It seemed almost insurmountable, the hurdles that Jane Dela Cruz had to jump to get to New York, specifically The Wayne Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation where she now works as a Nurse Manager.
When her visa began to process in late 2015, she recalled several “glitches” along the way: She had to go home to the Philippines for her NBI clearance and to get her fingerprinting done, and her application for EB-2 or employment-based visa went into retrogression. All that cleared up with the assistance of RN Express, she said.
“It was unbelievable at first,” said Jane recalling the hoops she went through and how she was able to work through them. “Eh sinuwerte” (I got lucky).
Persistence, more than luck, was on Jane’s side.
She was working as an emergency room nurse in the Bahamas for almost 10 years when she visited NYC as a tourist. She thought she’d ask around for possible employment while she’s in town.
“I made several calls before I met Alex,” she said.
A friend suggested she take the Nclex, which she did and passed. She then took the IELTS language proficiency test and also passed.
“Ang dami kong tinawagang agency (I called a lot of agencies)”,
she said. One of the cards that found its way into her pocket was that of RN Express’ Alex Alejandrino. RN Express began to process her visa application in January 2016; by October of the same year, she was in NYC.
“If I got all my requirements in time, I would have arrived earlier,” she said, grateful to RN Express for its advice and assistance.
At Wayne Center, Jane works as a Nurse Manager on the third floor, which is the 40-bed sub-acute unit. She supervises about a dozen nurses including both RNs and LPNs. She works Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. t 4 p.m.
“Ok lang trabaho, mostly managing and troubleshooting” (The work is good, mostly managing and troubleshooting), said Jane who began her clinical career as a staff nurse in Vigan, Ilocos Sur province. After three years, she became a nursing instructor at the University of Northern Philippines also in Vigan. She returned to bedside nursing when she found work at the Princess Margaret Hospital in the Bahamas, an acute care facility and one of the largest in the islands.
For Jane, New York is the Grand Prize. She was telling herself, “If ever I leave the Philippines, I have to end up in NYC.”
Jane, her husband, and their teenage daughter live in Jackson Heights.