[dibleydale]

Hi,

I am in the process of exploring all my visa/employment options for living and working in the USA. I am a dual qualified nurse and midwife in the UK educated to bachelors degree level.

Could anyone tell me whether I would qualify to become registered as a certified nurse-midwife in the USA and if so how do I go about it? I am heading to Boston if that is any help.

Thanks

Kate
x

[fergus51]

I believe you are required to have a masters degree to practice as a CNM in that state...

[fergus51]

This is the site to find the info you need:

http://www.midwife.org/careers.cfm?id=84

[dibleydale]

I cant believe how hard it is to get into the USA, this is proving really difficult. Any other country would snap a foreign trained registered nurse up in a flash!

Problem is I dont want to be waiting nearly 2 years to move, feels like i'm putting my life on hold for 2 years. I may have to look at other options open to me like Canada and Australia.

Kate
x

[Selke]

Originally Posted by dibleydale

I cant believe how hard it is to get into the USA, this is proving really difficult. Any other country would snap a foreign trained registered nurse up in a flash!

Problem is I dont want to be waiting nearly 2 years to move, feels like i'm putting my life on hold for 2 years. I may have to look at other options open to me like Canada and Australia.

Kate
x

Doesn't Australia and the UK have a reciprocity agreement for health care providers? I was told by a British midwife that UK midwifery students can have an overseas clinical anyplace that is in the Commonwealth, as they share the same educational system, so I'd think you could go there without difficulty.

I looked into going to Australia to work as an RN a few years ago and the barriers work both ways. Many hoops to jump through. I think Canada follows the US system more than the Commonwealth's; many Canadian RNs come here for school and work. I'd still like to live and work there for awhile as a midwife once I'm out of school.

There are many UK educated midwives who work as L&D RNs here. We have a different system; RNs are the primary care provider, it's a very physician dominated system. Midwives are master's level prepared and provide care throughout the lifespan as well as intrapartum. But midwives are small in number and influence here, although patients love them. I believe you guys predominately work in care of pregnant women. The ACNM (American College of Nurse Midwives) website, as the other poster noted, has information on foreign-educated midwives becoming certified here. UK trained midwives have a much easier time getting RN licensure than midwifery. I've learned a lot from working with them.

Maybe you should start the US immigration paperwork now even if you go to Australia. If I find my immigration information I'll post it. You could try the forum here for foreign educated nurses (forget the name ....) And find an international nursing agency. They should help you with paperwork. Good luck and hope to work with you in the future!

[suzanne4]

Originally Posted by dibleydale

I cant believe how hard it is to get into the USA, this is proving really difficult. Any other country would snap a foreign trained registered nurse up in a flash!

Problem is I dont want to be waiting nearly 2 years to move, feels like i'm putting my life on hold for 2 years. I may have to look at other options open to me like Canada and Australia.

Kate
x

Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. UK training doesn't meet requirements for Canada for most of the provinces without taking maekup courses, especially if you are trained in midwifery.

The US also requires that Advanced Practice nurses hold the MSN.

And most other countries do require the full immigration procedure be completed, more so if you are advance practice. The easiest places for you to go would be to stay in the EU, then you do not have to deal with that. But you will still have licensing issues as Advanced Practice, just like moving around and wishong to practice as a physician, there are many other things that need to be completed.

[Kelky]

Hi, I'm a UK ex midwife about to start work as an RN in GA. I understand the situation to be that the US doesn't accept midwifery qualifications from any other country, so you have to go through the entire midwifery program again and get a master's degree. Luckily there is one where I live and they have said I'd be welcome to apply, but I'm not ready to jump in yet.

[fergus51]

Trust me, it's no different for those of us interested in working in the UK. They don't just snap us up either, the process takes a lot of time and money.

[dibleydale]

I think it depends where you are coming from with regards to gaining a visa and licensure in the UK. The trust I currently work for went over to India to recruit 20 foreign trained nurses last June and by October they were all here working in the trust, with visas and NMC Registration.

Hope it doesnt take you too long though, where abouts in the UK are you heading to?

Kate
x

[fergus51]

Hi Dibleydale,
I don't plan on moving there in the immediate future, probably in about 2-3 years. I'm mainly interested in living in a smaller sized city like Bristol or Cardiff rather than London. It will have to be big enough to have a NICU that needs nurses badly enough to sponsor a Canadian

I guarantee you those Indian nurses must have already gone through the registration process with the NMC. That's the most time consuming part. They are also now requiring foreign nurses do a supervised adaptation course in the UK before they can start work which are difficult to arrange and time consuming as well. Add that to the fact that they would likely want to start me at the equivalent of a D grade despite the fact that I am an experienced nurse because I don't have a post graduate course in my specialty that they recognize, and the fact that the pay is a lot lower than the US anyways and I can't afford to live there right now. In 3 years I should have everything paid off here and a little bit of savings in the bank, so that's when I can pursue my dream of living abroad