UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

Hi I’m a UK trained nurse with a BSc with honours degree in Adult Nursing... I am an A&E nurse but are currently sitting another seconded degree in midwifery. I have been reading a lot about the transfer to the USA and how difficult it is to have the desired amount of hours etc in the different fields of nursing that they require. Wanted to see if anyone had an experience with this at all? Whether the CGFNS accepted your university transcripts with no problems or not? And how smooth the whole process went from applying for transcripts to sitting the NCLEX. Would love to hear everyone’s experiences please.
Thankyou
Danni x

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

Hi

Do you have a visa to allow you to move to the USA?

Please have a look at the following to see if you any of the information applies to you:

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulas...rk_in_the_USA_

This group will require further information before giving relevant advice.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

There are several members of the group that were UK nurses that have made the transition.
Hopefully they can provide a more useful answer.

My wife is a nurse, Pediatric ICU.
She trained in the US early 80's. Moved to the UK when she married me. Worked for the NHS as a cardiac ICU nurse for about 8 years, now back in the US as a Pediatric ICU.

She says, 'Don't do it' Yes the pays great, but the job sucks. Too few staff, too long hours, no Tea trolley at 3.. She really misses that for some reason. A completely different style of nursing and patient care.
She would return to the UK in a heartbeat.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

My partner is a doctor and also is going to be leaving for the US so this determined the move even though I have always wanted to move too. In all honesty I love America and like you said the pay tops it for me I work tirelessly in the Uk in A&E usually without a break too and it doesn’t pay off in my payslip at least if this was the case in the states I would have the payslip to make up for it.
It just feels like I’m in a vicious circle tbh here.
thankyou for your comment I appreciate! I’m hoping someone can help me with how difficult the process was
Danni

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

It's come up a lot. You might have luck searching for the threads. There might be some in the US immigration forums too.

Some of the details depends on the state you are moving too.

You say partner, but unless you're married, it doesn't help much.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

What visa is your partner coming on? If it's anything other than a H visa you would likely be able to work but you'd need to be married. You might earn more as a nurse in the US but you may not be factoring in the very high cost of living in some area and the massive costs of health insurance (even if included with your job, you still need to pay and the costs can be staggering). Where is your partner relocating to?

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

The costs can be "staggering" if you make the mistake of buying insurance that attempts to replicate "all you can eat buffet" NHS-style coverage, however if you take a more pragmatic approach (I would say "logical"), and be prepared to pay for occasional GP visits "out of pocket", then good quality health insurance can be quite affordable. ... We pay less than $200/mth (family of three) and save about $550/mth tax free in a ISA-like Healthcare Saving Account, to cover medical costs.

The comparison I often make is to car insurance - if you expected your car insurance to pay for wipers, oil changes, and tyres, which are necessary running expenses if you own a vehicle, then car insurance would be "staggeringly expensive" too!

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

No matter what type of insurance you take, the costs are staggeringly more than in the UK, full stop. You might also be lucky enough not to have a family member that needs ongoing, regular and expensive treatments or medications to keep them alive and, in this case, no matter what type of insurance you have, you will be coughing up a ton of money in copayments and deductables every month. We have fantastic OA health insurance which cost us, through the employer, almost 600/month for two people.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

No, just no! I have repeated this so often you must have seen it before - my taxes dropped by more than the cost of medical insurance when I moved to the US, (if you include medical insurance as a "tax", deducted from my salary, it was less (lower percentage) than the deductions from my salary in the UK) and that was when I was still paying for "traditional" medical insurance, before my eyes were opened to the benefits (substantial cost savings) of high deductible insurance.

Obviously if you have low income and/or a medical condition requiring expensive and/or ongoing medical treatment then you might be better off in the UK, but IMO a household including a doctor's salary and a US nurses salary may be better off in the US even in a high ccost area.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

Right ˆ. And yes I've seen your spiel before but it applies to very few people. You're still shelling out 750 a month even if most of it's to a HSA.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

You don't know how many (few), and neither do I, but I suspect that its more than you think, and would likely apply to someone on a doctor's salary.

​​​​​Anyway, you've still missed half my point - if you add that $750 to my US tax bill (mandatory deductions each month) is still significantly LESS than the tax I was paying in the UK!

Oh, and before you bring up the old canard of property taxes in the US being higher - when I bought a home, which I still live in, the property taxes were the same as on my home in the UK (despite my home in the US having a double garage (v no garage) and four times the living area) and obviously sales tax/VAT is lower too.

Re: UK nurse wanting to go to the USA
 

I've had the same experience as Pulaski. Few years later and have enough in a HSA for the wife and I to get hit by a bus. If we don't get hit by a bus then the money can be treated in a similar way to a traditional IRA later in life.

I haven't yet been bothered to do the math, but there is definitely a tipping point based on income (and expected benefits) where the USA health/tax system becomes more cost effective than NHS + PAYE. That said there are some serious issues with the tax system here and healthcare regulations that do need some overhaul.