How to get an American license as a BSN?

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Hi everyone :)

I'm a nurse from Norway, Europe. I finished my bachelor in nursing last spring, and I now work full time in a nursing home in Norway. I would love to go to school or work in the USA to improve my English, get to know another country and to get an American license. I know I need a visa, so I'm wondering about start studying English or taking some courses to get a student visa. How many ECTS is an American bachelor? I have 180 ECTS for my bachelor.

Does anyone know where to start? And how much do nurses in the USA earn? I now earn 60.000 (plus the extra money for evenings and weekends), so I hope it's about the same?

All knowledge is welcome :)

Silverdragon102, BSN

1 Article; 39,477 Posts

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Going as a student will not mean you can work as a nurse in the US whilst still in school and to get a student visa you will need to be in full time college. Getting a work or immigrant visa is going to be the biggest hurdle

Pay will depend on the state you wish to work in and at the moment if you read some of the other forums there are many US citizens and PR struggling to find work

Welcome to the site

Specializes in Military, Geriatrics.

Ok, thanks for the answers :)

I guess getting a visa will be difficult then.. I've heard they needed nurses in the US, so I thought I would give it a try. But it's a while ago, before your financial crisis.

Then I should be trying to get a student visa.. But what could I study? I think I would have problems writing a master thesis before I get used to the language. And I should learn the professional terms in nursing before working as one.. Is it something else than a master's degree I can study?

I don't prefer any state, and I've only traveled to a few of them. But someplace warmer than my country.. :p One of the southern states would be nice :)

vimagaur

4 Posts

You need to contact CGFNS, it's the organization in charge of foreign nurses. I am a nurse from Spain and it has taken me almost five years to get my license validated but I have to admit that my English was very poor and that is what took me a long time. You also need to take an English proficiency exam.... anyway, you will find all this information in cgfns.com. The organization takes a while to do all the process and you need to do a lot of paperwork. Your process might be different than mine because I came with visa, after I got married. My husband is american. Good luck with everything and I hope this is helpful for you.

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