Nrimmer

Looking for some advice about moving to the US- possibly from someone who has made the move, is a nurse and/or has worked in the US before receiving their RN license in the US.
I am a registered nurse in the UK, qualified in 2011 and have four and a half years post registration experience. I’d like to make the move to the US to gain further experience and work temporarily over there. I have a job offer to work as an RN or as a CNA (Nurse Assistant) while I am waiting for my nursing license.
The employer is willing to complete the petition however I’m not sure what type of petition to apply for if i don’t already have my registration in the US.

Is there anyone who has had a similar experience? Any tips or advice?

tom169

You can't work as a CNA or an RN in the US without a licence. The licence is from the state and so it can vary.

I'm not sure what experience, if any at all, an RN would gain from being a CNA. My wife was a CNA before going through nursing school to become an RN and it wouldn't make sense for her now to go backwards.

There has been a member who moved in the last year via a nursing placement company. Try the forum search. I can't rememeber her name.

Noorah101

You don't apply for a petition at all. If the employer is willing to complete the petition, then it is the employer who does it, and gets the ball rolling on a work visa for you. There is nothing you need to do, other than answer whatever questions/forms the employer's immigration lawyer wants you to complete.

What visa did they say they would be petitioning you for? That is the crux of the matter. If you don't know, this should be your question to them.

Rene

DebzinUS

Some healthcare facilities do have unlicensed/ non certified assistive personnel. A nursing assistant role is helping a patient or resident with activities of daily living, feeding, bathing, toileting, ambulating under the supervision of a licensed nurse. The hours are long, and the pay is terrible. A Certified Nursing Assistant has met the State requirements for providing safe care. The certification course is usually an 8-12 week course with clinical experiences every week and written and practical test at the end of the course. It just depends on the state. I am sure that in long-term care and Home health care/ hospice you must be a CNA. Hospitals have a little more leeway. Many of my students, after one or two semesters of nursing classes, are offered work in an uncertified/tech role while completing nursing school. The hospitals use this position primarily as a recruiting tool.

Get your RN. The agency that places foreign-trained nurses in the US is O'Grady Peyton.

International Nurse Recruitment Agency | O’Grady Peyton

Pulaski

Please can you explain what you mean by this? Which nursing licence? You qualified in the UK in 2011, so do you mean a nursing license in the US? Why are you "waiting" for it? What have you done to qualify for it?

civilservant

I am confused also. I work in healthcare in the US, I have seen some foreign nurses but they all got a Green Card through marriage before getting licensed. As has been noted about, you cannot work as an RN, LPN or CNA in the US without a state license to do so.

It does not sound likely that there is a visa for what you want to do.

Lanyu

If I'm reading this right you can't do it. As Nurse assistant doesn't meet immigration requirements.
If you are going to a state that can't issue your licence until you arrive there (green card in hand) may be a waiting period then you can work as assistant until you get RN licence it was in my wife's contract. I guess if you want to start working and get some $

S Folinsky

My two nurse mavens are Carl Shusterman in Los Angeles and James David Acoba in Irvine CA (JD may be retired).

spouse of scouse

I learned a new word today (maven) - had no idea what that meant until I asked Google!

S Folinsky

Oops, I used the plural form of English. My bad.

spouse of scouse

As if I'd know the difference

sarasota chic

I moved over to the USA in May of this year I am an RN I went through an agency O’Grady Peyton International wh odealt with the visa side of things I had taken the NCLEX back in 2003 and had kept my licence current.
In order to work as an RN in the US your transcripts of training will have to show a certain Amount of hours in psych, obstetrics,paediatrics as you say you qualified in 2011 do you have the required hours in these subjects if not you will not be eligible to take the NCLEX until you have the correct amount of clinical and theoretical hours.
I think you need to get advice on this I would speak to O’Grady Peyton who will inform you if you are eligible for their sponsorship.

Rockgurl

What a coincidence! I also came over with the same company but this was 14 years ago now. I don't think nurses can get green cards anymore, at least that's what I heard. I came over here in 2003 and things have changed. It took me nearly 3 years to go through the process from the time I started the petition to the day I landed on US soil.

You can't work without a license and you can't get a license until you fulfill all the requirements and take the NCLEX exam. You won't get a visa based on a CNA license. If your visa is based on your employment as a nurse you'l have to wait for that to be issued.The sneaky thing the UK did since I came over here was to change the syllabus so that nurses ended up just short of the education requirements for the US board of nursing. It meant that many nurses did not have the correct amount of hours in certain areas and schools made it incredibly difficult to make up those hours. Too many nurses were going to the US so they tried to put a stop to that. I was very fortunate to have all the requirements and get a green card out of it all.

The company paid and applied for the petition and then (in those days) got me to apply for a Vermont license as it was the easiest at that time (I'd never even been to Vermont). Then once I had the Vermont license I could apply for an Arizona one. I took my NCLEX in Georgia so had Georgia license too. Until you pass the NCLEX you won't be able to apply for a license.