New York, to name a few. So it was fun, because USA is very big, and it it gives you the the country is like the best of both worlds. It's like you have snow, you have summer, spring, fall. So it's the best of both worlds for every for this country. 

Bashar, do you have any trips? Is there any place in the United States that you really want to go? And see and take your family and tour around. 

Well, there is not really a specific place, but with time, we'll provide that. We will go there normally. I think my wife wanted just because of the name she likes that Ohio, and that's how we went to Cincinnati. From there, we took an Amtrak trip to Chicago, and then after our site scene in Chicago, we flew back to New Day. So that was 

exciting. 

That's they enjoyed the trip. 

Let's pull up the map of Kentucky again, if we can, I want to show for our viewers to see that Kentucky is very central there. Look at how many states actually border Kentucky. So you have Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and it's just right in the middle. So it's, it's very easy if you want to go to the northeast, if you want to go to the south, if you want to go out west, I tell you I had to do a wedding. I went to a wedding in Louisville, and I took the wrong turn. As I was driving through, I took the wrong turn, and all of a sudden I see this sign in I'm in Indiana. How did this happen? How am I in Indiana now? And it's really, really neat that, you know, it's so central, like I was saying. Now, Bashar, tell us a little bit about your clinic in general. You talked about your own experience. But what is the clinic like? What type, what types of technologies are there? 

Well, the Jewish Hospital is open. It is, well, how will I describe it? It's a very big hospital that we studies, the lab service, the Heart Hospital, the phrase habilitation Institute, and the main Jewish hospital itself and the outpatient like I have seen a message from the CEO that last year we attended to 2 million patients. 2 million? Is that right? Yes, Wow, that's incredible. Wendey, tell us about your clinic. Yeah. So I work in special lab. It's called the histocompatibility lab. So we are more on histocompatibility testing's, DNA and HLA. So yeah, like I told you, we are only a small team, but our census is like lower than the core lab, but we are more working on solid organ transplants, particularly heart, kidney, pancreas, lungs, and, yeah, that's it. Liver. So those are the five major solid organs that we are working with, all part of helping to save lives and helping others. That's absolutely wonderful. And actually, we are recruiting histotechs and cytotechs right now.  

So please, if you are a histotech or a cytotech you specialize in those two fields, apply. We are ready for you. Am in healthcare.com. Forward slash International. We're also looking for a professional therapist, physical therapists, the all of these allied jobs, they're just phenomenal and so many great opportunities. But Sean, about the technology, I want to go back a little bit on the technology. Was there anything that surprised you when you arrived in your clinic that's different from your home country. Well, here they have the what they have the equipment that can test more. That's how we have automation line. We have automation lines. So the automation, with the automation, has to have a more volume of test done, because barely, I don't have any official but I think we run around 2400 troops per day. And with that, I have seen equipment that I have never seen, only seen in textbooks like the thromboepi that we used to run like when they are having the kidney transplant, that she is talking about the kidney or liver transplant. So we'll be getting a sample and running the samples to see that if the transplant is going smooth or not. So. So that's I've never seen it until when I came here. 

Yeah, Wendey, how is How is your work environment different from the Philippines? What did you notice? Very much different when it comes to the machines and processes my laboratory right now, or my clinic right now, is high complexity lab, and there's no room for error, because you are I am dealing with transplantation, and sometimes it also we also have, like, living donor transplantations. But then also in here, it's very professional. It's like, you have to get out, or, like, clock out. If it's like, it's time for you to go home. You don't have to do overtime to without pay. And when you have issues. 

Everyone's like, very professional, and you you deal your issues in the workplace. So you don't have to be personal with your other colleagues. It's very specialized. And you know, getting you have to be certified. So Wendey, how did you go about even getting certified to see ASCPI? Is that correct? So ASCPI is one of is, like the major certification that needs that, or license that was needed to go to work here in the USS as a medical laboratory scientist. But there are also different certifications and licenses if you work in special labs, like you mentioned, yeah, the histotag and side effects. And right now, I am not yet certified as a CHD, but I am working with my manager, because I have to be certified in about a year to three one to three years. 

Wow. So it's that continuing education, continuing your success, reinventing yourself all the time, getting smarter and smarter, right? Yeah. Well, I tell you what, we are running out of time here, but I want to ask you both for some final advice for our viewers. Bashar, if you could give anyone who is thinking about making this jump to come to the United States and live here and work here, for our nurses, we do give green cards as well. What is your piece of advice? Bashar, well, they have to be patient. Have to be patient because normally it takes time. It's not like you just apply. You get an offer, and then you just go the processes take time. You have to be patient. And I know it's capital intensive, but you still have to be patient, patience. What about you, Wendey, what's your final piece of advice? What's 

the final piece of advice? I'd say, don't give up. Especially right now, I see a lot of because we have a group in Facebook that I see a lot of complete papers already, they're ready to go out of the Philippines, trying to find employers here in the US, but they couldn't find one, because maybe pandemic is where we are already okay with pandemic. So like there's a lot of competition already, not only in the Philippines, but also in other parts of the world and in the country as well. So do not give up in your dreams. Just hang on it. And if you have to do other second options, like doing like going on agencies, because a lot of like going to direct cars, but if you need to go to an agency for a smoother process, then go for it absolutely. And AMN Healthcare International, we actually offer both direct hire and staffing. So you can go either way. And we have opportunities all over the United States.  

So if you are an RN with your NCLEX, please apply as well at AMNHealthcare.com/International and right now, just to talk to the nurses, we are going through retrogression. The fastest way for you to get here is if you do staffing right now for this time, because we can go ahead and file your I 140 very quickly for you and get your process started. Make sure you have your NCLEX and experience. Make sure that you follow our social pages for all of the latest opportunities and the requirements, and get your. Our wonderful journey started, and of course, we are here with our show onwards and upwards every other week. Thank you both so much, Bashar and Wendey. We really appreciate it. We know you're very hard workers, so please get some rest. And we really appreciate everything that you do. Thank you. 

Switching gears a little bit now, let's check in on the latest job opportunities with Joy, Hi Luci, Hi everyone. Good morning. Good. How are you doing? Joy, I'm fine. Where are you joining us from? You are in I'm based in the Philippines, based in the Philippines in a beautiful place there. Yeah, absolutely. So tell us about the latest opportunities here at AMN. Okay, so hello everyone. Welcome to Onwards and Upwards. So today, as you are aware that, by the way, I'm Joy Bansag I am the place and manager with AMN Healthcare. So as you are aware that AMN is the only company with both direct and staffing opportunities. So it means there's a lot of opportunities for you. So today I'll be talking about nursing opportunities, for a direct opportunity, for one of the one of the largest healthcare group in Pennsylvania, and we have hospital attributes scheduled on December five, so we are recruiting for their three hospitals.  

So what we're looking for is we're looking for nurses who already passed NCLEX, so with at least two years of nursing experience, and it is very important that you must be continue working in the bedside throughout the duration of the immigration process. So what they're offering, so the hospital is, this is a direct they're offering a very competitive rates. The salary is based on the years of experience and qualification, and will be the same as American Nurses. So it means the more years of experience the you have, the higher the rate is. They also pay for the immigration cost. They provide a stipend, allowance of relocation, stipend of 7500 a sign on bonus of 16,000 US dollars. So they also provide medical, dental, life insurance, vision and disability, plus they have also the tuition reimbursement, plus they also have retirement benefits and the paid time off.  

So if you are interested, or if you know anybody who might be interested for this opportunity, please send in your application to AMNHealthcare.com/International, and me and my team will be happy to call you to discuss about this opportunity in details. So aside, so we will be discussing also about the reason why Pennsylvania is a good opportunity to start your career in the US. So first is the affordable living. So Pennsylvania has a very low cost of living. So they have lower cost of living compared to the other neighboring states. Plus the cost of living in Pennsylvania is lower than the is lower than the general lower than the national average. So it means your dollar, your money, has more value, and it can stress. It can go it can go farther, for towards your towards your housing, to towards your utilities or other or other expenses. So if you look at the See, here we are. We are showing you some comparison of the cost comparison among other states. 100 is the US average. So we are comparing Pennsylvania with the other neighboring states, plus California.  

We added California because we know there's a lot of nurses who wanted to go to California, but let's talk about Pennsylvania. So if you can see if 100% is for the US average Pennsylvania is only 94.5% so that means that 94.6 so that means it is 5.4 lower than the national average, comparing to New Jersey, which has it, which is 119.4% and that is 19.4 higher than the national average, then New York is 172 That's New York is one point 72.5 then Washington, DC is one point 51.9% so they are higher than the national average. Plus the California, again, we include the California because we know there's a lot of nurses wanted to go to California, so it's 1.1 49.9% so it's 49.9 higher than the national average. So Pennsylvania has lower cost of living. Another reason is the education. So either you're looking it for yourself. To enhance your or to go further your studies, or for your for your children, most of the nurses, or most of those who wanted to go to us, either allied or nurses, wants to go to us because of the future of the children.  

So good education is a good foundation. If you're looking for a top university or top colleges, then Pennsylvania is the place to be. Pennsylvania also is the third in the nation for the quality of best, best colleges. That is according to that is according to da Wall Street Journal. So there's a dozen of good private and publicly supported community universities and college throughout Prince, throughout Pennsylvania. Another reason why Pennsylvania is a good option is DA. It is a land of job and opportunity. So Pennsylvania is the home of 2021, fortune, 500 companies. So the job market is built on a on a solid foundation and established industries. So it means there's a lot of opportunities for the spouses, for the dependents who are not into healthcare. So there are other opportunities waiting for you in the US. Another reason is the four seasons. So for the four seasons, so you will enjoy the fall, the spring, the summer, the winter, and you have something to look forward every year, plus you will enjoy the different seasonal activities.  

What Pennsylvania can offer you last is the proximity of major cities. So living in Pennsylvania means you just have a short drive to neighboring, neighboring major cities, like the New York City, the Washington, DC or the Baltimore. So living in Pennsylvania will offer if you can see on the map. So it is, there's a lot of neighboring the New York so it's just very close, just few hours drive in there. So you can enjoy so that gives you, it offers you the chance to explore different cities without the hassle and bustle of living, of living on those on those states. So those were, those were the major reasons. Those were the major reasons why Pennsylvania relocating to a new place, cost of living is very important. There's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, a lot of take, a lot of factors to consider in Pennsylvania is, is a good option, as I have mentioned. And before I end about Pennsylvania, about this client again, I would like to encourage everybody, if you're interested, to send in your application, to send in your application at AMNHealthcare.com/International, and we will be happy.  

We already started recruiting for their interview. That is on December five so send your application, and before I end this, I would like to show you, or to share with you some of the some slides of the new arrival nurses am and nurses to the US, so we're happy to see them that they started leaving their America and their American dreams like you. They also dream to they also dream to work in the US. The patiently waited because of the retrograde, and they didn't. They trust the and they trust the process. So I would like to encourage everybody, also who wish to who wish to work, or who has a dream to come into us, to believe in your dream. Start your immigration process now, put your put your application in line to get the priority date, AMN Healthcare can help you with that, especially with our with our staffing, with our staffing opportunities, we can file for your green card now. There's no better time than today.  

So know that, know that that AMN will always be here to assess throughout the process, from licensing to immigration to onboarding. You have heard about our guests, how we supported them, so start our start your journey with us. For start your immigration journey with us, and we will be here and guide you in every step, in every step of the process. So thank you and thank you for joining us. Have a nice day. Thank you. Luci, applause. Those smiling faces. They. You so much. Holly. Join us with the clinical corner. 

Hi, good morning, Luci. Hey, by the way, you have some news to share before we get started here. Yes, I've been out for a couple weeks. So I got married at the end of September, and there's my new hubby, and we have we enjoyed a two week honeymoon, and now we're back to the daily grind, but we're very happy, and it's been an amazing few weeks. It's the newly wed. It is the best day of your life, isn't it? It is. Congratulations. You look absolutely gorgeous. Back to business here. What do you got for the clinical tips for the clinical corner today? So Hi again. So I've been working with nurses for many years who are from other countries, and it seems like sometimes there is a surprise in store for some of you when you get here and you've practiced in healthcare in another country. So in terms of trust, professional trust in action is kind of what I want to talk about for a couple seconds. Basically when we go somewhere as healthcare professionals.  

We've talked about this on the Lefora Talk Show, that the profession of nursing in particular is the most trusted profession in the United States, that means the public trust us, and that's really both a blessing and a burden. But when you get here to begin your career, there are so many things that may be different and overwhelming and stressful, and you want to feel trust in your new colleagues, and they want to trust you, however, the way in which we communicate and build trust may look very different from what you're used to. So for instance, if we are talking about an event that may have just occurred, maybe we had a patient who coded a team response to the bedside. They're trying to resuscitate the patient, and afterwards, there's a group debrief, and someone says, Well, I wish that Jane had maybe had a little more timely response. Can we look at how the call happened to get help, or can we look at whether there's an opportunity to maybe improve communication.  

Now, if Jane shuts down and says, Oh, I can't believe you're spotlighting me, this is so embarrassing, that would actually be surprising. So trust comes from that open communication and open dialog, and also a constant focus on patient safety before personal ego, so that can be really off putting if you're involved in discussions with a group or an even in front of a patient. How can we make this work better? Or No, no, don't. Don't do that right now, I need you to stop and let me take over. And someone may feel like, what am I doing wrong? We're in front of a patient. Don't correct me because we're in front of a patient. Ultimately, remember, patient safety is first, and if that is always your priority, and you're openly communicating, and you're frequently looking for opportunities for improvement, not to say that you even made a mistake or that the team made a mistake, but how could it be better the next time, if that's your constant focus, it leads to an improved relationship with Your colleagues and a better, safer environment for the patients you're caring for.  

So that's kind of my tip for the day, is building trust means open communication and frequently looking for opportunities to improve patient safety and improve individual and group performance, regardless of whether that's uncomfortable or not, it's important for us in the US healthcare culture to always be looking at those things. Thanks. And have a great rest of your week and a lovely weekend. Congratulations again, Holly and the chats also wishing you congratulations. Thank you Happy Halloween. Yes thank you. Good luck everybody. Hope you have a fun holiday. If you're getting ready to celebrate Halloween, absolutely. 

Thank you so much Holly. Well, we have reached the end of our show. Let's take a look at our upcoming shows. You have many shows here, so let's see. Our next, Onwards and Upwards show immigration, Q and A I saw here in the chat that somebody had asked about retro aggression. So we will have our lawyers, wonderful lawyer partners, Chris and Mike, on November the 15th to answer your immigration questions. Live our next Lefora Talk Show with Holly. It's going to be October 29 that's next week on Tuesday, and you can never forget our podcast, nursing in America. You can listen to it on our website, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google, wherever you get your podcast. Listen to nursing in America. It is actually on the top charts in many countries around the world, and we are just there and helping nurses and they are letting you into their lives and their journeys.  

It's absolutely wonderful. We want to hear from you. What should we cover on our upcoming shows? This show is for you. Send us a message, let us know what you think should be the next show topics over the next several months. You can also put it here in the chat we love to hear from you. Don't forget about our AMN Academy. This is one of our most successful, popular shows, because we are here to help educate you to be licensed and ready to go for your American dream every other week. So we have NCLEX classes with Ipass Niner joins us every second and fourth Monday for TOEFL and IELTS classes as well as Aspire RN Doctor Paul is also here on the third Mondays to help you with your NCLEX preparation. Thank you again, so much for joining us. And one more quick thing, we are doing a photo contest.  

And the photo contest, send us your pictures of fall. We've been talking about fall and Halloween and changing of the colors we want to see your pictures. Send us one picture, your favorite picture, and we will post it here. Everybody gets to vote, and we have some fantastic prizes. So make sure that you go through all of your cameras and make sure you pick your favorite photo you can submit until November the eighth. Thank you so much again for joining us, and as we always say, onwards and upwards. Take care, everyone.