What It’s Like to Raise Kids in the USA

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be watching from and welcome to AMN Healthcare International's live show, Onwards and Upwards everything a global healthcare worker needs to know about living and working in the United States. My name is Danielle Freedman, and I am the host of today's show. Very excited to be here with you all today. We have a show topic today that is very near and dear to my heart. We are going to be talking about kids in the United States, what it takes to bring them here, what it's like to bring them here. We're going to get into all of that good stuff. So if you are following along and you have any questions during the show, please feel free to put them in the chat. We love to get questions from our audience, and please let us know where you're watching from. We love to see where our audience is watching from. We know many of you are watching from around the world, and we thank you for taking the time to watch from us, to learn from us, and to be with us today. I see we have Rose, who's watching from the UK. Hello to Rose, we have John, who's watching from the Philippines. Hello to John Angela, from Kenya. We are covering the globe, everybody.

Thank you so much for being here with us today, and don't forget put your questions in the chat. We want to make sure that you are getting the information that you are looking for. So let's bring out our experts this morning, and let's talk about what we are going to be discussing today. Good morning, everybody Danielle and Crystal, how you both doing today? Danielle, I am good. If you hear my voice is a little bit raspy. It's because I am sick, because my two kids are sick, I think comes with the territory of having kids exactly as we all know, as I'm sure all of our viewers know, who are watching from around the world. So before we get into today's show, let's pull up our graphic of what we're going to be discussing. Our main topic is going to be raising Kids in the USA, and we have our experts on who are going to introduce themselves. We're also going to be doing work wonders with joy. So Joy, our recruitment manager is going to be featuring some of our jobs. And we also have our clinical corner with Holly, where we will learn new clinical lessons. And we also want to give a shout out to our newly arrived nurses, many of whom came with families in the last few months. So we're going to have some pictures from some of our newly arrived nurses. I know I love seeing those. So let's get started this morning. Let's do a little bit of introductions. Kaye, if you want to tell our audience a little bit about yourselves and a little bit about your kids, that would be great. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, everyone.

My name is Kaye, as you can see, travel nurse hacker, I've been in the United States for almost 20 years now. Out of that, I also had three years contract. I came here as a single person in New York City. And after that, I did travel nurse contracts, local contracts, crisis contracts. So that time I was single, and then eventually I had kids and family, and there was a lot of transition going on and moving around. I probably have moved way more than a military family. So we've I've changed address 14 times in almost my 20 years here in the United States. So you can see the movement that I have done with kids, without kids, and with dependents as well. So that's my background. I'm the operating room nurse. My specialty, a procedural nurse. Also endoscopy, cat lab. What do you call this one? Interventional Radiology as well as your main ORs and ambulatory surgeries. So that's, that's my experience, alright? Well, I'm excited to dive in and hear what advice you have for our audience Kaye. Crystal, let's have you go next. Give your little introduction, please. Hello out there.

My name is Crystal I have been with AMN International, working with nurses coming to the US for exactly three years, today, well tomorrow, but tomorrow's Friday, or tomorrow is Saturday, so it doesn't count. So three years I have been working with and talking with every nurse coming through single and with kids. I myself have a 12 year old, a 10 year old and a seven year old, so I can relate to those of you with kids and the different stages that you're at with them and what they're headed into, as far as going to school, or whether it's going to be elementary or middle, what kind of environments they're headed into. So I hope to be of a little bit of help today, if you are planning on coming to the US with kids, and maybe you're a little bit anxious about that. Alright, well, I'm sure you have a lot of good stuff to share. I know some of our nurses who might be preparing to come and are watching the show probably see you as a familiar face. So that's exciting. And as I said at the top of the show, my name is Danielle Freedman, a little bit more background on me and my journey and why the show is so near and dear to my heart. I actually moved to the United States when I was eight my sister was four. Our parents packed us up from South Africa, everything we knew, our family, we left.

We came here no family, no help we were young kids. My both my parents were working. It was a very exciting but difficult transition, and I'm excited to share today some words of advice, some of my own experience. So hopefully, between the three of us, we can help some of our nurses who are out there and might have lots of questions, might be feeling anxious about this process, because, I mean, as we all know, it is a big step, so I'm excited for that. So if you have any questions, please go ahead, put them in the chat. We would love to answer your questions, whether you're a nurse who's considering coming, you're a nurse who's in the process, or even if you're a nurse who's here, we would also love to hear from you. Feel free to put your advice in the chat. And if you are inspired by what we are talking about today, and you decide that you would like to apply, you can apply at our website amnhealthcare.com/international. We have opportunities all over the US. We are the only company to have direct hire and staffing options for you. So if you want to learn a little bit more about that, you can apply on our website, and we can help you come to the US through either of our options, both, all of our recruiters are on hand, ready, waiting to help you with your application, and they can help you figure out what path is going to be the right one for you and your family, if that's what you're considering.

Alright, ladies, so let's get started today. So let's talk about moving to the United States. So it is a big thing to pick up and move to the United States, whether you're doing that as a single person, or whether you're doing that as someone with a family, you just have more people to consider. So Kaye, can you talk a little bit about your transition to the United States? How did you emotionally and mentally prepare for that? And how do you advise nurses now who are doing the same and may have kids? It takes Danielle, I arrived into the United States back in 2000 2006 I was a single. I was 22 years old YOLO. So it was, it was not, you know, it was an unexpected timing that I would come because it was very quick for me. I did not have much time preparation. Um, however, when I was given that preparation, I knew where I was going, so I know I was going to New York City. I was single. When you're single, you have more risk tolerance. You might come here and make mistakes or lose finances and spend money, but the spending is not as much when you come in with a family. So when I arrived here, I had higher risk tolerance. I you know, I believed in my recruiter, and I only packed up small amount of money. If you're going to ask me how much I pack up. That was $200 in Manhattan back in 2006 so absolutely non livable. However, I made sure that I had contact with my family here in the United States as a backup plan.

I also listed my family and my friends contact numbers and their addresses in New York City and outside New York City, just in case. For emergency, I also pack up a credit card, which my sister used, gave me as an extension of her user just for emergency reasons, because when we arrive here in the United States, we're supposed to get the sign in bonus, or the relocation bonus that that our agency offered us, our employer offered us. So I didn't bring a lot of money, thinking that it should be sufficient. But as like I said, you know, I was a single person, I I have higher risk tolerance. However, when I arrived here, I wasn't able to start earlier, because there are things that are out of out of my control, and I have to rely on my family's help to support for housing and the cost of living. However, if, if I would have come with a family, it would have been a very different scenario, because it's very financially difficult to survive at one point, because the housing you will, you know, it's very hard to find a health free housing for a big family, rather than a bed spacer for a person like me with single was easier to move around. So my transition here was very. I was very lucky that my family was there to help me as a single person and my financial situation, I down. I almost finished it, almost down to $20 left. But hey, you know what? I survived. So survived to share this experience with you. It was a great experience. A lot of preparation, a lot of mental preparation, especially for me, I was very spiritual. I always think that things happen for a reason to become a staffer and prepare us for the bigger battle ahead. Alright, Kaye, you touched on a lot of good points. We're going to have to dive, dig, deep, dig, dive, my goodness, it's one of those mornings in my house.

In case you can't tell, we're going to dive deeper into a lot of the stuff that you said. So Crystal, I know you've worked with countless nurses throughout the last few years. You've seen it all. What's your best advice for nurses who are in that stage where they're preparing to leave and come to the United States. One of the best things you can do if you're really far away from coming, as we know, the immigration process has some time built in before you're on a plane coming here. The best thing you can do is look at the schools online. There is a website, great schools, if you the great schools.com, great schools.org, if you just Google great schools, you can actually see a map. It matches the same kind of map you see when you google apartments in Louisville, Kentucky. You can also do this with great schools. And you can type in Louisville, Kentucky, and you can choose elementary schools, and a map with little bubbles pops up, you're going to see listings from one to 1010. Is the best one. There's some issues, and there are some ones. There are some twos there are also six, sevens, eights, nines and 10s. You can do is orient yourself to that. You might find that if you have just sort of been thinking in your head, I'm going to walk to work, I'm just going to live at the closest place if you have children, look at that map, you might notice that the schools right near the hospital that your child would be assigned to are twos.

It's better if a year ahead of time, you already have the mentality of knowing that you're going to have a 30 minute commute because there's a 730 minutes away, and you know that you want your child to thrive as much as you want to thrive. And so it can affect you if you realize ahead of time, I need to get a driver's license, I need to be practicing my skills, and I need to be ready to purchase a vehicle, because you're going to know so far in advance that you're going to not live in that apartment right next to the hospital. The best thing you can do is read up on schools early on, and the next best thing you can do is look up your assignment location with your child. What is your place famous for? Is it famous for horse racing? Is it famous because it has the Statue of Liberty. Is it famous? Because Disney World is only an hour away. Look up what it's famous for and show your kids where they're headed and what the exciting thing is. It doesn't have to be expensive. If there's an awesome nature trail or a cool mountain to climb, get them excited about those little things, because being excited about the future gives them the that hope and that excitement that you want them to have, so that they are excited about the journey ahead of them. I love that Crystal I think that's a very good piece of advice.

I know on a lot of our shows, if you've been following along, we talk a lot about visualizing where you're going, looking it up on Google, looking up where your hospital is, looking up where you're going to live. And doing that visualization can really help with the transition. I know I remember when I was young, so I moved to the United States. It's now 25 years, and we moved first to Los Angeles, and I'll never forget my parents showing me pictures of the Hollywood sign of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and as an eight year old kid, seeing those things Disneyland. That was a big one. Seeing those things was very exciting. So you know, no matter where you're going, even showing them pictures of a beautiful waterfall a hike, or maybe it's showing them pictures of the Main Street, and that's exciting. Anything is really new and exciting to kids, as all three of us know, as I'm sure a lot of you know that are watching, but getting your kids to really visualize and imagine what their new life is going to be can be a very exciting part of the process. So okay, I know you moved here as a single but you have seen a lot of nurses come. You've worked with a lot of nurses. What do you see as their greatest struggle when they're coming? And what do you see as their kids greatest struggle when they're coming to the United States? So for the parents who would come here with the kids, the nurses would come here with the kids of. First thing they really the challenge is the emotional you know, when they see their kids like struggling, like being away from their family and friends, it puts a burden in them. I think that's one of the most neglected part that the nurses carry. You know, a burden as well, seeing their kids like that, being separated. And I have done that as well. I have moved to different places and cities and bringing my kids, leaving their friends behind, I can see that.

So what we did before was like that we actually like, preset their minds like six months before that we move that exactly show them what, what you're going to be expecting on the other side, what you're going to be pros and cons when you move to the other side of the of the world, or the different location, or different states. So I think this applies, Danielle, not only to international nurses coming to the United States, but also to local nurses traveling to different states, bringing their kids, is to consider their kids feelings and emotions that they're going through struggles as well. And most important thing there is you preset their mind, let them give them time to accept because the first time that you say that you're moving, they're in denial and they're upset. So you have to give them time to accept it. Don't just give it to them like, immediately, hey, we're leaving tomorrow, right? So that's the most devastating thing you will do is, but however, give them time to recover and accept the fact that, I'm losing where I was before. But however, focus later on, on the things that is better. So later on, I saw my kids now my child had to leave his best friend when he was eight years old to go to a different state, and we set his mind like six months ahead. We told him already we're moving, and we showed him where we're moving, and then eventually, you know, by the time that that we had to leave that location, my son wasn't crying, but his best friend was crying, but my son would say it's okay.

It's not the end we'll still connect with each other we're still tough. So my son already had planned that, that he will move on, and we will still be connected. We're not separating. So I think it's one of the best the most important thing that parents and nurses have to focus is that separation anxiety that the kids will feel, and you have to acknowledge it okay, because you don't want to see your kids crying. You want to see your kids excited. So that's one thing that I want to emphasize that. So that's a great point. Kaye, you know, it's not just about preparing for the transition. It's about what happens when you're actually here and really empathizing with what your kids are going through at really, any age. You know, I have a two year old, and even just small changes in her life can be big changes. Kids are young and they're resilient, and they get through change, I would say, probably easier than adults, but it's still, it's tough. It's tough to leave what you know I'll never forget leaving my best friends. I was eight years old when I moved from South Africa, and it was very difficult, but my parents allowed us to keep in touch. They really helped us to do that. At that time, there was no social media, no video calling, but we use the phone. I remember we wrote each other letters, which was actually something that was fun for me, you know, running to the mailbox seeing if I got a letter from for my friend in South Africa. So there are definitely a lot of ways that you can try to prepare for that transition to make it a little bit easier. Crystal, what advice do you have for nurses on how to support their kids when they're newly arrived so they've touched down.

You know, that exciting moment is there, and maybe that culture shock is kind of starting to set in for them and their kids. To be honest, when you first arrive, there's a there is always going to be a bit of a honeymoon period, and this can hit different especially in different ages of kids. And although all kids are going to miss their friends and miss their routine, because we are all humans, we're creatures of habit at least a little bit, even if we're adventurous, it is going to hit a little bit different for a five year old and it's going to hit for a 16 year old. So if you have a 16 year old who has very tight knit friendships in their hometown, they might not be as excited in the honeymoon period as you would have liked them to see your little kids. They're more open, they're still more carefree. There's still a little bit less anxiety in a five and a six and a seven year old than there is in an older kid. So when they first arrive, let them be how they want to be. If your teenager is a little bit moody, the best thing you can do is let them be moody while you also be encouraging. Never tell them I'm doing the. For you, because they're going to see you going through change and hard times. Also, you never want to put that on your teenager that it's their fault that you're going through anything. The best thing you can do is just encourage your kids, if they are excited, like they most likely will be, ride that wave if they want to go see something cool, if there's a statue in the town, or there's a big building, or there is a nature trail, make sure that you follow through and take them to those things, because that's what's going to keep that hope alive and keep that excitement there until they start to make new friends and adjust. But the best thing you can do is support their feelings, be positive about their feelings, and follow through on those things that you are going to take them to see.

The beginning is usually a pretty fun part of the process. Good point Crystal, the beginning is definitely the fun part you for you and for your kids. You know, you've done all of this hard work, fun, but I will say a little bit of anxiety, I'm sure for a lot of people, because it is a big change, but hopefully more exciting anxiety than fear. Anxiety. You've done all of this work to come to the United States, which is not an easy path, no matter which way you cut it, and now you're here, and you've reached, you know, what you see as your American dream. And there is that honeymoon period, you know, you're happy, you're here, you're seeing all of the positives. But then suddenly things might start to settle in. And the reality of, oh my goodness, I just made a really big life change, you know, where I'm living might be really different from where I was before might set in. We call that culture shock, and that can be something that I would say everybody experiences in some form or another. Kaye, have you? I could see you nodding your head. Have you seen I mean, you've obviously experienced that firsthand as a single but have you also seen you know your friends or family, your colleagues experience that with kids, and what advice do you have for them on how to handle culture shock? Yes Danielle, it happened to me. You know my kids transition to a new place. Also, when we moved to Connecticut, Connecticut is not heavy on international nurses. So I would say, when we moved to one place there, it was a small community, and we're the only non American born area there. I believe, right? I believe. So it was funny, because it's very close need. It's a very nice little town, they don't even have a grocery in that town, right? So we're the only, I would say, Asian, that I've seen there. And everybody knows my child, even the fire department was my child.

They would say, hey, you must be the mom of the you know of him of this kid. I said, yes, so easily so what I'm saying here is, like Crystal have mentioned, the age is very important. You have to know, you know, you have to be specific with the age of your child, like when we move to a location when he was, like, less than two years old. The culture is the culture transitions that hard, because the universal language of children is play. As long as they're play, they can, you know, there's no culture, it's just a play. But when they become older, then that's the start of feeling, of like I look different, I am not the same, right? So my son, now growing up here, and a lot of people, a lot of my friends, also had the same situation, like they could not connect with the locals. Okay? So the locals would say, this is what we listen to and this is what we do. The new transition family would say the kids don't understand and they're trying to fit in, alright? So my advice for those so those families bringing their kids of the higher age, or teenagers, which are harder to adjust, is research a lot of activities for them. Research smaller group activities and introduce them to those because when they start with a smaller group, for example, there is called The Life Team in this community where we're moving. So I signed up my son and I asked about it. Things that it's about group of eight people, teenagers, and you introduce them to that small group, because that way the child will not be feeling overwhelmed that they will have to adjust with, let's say 30 people. No, they're the only one that's different. So introduce them to smaller activities or community programs, like, hey, you know, there's a small group of karate class, there's a small group of music class. It's not really like, okay, maybe he's interested in music, but not a lot, but at least there is some common grounds that you want the kids to start with, right? And then they will, by themselves, find out.

Hey, you know what? I'm comfortable to talk with one person, and we'll play Roblox, right? I. Or replay like, you know, teenager games and that's the start where they find common grounds through a small community, and then later on, they will be introduced to the bigger community. I think that is a great point. Kaye, and you're really hitting on something that I think is even bigger. It's not just for your kids to be finding that small community that they can find those commonalities. It's also for you. You know, I see Kim Spellman in our comment section. Hi Kim. Kim commented she's been with AMN for 12 years, and wanted to share that there's a lot of support available for you and your family. It will be the best decision you've ever made. I could promise you that as a second hand kid who came to the United States, I could second that. But Kim made a really good point. She said, be sure to connect with the international families in your hometown. This is such a magical way to make connections, especially for kids and meeting people who are going through exact same changes and experiences for you. So, you know, I think Kay's talking about putting your kids in activities, extracurricular programs, so that they can meet other kids. Because I agree that's the universal language play for kids. But whether it's for you or for your kids, finding that community of maybe other people who have moved, whether that's near or far, can really be a great way to connect, to learn from each other, to kind of feel a little bit of that slice from home.

You know, when I first moved to the United States, there was a large South African community here in San Diego, which is where I now live, and I'll never forget going to a big barbecue, which in South Africa we call a bride. You know, as you know, will know, when you move to the United States, there's different words for everything. And we went and we played, and I met new friends who also had been through a same experience as me, and same thing for my parents. So it really is a great way to be able to connect, and now you can do that virtually, which is also something that is so great. So I see Crystal nodding her head. I know you've had a lot of experience helping families navigate culture shock. What's your advice on how to help their kids going through that culture shock, period. Crystal, again, this is age specific. Kaye said it very well when she said that play is universal for your little kids, the best thing you can do is take them to the park, any place where they can play. That's how they get it out of their system. They're probably going to be in a new apartment. It's probably not going to be set up at first. It takes a while to acquire the surroundings that you used to have, the decor, the colors, those things that they were used to seeing. It's going to be different for them. And so it can be a little bit built up in a little kid until they go to a park, they're going to play with another kid, and they're going to work through that change that they have now. Again, if you have a teenager that's different, it's not universal.

Teenagers don't just start playing with each other at a park anymore. And again, what Kay said, get them involved in something where there's an introduction where there is maybe some kind of a lead type, you know, like karate, where something is focused and led for them, where they can have the opportunity to make a connection. It's about providing those opportunities for all of the ages, but for little kids, it's a little less structured. Let them play let them just meet another kid. When I lived in Germany for three years, my little kids didn't even speak the same language, but they could play on a playground as if there was no language barrier. It was magical to watch. It was mind blowing, how they could be playing house and not even speaking the same language, but they all knew what to do. And then for your teenagers, you're creating that opportunity, but just in a more, sometimes a more structured setting, or sometimes there might just be a meeting with somebody that you know has the same age as your kids, or maybe they were also foreign born, and just allowing an opportunity for them to make a connection is going to help them through culture shock. Making a friend and making another human connection, a peer connection, is key to working through culture shock. Thank you, Crystal.

I completely agree with that. As somebody who went through culture shock, you know, I'll never forget I was eight when I moved so kind of right in the middle of that age. And I'll never forget my parents set up a play date for me with another friend who's now still my best friend to this day, who spoke not a lick of English do was from Mexico. She had just the same time she spoke only Spanish. I don't know how we were best friends, but our common language was play. I went over to her house we swam together, we played outside. We couldn't communicate, but somehow we were best friends, and now she's still my best friend today, because we went through that shared experience of moving to another place, moving and for us, we moved into a very tight knit community, which is, you know, something in and of itself that can be very difficult to kind of break into. But us having that experience, to be able to play together and go through that challenging time together and rely on each other really bonded us. So if you're able to find that small community, whether it's just showing up in a park or finding it through the kids school or through activities, really getting your kids you know, associated and involved with other kids who might be going through a similar process, can be very, very helpful. So before we switch gears a little bit, I see we have so many people who are watching and have commented that they are watching, and we are so appreciative that you take your time out of your busy schedules to follow along with us. And I just want to give a few shout outs, because I see we are covering the globe.

I see Kitabi in Zambia. Hello Katabi Romily watching from Egypt hello Romely. John is saying, Good morning, ma'am Kay. So John is saying hello to Kaye. We have got nurses and who are watching from all over the world. So thank you all for being here with us today. You can go ahead and put any of your questions or comments into the chat, and we would love to take them. Our experts are here. They are giving their advice, and we would love to help you through this navigation of this process. Also, if you're feeling inspired by what we're talking about today, you can apply at our website amnhealthcare.com/international. Our recruiters are on hand. They're ready, and they are excited to help you reach your American dream. So let's switch gears a little bit. We've talked a bit about culture shock, which, if you're following along in the chat, we have a whole show on culture shock. You can learn all about that, because there is a lot to that topic. But let's switch gears a little bit and talk about schooling. So Crystal, you touched a little bit about schooling when we first started the show, but maybe you can tell us. How does one even go about registering for school? It's kind of a topic that feels a little bit scary for somebody who's watching things are done differently in the United States. What's your advice for nurses who are planning ahead or are going to be arriving soon? Sure. So registering your child for school does not have to be intimidating at all.

If you're going through the immigration process, there is a lot, a lot a lot of things that you are doing that are rigid, no forgiveness or start over, a lot of difficult things that you're going through with paperwork and interviews. Registering your kid for school is going to be a breeze. You're going to bring in what you have. If there is anything that shows how they're doing in their grade that's helpful, they are not going to turn you away if there's nothing in English. Some of you will come from the Philippines, where you can get school records in English. Some of you might come from the Middle East, where maybe they won't put that in English. That's okay. You don't have to come here stressed and afraid because you don't have something to show how your kid is doing. It's helpful if you have it, but it is not a rigid, unforgiving process. They're going to need immunizations, which many of your children will already have, the ones necessary, simply because immigration also required some immunizations. If there's anything you're missing, they'll just let you know which ones are missing, and you'll go get those immunizations. It's it can happen that same day, even you're going to need their birth certificate, because you are going to want to prove how old they are, and you have a birth certificate if you're making it through the immigration process. So you have that one, no problem. You'll need their passport, which you also easily are going to have by the time you arrive here.

So you're going to show their birth certificate, you're going to show their passport, showing that you're legal in the US. The final thing that you will absolutely need in order to register your child for school is proof of residency. Our schools are zoned for certain areas, which, again, goes back to that map and learning where the good schools are, and then figuring out which apartments are close to those, or which rental homes are close to those. You're going to go show them your proof. Of residency, which shows, yep, my kid can go to this six out of 10 school. And anything, you know, 6789, 10, those are good schools below five. You're getting a little bit scary. So you want to show, yep, I live here, and they're going to require that to register your kid for school. And that is, that's something you can't not have. You're going to move somewhere. And so you'll just show that. You'll have the birth certificate, you'll have the passport, you'll have the proof of residency. You may have a decision to make if they're in a middle age, maybe they were in sixth grade, and they're going to start middle school here, but maybe you're just a little worried about the changes. You might opt to put them in sixth grade in America one more time. That flexibility will be available to you. You'll be able to hold them back a grade, if you feel like, let me let them go to elementary school for one final year again, and then they'll head into middle school with friends. A lot of parents actually choose to do that, so there is some flexibility regarding those kinds of judgment calls and then the actual paperwork to register. You've got it nothing to stress about. Let yourself follow through into the process.

You'll go to the school, you'll show the things you have, they'll let you know if there's any extra immunizations, and then your child will be there within the next day of school. If it's summer, you'll wait till that first day. If you're coming in the middle of the school year, they can start the next day, alright. Well, some good information for our nurses who are watching and might be curious about, how do I get my kids signed up for school. How am I going to do that? When am I going to do that? What does that look like? But I did want to say, if you are watching and you're starting to feel a little bit like, oh man, she said, It's easy, but there was a lot of steps in there, and I'm not totally sure I got them all down. Don't worry when you're coming with a partner like AMN Healthcare International, you're going to have somebody who's on your side to help you navigate this process. They're going to there's going to be a dedicated person who's going to help you through this transition process. Advise you how to do this school stuff, advise you how to find your community. So you're not going at it alone.

So please don't feel like you're watching and feeling like I gotta jot this down quickly. We're here to help you, and we want to help you. You know, Crystal touched on her immigration story. I touched on my immigration story. For a lot of us who are at am in healthcare, we're immigrants, so we have done this process, and we know how hard it is, and we really want to help you through the process to try and make it just even that tad bit easier for you and your family. So I want to continue the school discussion, because I know there are a lot of nurses who find this topic very interesting, but I did see that we have some really good questions in the chat. So let's take a couple of those questions. Kaye, I'm going to let you take the first one. Rose is asking, Is it advisable to leave the children behind for a few months when you first migrate? What do you think? Kaye, what advice do you have for Rose? I would say it depends on your resources and your priorities and your tolerance. So when I say resources is a question is, do you have enough financial resources to support your family? In case you have not, you know you cannot start immediately on your job. I always tell people, if you have enough financial resources that you lack you and your family for the next three months, usually three to six months, then, by all means, bring your children. You know, if this something that is priority, your priority.

However, if you do not have the financial resources and you just want to bring your kids here, expect that it will be very, very challenging and difficulty, because not all people will start their job immediately. And there can be onboarding issues, and this is not something that is at fault of the agency or your employer. There are so many factors that place when it comes to start date that you can control, and sometimes you cannot control right? So there are also Board of Nursing. Sometimes people come here and their licenses are not activated immediately. So there are things that you will have to consider your start day, your financial resources is the main thing that I would say that you want to take a consider. Okay, so if you don't have that financial resources to support your family for the next three to six months without pay, I would say it's something it's very beneficial to leave them home while you get yourself settled. Okay, so it's easier to move around and find apartment, go to go do your onboarding right away. Buy your food cheaper when you're by yourself, but when you're with your family, it's more expensive because now you will have to get a bigger housing, temporary housing, if you're not being provided by your agency or employer, and it's more costly you. So again, resources. Assess your resources. It's just a little sacrifice sometimes and a lot of my friends, I advise them, give your kids time to be there because you don't want to be struggling. And they're seeing you struggling.

They're drawing their strength from you. You brought them here. The least thing you do is you see your child struggling by moving around too much or not having the right food, or you don't you're just keeping them at home because you don't have the financial resources to take them out. So sometimes sacrifices will benefit you and your family, and it's easier and it's nicer to see your kids sleeping in a nice situation, rather than bring them here, and you don't have a bed yet, so I'm pretty sure your heart's going to break to see that. And I've done that personally. Danielle and Crystal, when I was when I had my little baby, and I said I didn't have the support system that I needed immediately. I said, I will go home. You know, I stayed home for four months until I get settled. You know, we were there in the Philippines, took a break because it's the best thing. Sometimes little sacrifices will benefit you in a bigger picture later on. But however, I know understand some families wants to bring their family immediately. That's totally fine, and that's totally there's not there's no wrong answer, okay, so, but it's really a matter of your priority. If your priority is to have a support system immediately when you come here, I recommend just prepare yourself financially very well, enough resources to survive in the next three to six months. When I say three to six months, you're talking about at least 4000 every month. When you're coming in with kids with family of four, at least, minimum. Okay 4000 per month so that's the financial resource you want to be a safe I think that's great advice, Kaye. And I think you really hit the nail on the head when you said there's no right answer. Everybody has to do what's best for their family. I'll never forget when I moved here. So I did what Rose is talking about, where I came later. My dad came for six months before my mom, my sister and I, which, you know, there's pros and cons, as we've kind of alluded to, but I had many friends who moved here at the same time as their family.

And I think it really does depend. What are your resources? What are your goals? You know also, what community are you moving into? There are a lot of factors to consider that you need to really think through for you and your family. And again, there's no right answer, Crystal, I kind of see you nodding your head a little bit like this. Do you have anything to add to Rose's question, yeah, the only thing I have to add is you also need to consider your visa expiration. You might not have the flexibility to leave them behind for very long. That might be the only complicating factor to doing what it is you want to do. I would say your motivation for coming with or without your family plays a big role, and your onboarding specialist can help counsel you through that. If your only reason for leaving them behind is that you are worried if they don't finish school where they were, that's not necessarily a good reason to leave them, they are also anxious about learning what's ahead. Any moment in a school year is a good time to go ahead and let them jump right in, even if it's halfway through. If you don't have the financial resources, of course, you might need to leave them behind, but again, your visa expiration is going to determine that they have to come pretty soon after you did resources within the city also play almost probably the biggest role. If you're moving to a city, a place with resources, it's fine to just bring your kids with you where you can have your you know you're going to find an apartment quickly. You know there's plenty of school systems you know, out there with a range of schools. If you're moving to a remote location, that is one of the times it might be better to prepare the road ahead of them.

If you're moving to a remote location and they might not have apartments readily available, the school might be a complicated system where you have to try to get a bus to come to the area where you're moving through the there can be complications in remote areas, but in an area with resources, a regular sized city, there's no reason to be afraid to bring your family. So never let that be the motivation for not taking them. You can take them just also make sure you're factoring in your visa expiration into that so that you're not probably going to leave them for very long. Alright? Well, thank you Crystal and thank you rose for your question. As I always say, discuss it with your AMN onboarding specialist. Discuss it with your friends. Discuss it with your family. Family, try to figure out what's going to be the right decision for you. I often think talking through these topics, you know, there might be factors you're not considering can really help you come to a good resolution and plan forward for you and your family. But thank you, rose for your question. We appreciate it. Okay, you guys, yeah, I want to add, Danielle, this is a very good question that a lot of families have asked me, and this is starting to be, I think there's more volume now that people are coming here as a single parent. They're very worried their children.

They don't know where to put their children. They're single. So just for give you a guidance there for single person. I was one part of my life. Became a single mom, and the most important thing is finding a childcare if you're, you know, identifying that age of your child, if your child is young, like less than two years old, your childcare, there are a lot of options. However, it is a visa processing. So the fastest way for me to find a help is finding day care that are available. So you have to have a fixed schedule that will make you survive that job. Okay, so what am I saying? There is fixed schedule. You want to have as much as possible a day shift. If you can get a day shift, have that conversation be done with your employer during interview, and make sure that when you're being interviewed, you open that information because, because it's very important you get a fixed schedule, if you're a single parent, make sure that the child care available in that area are open before seven o'clock. There's no way you're going to have a child care at seven o'clock, and your work is a seven. That doesn't work. So you have to find there a lot of child care centers that are open at 530 sometimes or six o'clock. Most of them open at 6:30 to six o'clock, if that is the option, you might want to look for apartment that is near da childcare center so you can go to that hospital or your workplace. So those are a lot of variables. Like Danielle said, talk to your onboarding specialist. They have a lot of knowledge to share to you, depending on your variable and specifics into your personal situation. Great ads Kaye, really good things to consider.

Good things to look out for if you are coming to that point in your journey, or if you are a big planner like I think a lot of us are some very important good things to consider. So I see we had one other question in the chat that I wanted to get to before our time is up, has them was asking how kids overcome language barrier at the school if they don't speak English. So I know this can be a big concern for a lot of our nurses who are moving from another country where English is maybe not the primary language, or where their kids may not know English at all. Crystal, what advice would you give to parents who are worried about this English barrier? I would say that upfront, again, you're in the immigration process for quite a while. Um, never sit idle. Always be preparing for your journey to the US. So one of the things you can do for your kids is start helping them learn English. You even things as simple as letting them watch bluey on an iPad or show another kid show that maybe has American accents, but at least Blue has actually just in conversations. Has been what parents have told me that they let their kids watch, and it has helped them learning English. I think they speak a little bit slower in that show, and the animation is very household oriented, so it's easy to kind of follow what's going on.

So bluey or other, you know, Mickey Mouse, or just other shows let them watch when they're going to have allotted screen time let them watch shows in English a year out, and watching some cartoons is going to tremendously help them learn the English language. And then, regarding the actual school system, even with learning English, they might not have anybody to speak it with and practice it with, so they might not get that good. But if you're immigrating to the US, you're speaking pretty good English, so definitely speak to your kid in English. It's going to benefit you. Also you're headed to an American English speaking work environment, and you've gotta get comfortable even in your own speaking of English. So speak English in your house a year out, is a long time for them to master the English language. Now, let's just say you maybe didn't have a year, or maybe you're watching this show and you're coming in a few weeks, the best thing you can do is breathe. Our schools in America have ESL programs with. Means English as a second language. My own children are in a class right now. One of them is in a class with a child who only speaks Turkish. Her family just moved from Turkey. The girl has never spoken English. She's in the school they are working with her. She's going to keep moving up through the grades. She's going to keep learning her math. She's going to keep learning her science and I have another child in her class just received a child from Puerto Rico and doesn't speak any English.

Our schools are equipped to handle the melt, the melting pot that we are. We have always been a country of immigrants. We have always welcomed the world to our schools. Our children are used to being around other children who don't speak English or who are in the process of learning it. So our schools have ESL programs. They're ready for your child who doesn't speak much English, fully equipped, ready to handle them. And I will so say that those resources are a little more prevalent in cities if you're if you're headed to an incredibly remote area, they might face a little more challenges as far as kind of learning English, a little more on their own and trying to blend in. But that is rare in any regular sized city that has those schools on that map that I've told you about. That are, you know, six out of 6789, cents. ESL is very prevalent in our public schools. This is not a private school thing. This is the free public schools we have ESL. So breathe. If you're coming soon, your kid hasn't mastered the English language, neither has most other immigrants coming to our country. So let them go and attend. You will find that it's fine. They're going to thrive. They will they will be on a path to thrive pretty quick. Our ESL programs are very, very good in America. Excuse me, 100% Crystal. If you've been watching along, and you heard me mention my friend who came from Mexico that spoke not a lick of English. She did the ESL program for a few years, and I would say she's one of my smartest friends. She knows English. She knows math more than I ever did. So don't worry, your child will learn English.

Your child will go through this program. There are a lot of programs outside of the school that they can also do. Duolingo, as Kim mentioned in the chat, if you are following along, is a great app that you can do, that your children can do, to help better your English skills. So depending on the age of your children, that could be a really great resource. But don't be concerned. There are plenty of resources that you and your family will be able to take advantage of when you move here. So I know we are almost at the top of the hour. I want to give you guys one you know, one chance to give one final piece of advice for nurses who are watching and considering moving with their kids to the United States. What's one final word of advice that you can give? Kay, we'll start with you. Final advice is, you came here to the United States for a reason with your family, and your priority is definitely make a better life for your family and your children, and the only way to achieve it is really through good planning. Good planning prepare yourself mindset and always listen to your kids if they're feeling something. Have a conversation with them. Make sure that you're checking on them every day and they're okay, and guide them. Because it's not only you're the one who's adjusting. They're adjusting worse, because when you're working as a nurse, you have more you're very busy, you forget a lot of things, you don't pay attention a lot of things because you're busy at work, you got you get home, it's rest. But those, those people who are at home, who is waiting for you, they they're going through a lot of downtime. And when people are on down time, sometimes they tend to be more emotionally, kind of like missing a lot of things.

So always pay attention to how they're doing on your free time. Make sure you take them out and make sure you prepare way ahead. And I say way ahead, one year ahead, one year before your arrival. Start taking your move. You're moving or migrating seriously, or you and your children six. You know one year. It will take you one year to prepare them, mentally, emotionally and, of course, financially. Prepare, have a lot of things, of activities for them lined up as an option. But especially safety, always safety first. When your family's moving to the United States and you don't know the location, safety is the priority. How safe is the place? Find a good place for them, because, like for me, I go to cities that they will say, hey, Kaye, Baltimore, like, that's one of the dangerous cities of in the whole world, or in the in the United States. You know, not entire Baltimore is bad. But. Know, not entire, let's say Saint Louis, bad, not all of those area New Haven, where Yale is, you know, they know it's better. But again, try to talk with the local people around local people, especially with kids. Those will be your great resources. Because when you're going to be talking with somebody who is not in the same situation, like you, a single person, a single person can live anywhere, but when your kids, your safety is the priority.

You have to talk with those people with children with the same situation, same age of bracket of children. And there's a lot of resources right now. Facebook groups are there with a lot of moms from that community that can share you great knowledge. So join and you still resources at your hand, and you'll be fine. Trust me, you'll be fine. Thank you, Kaye. Appreciate the wise words of advice and encouragement for our nurses who are watching around the world, and I echo that you will be fine. You just gotta prepare, um, you gotta make sure that you're ready to come. So thank you for that. Kaye Crystal, last piece of advice for somebody who's considering immigrating with kids, yeah, my final piece of advice is, remember that kids need a strong foundation, and they need hope. So just be a strong foundation, as in, you're available to them, you're dialoguing with them, you're talking to them, you're open to them, sharing their feelings with you and hope. Always talk about the good things that are coming. Acknowledge that it can be hard. It's not a game of pretend, but even as adults, we need that hope. That's what brings us forward into tomorrow with excitement, let the kids know what the good thing is about the place that you're moving. Some of it's going to be flashy if you're moving to a big downtown or something like that, and some of it is going to have other advantages. Maybe the nature is gorgeous, and maybe it has a very low cost of living because it's a little more remote.

And you can tell your kid pretty soon we're going to buy our very own house. You have that reality within a year to two of moving to the US, especially if you go to a low cost of living area. So whether it's the flashy and the you know, amazing things you've seen in movies, or whether it's more nature oriented, get your kid excited about the good things to come. It is one of the greatest things you can do to help them transition. No matter what age you are, whether you're five or 95 having hope is what brings you into tomorrow with excitement, and that's what we want for our children. So be sure that you never lose sight of being their foundation and helping them to have hope every day. Beautifully said Crystal. I absolutely love that, and could not agree more. And now, as somebody who is living on the other side, came to the came to the United States as a kid, I say to my parents all the time, it was the greatest blessing they ever gave me. I I know it wasn't easy. I was there. I remember it, and I'm sure there's a lot that I don't remember, but it's a great blessing that you can give to your family and to your kids, and it's an attainable dream for you, as our experts have said, you just gotta prepare.

You gotta have hope, you gotta think positive, and know that the journey is not going to be a straight line. It might be a little bit like this, but that's okay, because you're going to get here eventually. Thank you, Kay and Crystal for being on today. I really appreciate your time, and I know our audience does as well. So thank you so much for your expert advice, and we will see you guys both soon. We are now going to turn to our work wanders with joy and talk about some of our recruitment offerings here at AMN Healthcare International. Thank you, Crystal and Kaye. Alright, let's turn to our work wanders with joy and talk about our offerings here in the United States. Love that floating graphic. Hi, good morning. Good morning. How are you? I'm fine. How are you? I'm doing well. I love that graphic of your floating head shaking around, looking all happy. Hi everyone yeah so today I will be talking about direct opportunities for one of our hospitals located in Iowa, and the reason why Iowa is one of the best option to start your life in the US. So first I will be talking about the opportunities. So we have a hospital and located in one of the cities in Iowa, and we're looking for nurses who have experienced in acute care, surgical services, ER, ICU, cat lab, and we're looking for nurses who are currently.

Have already passed NCLEX and with minimum of two years experience and the current areas that we are recruiting for, plus the minimum requirements for the education is minimum of bachelor's degree. So this hospital will pay for the immigration cost, including the lawyer's fee. 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 you have, the higher the rate is. This hospital will also provide medical, dental, paid time up and more. So if you are interested, or if you know anybody who might be interested, please send in your application to www dot amnhealthcare.com/international. And me and my team will be happy to discuss with you these options in details. I would like also to share the reason why moving to moving to Iowa is one of the best options. Uh, actually, there are a lot of reasons why moving to moving to Iowa is a good choice, but I will just talk few of the top reasons. First is the affordability, the affordable cost of living. So Iowa cost of living as per the best places that come Iowa cost of living scored 80.1% so which means the total cost of housing, the food, the child care, the transportation, health care, taxes and other necessities is 19.9% lower than the US average. So moving to a new state, moving to a new place, cost of living is an important factor to look at also. So Iowa is consistently ranked as one of the most affordable states with lower cost of living and overall cost of living compared to the other states. Of the other part of the US, another one is the low crime rate. So for the low crime rate, so Iowa is considered as a very safe state, the very low crimes there are some numbers here that I can mention.

Iowa, the violent rate crime rate, is 287 per 100,000 population. So this is 25% lower than the national average. It has also the second lowest murder rate in the country. It is the seventh lowest tribal rate in the country. So it's a very safe state. Moving to our new place you don't know anybody, it's something new to you. Safety is one of the factor to look at, to look at. And Iowa can offer you this one. So I was another, another reason why moving to Iowa is a good option is the quality of education. I know in this segment, we talk about the kids. We talk about education for the children. So I was a great education options. It has a strong public education system with good schools across the state. So most of us, we go to us because of the children, or you're just about to start, or you have small children as parents, or as a parent, we place a big importance to education. Or if you yourself, you don't have any children yet, but you are eyeing to go for higher education, I will can offer you that one. So again, if you are interested, or you know anybody, again, please send your application to www am in healthcare, slash forward International, and we will be glad to connect with you about this opportunity. Thank you. And back to you, Dan, thank you Joy. That sounds like a very exciting opportunity, especially for a lot of parents, or will be potential parents who might be considering a future, who are watching the show. I know I'll speak firsthand as a parent, having a place that has a low cost of living, affordable housing, a low crime rate, and good education, those are really all the factors you're considering when you're thinking, where should I move with my kids? So Iowa is a very, very good option. So thank you for sharing joy. It was great to see you. Thank you bye. Alright, so if you are considering applying to AMN Healthcare, you can apply at our website. If you are interested in coming to Iowa, it's amnhealthcare.com/international, that could be a great option for you and your family. So please apply today.

Joy and her team are waiting to help you through the transition and help you figure out your application. So let's move to our clinical corner with Holly. Good morning, Holly. Today, we are excited to hear from you today. What do you have for us today? At the clinical Corner? Today's clinical corner, I want to talk about caring for all genders. So what we're noticing in traditional healthcare, in an overseas location, maybe some of our nurses, for instance, if you're a male nurse, you may only do certain things for male patients, or you may only care for me. You're told you're going to have male patients female patients, and you may be doing personal care for both genders too. It can be a little off putting, so for the fact that we don't separate wards of males and we have usually private rooms to semi private rooms in most of our hospital bed and also our patients and families that are seeking health care, traditionally find that having a person of the opposite gender assigned to care for them is not off putting Now that being said, there may be some patients who say. I would prefer to have a I'm a female and I'd like a female nurse or a male nurse for a male patient, if they request that many times the hospital is prepared to try and times that's not entirely possible, so there may be some workarounds, such as, you may have a primary nurse assigned that's a female to a male patient, and yet, for any personal care that's needed, like catheter care, or, you know, something like helping with bathing and dressing that may be assigned to a male nurse assistant, that request can still be somewhat accommodated and respected.

So it depends on the situation, but as far as a nurse being assigned to a specific gender or not, we look more at patient preference versus building a culture where only males kill care for males or females to females. Just that simple. Very interesting. You always have the most interesting tidbits for us Holly at the clinical coroner. So thank you for sharing. That was great, awesome. It was that was nice and quick, but hopefully pretty straightforward, definitely. And we're happy to have you back. You were frozen for a second there, so we're happy to have you back. Sorry about that. No, that's okay. We're happy to have you back. We could hear you. So okay, all got to learn. Thank you, Holly for being on and thank you for sharing your wisdom from the clinical corner. We always love that, and look forward to the next one. Thanks Dan. Well, thank you for being here with us today. Before we go, I want to take a look at our upcoming shows for the rest of the next month. So let's pull up that schedule our upcoming shows, which are always from seven to eight Pacific Standard Time. We have our Onwards and upwards immigration Q and A on February 14. So we bring on our immigration experts every month. You can ask your immigration questions. It's free advice. I highly recommend attending and learning all about the immigration process.

We have our Lefora Talk Show on February 11, we are going to be talking about the state of the industry. So we're going to be talking about what's going on in the industry, what to expect. A lot of good information there. And then we also have our nursing in America podcast. We have a new podcast season. It's the immigration series, so make sure to check that out. And we also want to hear from you, what shows do you want to see coming up, what would be helpful to you? What would you like us to cover? So please feel free to put that in the chat, and we would be excited and happy to make sure that our shows are tailored towards you, our audience. So now, as I had explained at the beginning of our segment, we have some pictures of some of our newly arrived nurses and their families. So let's go ahead and take a look at some of those. Congratulations to those families who have made the move and are reaching their American dream. We are so happy for you and so thankful to be a part of your journey.