Brazilian Nurses

crucru · Jun 28, 2011

Hi, anybody around DC, VA or MD area?

I am currently an LPN, trying to become an RN.

Hopefully I can find some Brazilian to share our experiences as a nurse here in the US.

Andreb · Jun 29, 2011

hey, Im from brasil too. Im a green card holder so Im thinking about going to brasil for nursing school and then comeback to the states and become a RN here.

how did you guys get your license here? how long did it take? how hard was the toefl exam?

crucru · Jun 29, 2011

Hi Andreb!

Nice to see Brazilian nurses around here.

I think it is better to get your degree here. I know it is hard. It is extremely competitive. However, you might find another obstacles when you come back, such as paperwork and other exams that you will need to pass.

I have a friend, who is also a nurse and she can't pass the Nclex for the 3rd year, or get the cut-off score on the speaking part of the toefl. So, you really should think about going to Brazil to do your RN.

Andreb · Jul 1, 2011

hey aniani

Its sad to hear about your friend and even though Ive graduated high school here in the us, have taken college classes I still worry about the toefl exam. Anyway. Do you know if your friend's degree was recognized here as a bsn? since I believe she has a bachelor degree from Brasil. Im Still unsure if I should go to brasil or not. Being on the college wait list here its frustrating..

crucru · Jul 1, 2011

Hi Andreb

Yes, my friend's degree was recognized here and she even did a master program here.

You are here long enough, so I believe you might not have any problem with Toefl or NCLEX.

I have done my Licensed Practical Nurse program here, so I know name of diseases for example only in English (weird, but true! for example I didn't know what sickle cell anemia is called in Portuguese - anemia falciforme!!) and when I need to talk in portuguese I really have trouble with the name of diseases, conditions, or things like that....especially because I don't have health science background in Brazil.

But, again. Applying and waiting for nursing school is "um chute no saco" indeed!! So, I completely understand your point. I would do the same if I were free.

You just need to practice a lot of practice questions for NCLEX.

When are you planning to go there?

Andreb · Jul 2, 2011

hey

so your friend did her master degree here but didnt pass the toefl or the NCLEX exam? thats kinda weird haha, because I thought going to grad school would be harder.

so If I do go to brasil Im going on October because thats when the "vestibular'' is in the school I wanna attend. Sometimes I think about going to a LPN program and do the RN program after because I see at schools LPN to RN programs so I believe is easier to get in if you are a LPN.

crucru · Jul 2, 2011

hey...

so she did not pass both, the TOEFL and the NCLEX! some states require that you have a minimum of 26 on speaking...and she did not get the min 26. Then she tried to take the NCLEX in neighbor states where they do not require that stupid TOEFL, but she did not pass 3 times. (very sad.....) I mean she was working as a nurse for almost 10 years in Brazil....come on! There are so many Filipino nurses here and my friend who is a PT told me that the Board of PT banned Filipinos to take their board exam because seems like they had the test bank a few years ago! (go figure, why there are so many of them here now)

I am applying to few schools but I might just go ahead with private small school around here, where there are no waiting lists! I believe there are few in your area. They offer associates and sometimes bachelor degree. The only drawback is their cost, which is much more than community college. The last resort would be online school like Excelsior, which you can graduate in no time. My friend who was kicked out from nursing school after 3.5 years finished her course in 6 months and now is working in the biggest hospital in the area!! Amazing huh?? She studied extremely hard though! her computer shut down after 75 questions (on NCLEX it has 2 meanings: either you did great or you are totally a disaster) I mean there are many options to do a nursing program here.

BTW, if you have a chance to go straight to RN program with associates do it. I wouldn't waste my time doing LPN because it is the same crap for 1 more year. My teacher from LPN school was a LPN and she became an RN, and she said there is no difference! plus finding a job as LPN is much much harder than RN. For example, in the hospital I used to work there were only maximum of 8 LPN or so in the entire hospital against hundreds of nurses! so, I would be careful especially because they are trying to cut off LPNs from the hospitals. Renowned hospitals with Magnet status for example have 86% of them with a minimum of Bachelor's degree in nursing. Only few percent have Associate degree. My friend who graduated from Excelsior was basically ignored by the HR even though she was already working there as LPN, but she got lucky because a bigger hospital hired her. So everything worked out!

Andreb · Jul 4, 2011

Around here, all the community colleges and states colleges (which the tuition are cheaper) are all very competitive. The private schools that there are not wait list are just too expensive around here.

so how is this Excelsior school? is it a online school? is it really legit?

anyway, thank you for all this information, it really helped me a lot!

crucru · Jul 6, 2011

Excelsior is an online school but you need to first see if the Board of nursing of your state accredits Excelsior as school, otherwise you are not even allowed to take the NCLEX. You can visit the website of your state's board of nursing or call them to make sure if you would be able to sit for NCLEX if you get your BSN or ASN from Excelsior. As I said, my friend graduated there, but there is a catch. Since she had gone to "traditional" nursing school, she had done a lot of clinical hours during her 3.5 years. At excelsior you won't have any clinical hours, except when you will need to take the FINAL PRACTICAL EXAM from Excelsior. Yes, they do expect you to know everything without providing any clinical hours. The final test is in some state close to NYC, and she had to pay $2000 for that final exam that takes 2 or 3 days... I don't recall very well. Fortunately, she passed on first shot on the practical final exam, and finally were able to sit for NCLEX.

Andreb · Jul 6, 2011

Im def gonna consider this Excelsior school, unless is too expensive. thanks again :)

Williams75 · Jul 16, 2011

Hey guys I am sorry for being away for so long. I am a Brazilian nurse. I got my education in Brazil at Escola de Enfermagem Anna Nery. Our degree there is a 4 year degree and you are considered a BSN when you finish. That particular program is good because is equivalent to American programs. That means when you finish all your credits transfer here :). Once you are here you need to do the Toefl and NCLEX. I did the Toefl and passed but it took me 3 times to charm NCLEX. It took me a total of one year and half to do it all. The worst part is to coordinate the school in Brazil with CGFNS to get your paperwork done. I wish all the luck. I am happy to see some brazilians trying Nursing in the USA. I am proud of my collegues. If I can be of any help let me know.

Andreb · Jul 21, 2011

hey williams75

Im glad to finally see someone who graduated in brasil doing well here. as I posted before I want to go to school in brasil and since you say that the bachelor degree is recognized here in the u.s it made me wanna go even more since I want to go to grad school someday.

so I have some questions for you. for example, many colleges in brasil a D is a passing grade and here only a C is. So can you still transfer classes if you got a D in brasil for example?

so, hows was getting a job here? easy? I hear lot that people here dont like foreign grades and make it difficult to them to get a job. but I think its a myth.