Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Old Sep 29th 2017, 9:20 pm
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Question Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Hello Everyone,

I'm sure you've been asked this a thousand times but I'm just looking for some advice. I've gone through youtube and the internet for help on becoming a nurse in the USA but there is very limited information out there!

I'm 27, Single, live in the UK and have 5 years post-qualifying experience in med/surg adult nursing with a BSc 2:1 degree in Adult Nursing.

I'm looking to move to Cali, or Florida ideally but beggers can't be choosers! It's always been a passion of mine and at uni we completed "EU packs" which covered theoretical practice in paed, mental health & midwifery.

I've looked at Peyton o'grady and some others but I've heard mixed reviews!! I guess I'd need to sit my NCLEX but I'm not sure the next steps after passing that (If I pass, it looks really hard!!)

If the USA is too much of a long shot I'd consider Canada too, if it's any easier.

thanks for any help

JD

Last edited by JD1990; Sep 29th 2017 at 9:29 pm.
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 10:33 am
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Hi, welcome to BE.

It used to be the case that nurses didn't generally qualify for any visas due to retrogression, but there is a nurse on the forum that has managed it this year via Peyton O'Grady. You won't get a choice in where to go though, iirc she was due to go to Louisiana but then two weeks before her move got sent to another state entirely!

I'll try and remember her username, but hopefully a search of the forum will bring up her posts.

HTH, best of luck.
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 10:36 am
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Here you go, found her! http://britishexpats.com/forum/membe...a-chic-236631/

And yes, just looked through her posts and seems that 8 days before they were due to fly, the location changed from Louisiana to Arizona, then again just before they moved it changed to Texas! Can't even begin to imagine how stressful that was.
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 11:36 am
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Thanks Christmasoompa, will have a look into it. hopefully some others who have had experience can contribute too!
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 12:57 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by JD1990
Thanks Christmasoompa, will have a look into it. hopefully some others who have had experience can contribute too!
In my 10 years on the forum, I think that's the only nurse I've ever heard of managing to get a visa via their employment. So not sure you'll get many others, but if you search the main US forums you'll find loads of useful threads.

Silverdragon is an amazing resource for nursing info, hopefully she'll see your thread and be along to give you some words of wisdom. Iirc, she tried to move to the US but couldn't make it work due to the visa issues, so has ended up in Canada and is very happy there.

Best of luck.
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 1:35 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

You need clinical and theory hours in Paeds, Mental Health, Obstetrics and Adult. You mention theory but did you do clinical placements? CA will not accept application without a US SSN and you can't get that until in the US on a valid work or immigrant visa. With surplus of nurses especially in CA it will be difficult to find employer willing to sponsor you. OPG is an option but as mentioned location may be not where you want. I initially was with OPG but struggled to pass NCLEX and after I failed twice I gave up. Eventually met my now husband and we decided to try again but this time met a recruiter and had a job lined up in Phoenix and passed NCLEX but then retrogression hit us and as mentioned ended up in Canada and love it.

Starting point would be checking out your transcripts for clinical and theory hours then look at the state board of nursing website for requirements for International trained nurses, most require CES report with CGFNS
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 4:08 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

No, in the UK post project 2000 every nurse in the UK in training had to to only pick one discipline out of adult, mental health, maternity, LD. Once qualified you can only work in your chosen speciality. However throughout my career I've looked after people with mental health conditions, children aged 16/17, pregnant women, gyne cases in surgery etc within my adult directorate?

I've ordered my transcripts from uni at £70 so just waiting for them to come through. I suppose from what you've said the easiest way is to go through OGP? if not I'm going to have to look at canada, did you find that quite easy in comparison to the USA?
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 4:26 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by christmasoompa
In my 10 years on the forum, I think that's the only nurse I've ever heard of managing to get a visa via their employment. .....
I think there might have been as many as three, but they are certainly very rare.

If you post on the main BE forum you will likely just attract a lot of people who tell you it is extremely difficult (which you know), or that it is "impossible", (which isn't actually true).

Getting all your ducks in a row is the big challenge, with NCLEX, proving your qualifications and augmenting as necessary, getting a visa, and an SSN, when sometimes it looks like a vicious circle, with every element being unattainable without obtaining one or more of the other elements first. .... Which is where the agency route comes into playing, helping you break into the circle.
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Old Sep 30th 2017, 7:07 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by JD1990
No, in the UK post project 2000 every nurse in the UK in training had to to only pick one discipline out of adult, mental health, maternity, LD. Once qualified you can only work in your chosen speciality. However throughout my career I've looked after people with mental health conditions, children aged 16/17, pregnant women, gyne cases in surgery etc within my adult directorate?

I've ordered my transcripts from uni at £70 so just waiting for them to come through. I suppose from what you've said the easiest way is to go through OGP? if not I'm going to have to look at canada, did you find that quite easy in comparison to the USA?
Canada is like the US and requires you to be General trained. Saying that however most provinces will ask their IEN nurses to attend some form of assessment (usually held in Canada) and depending on results will depend on whether you get permission to sit NCLEX (Canada RNs sit NCLEX like the US) or you have to do some courses. So some people short on hours are able to provide experience skills in the assessment to prove skills match Canadian new grad skills.

Canada process is long and expensive, there are a few threads in the Canadian forum discussing this process
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 11:10 am
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by JD1990
I guess I'd need to sit my NCLEX but I'm not sure the next steps after passing that (If I pass, it looks really hard!!
A State Board of Nursing has to approve you take the NCLEX.

The NCLEX is hard if you are not US/Canadian educated. The latest figures from the National Council State Boards of Nursing show that through the 2nd quarter 2017 38% of foreign-educated nurses pass the NCLEX first time and that falls to 22% with the second attempt.

https://www.ncsbn.org/Table_of_Pass_Rates_2017.pdf
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 12:07 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by DebzinUS
.... The NCLEX is hard if you are not US/Canadian educated. The latest figures from the National Council State Boards of Nursing show that through the 2nd quarter 2017 38% of foreign-educated nurses pass the NCLEX first time and that falls to 22% with the second attempt. ....
Many, and probably most of those, are not native English speakers.
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 2:05 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by Pulaski
Many, and probably most of those are not native English speakers.
Not necessarily, I believe it's more to do with the nursing program of study than a student's primary language. A report from the Health Resources and Services Administration stated the majority of foreign nurses working in the U.S. who passed the NCLEX exam were from the Philippines, followed by South Korea, Canada, India, and Nigeria. (I have the link if interested). It does not break down where those nurses received their primary nursing education.
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 2:54 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by DebzinUS
Not necessarily, I believe it's more to do with the nursing program of study than a student's primary language. A report from the Health Resources and Services Administration stated the majority of foreign nurses working in the U.S. who passed the NCLEX exam were from the Philippines, followed by South Korea, Canada, India, and Nigeria. ......
But a significant number of people in all of those countries only speak English as a second language, and it's a majority in all but Canada, and a very large majority in South Korea and India. ..... And I didn't mean to imply it's the only, or even the main reason, but is a signifant contributory factor.
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 5:27 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

I agree with you; the issue is multifaceted. At the risk of seeming argumentative, here's why I think it's not all about being a native or even fluent English speaker. Remember when we came to this country?...We had to learn that even though we spoke English, Americans spoke a different version. Biscuits became cookies; bonnet became the hood, the boot became the trunk. Not that learning those terms was difficult, it's just to illustrate a point. Nursing nomenclature and practice are not any different; it's just on a more complex level.

This is how I think it plays into the NCLEX. The NCLEX is an adaptive computerized exam. If a student gets a question wrong, the computer reassesses their ability to answer a similar question correctly and then keeps throwing out questions on the same concept, until the software determines that the student either knows or doesn't know the information. If a student can't identify an important concept in the stem of the question or misunderstands one of the responses (English Biscuit vs. American Biscuit) they are in potentially in trouble because that algorithm is going to keep asking the question over but in a different way. Candidates can have as few as 75 questions or as many as 265. No single candidate will take the same exam. The algorithm is designed to hone on a student's weak areas, and that's what makes the NCLEX difficult.
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Old Oct 1st 2017, 5:39 pm
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Default Re: Single UK Adult nurse wanting to move to USA

Originally Posted by DebzinUS
I agree with you; the issue is multifaceted. At the risk of seeming argumentative, here's why I think it's not all about being a native or even fluent English speaker. Remember when we came to this country?...We had to learn that even though we spoke English, Americans spoke a different version. Biscuits became cookies; bonnet became the hood, the boot became the trunk. Not that learning those terms was difficult, it's just to illustrate a point. Nursing nomenclature and practice are not any different; it's just on a more complex level.

This is how I think it plays into the NCLEX. The NCLEX is an adaptive computerized exam. If a student gets a question wrong, the computer reassesses their ability to answer a similar question correctly and then keeps throwing out questions on the same concept, until the software determines that the student either knows or doesn't know the information. If a student can't identify an important concept in the stem of the question or misunderstands one of the responses (English Biscuit vs. American Biscuit) they are in potentially in trouble because that algorithm is going to keep asking the question over but in a different way. Candidates can have as few as 75 questions or as many as 265. No single candidate will take the same exam. The algorithm is designed to hone on a student's weak areas, and that's what makes the NCLEX difficult.
But isn't it harder if you don't even speak English as your native language?

That's all I meant. Well, and that I don't think switching a few nouns is really a comparable challenge.

Last edited by Pulaski; Oct 1st 2017 at 5:42 pm.
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