General Discussion about Filipino RNs currently working in the U.S.

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for filipino rns currently in the us whether still undergoing the proper documentations or already working please kindly share your experiences on this thread.

topics maybe from experiences at the workplace, impact of the new culture to you and your family, general do's and dont's, and others.

this thread would serve, hopefully, as a general resource thread for would-be u.s. nurses in the near future and to dispel myths and rumors and of course general advice coming from those already in the u.s.

thanks a lot for taking the time to give me an insight, you are quite right..new place, new work guess have to adjust first before subjecting all of us to a totally new environment. thanks again RNHawaii34

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
great and enlightening posts. would like to ask for advice though which is more practical - bring the kids along (ages 6 and 8) or give myself time first to adjust first.

Also depends the validity of visas. If you and your family got all your visas at the same time means all of you have 6 months to use it to go to the US otherwise it will expire. if you leave immediately after you received your visa then it is possible to leave the children behind and bring them later when their visas are about to expire. But if you do not leave early then it is better to bring all your children together.

thanks Rep for the info

good day everyone,

i am a registered nurse from the PI and i have a wife and a son. i was petition by my agency in NY. whem im done with my contract, i will definitely change to another state.i heard that NY is not for person who has a family because of its expensive lifestyle. can you suggest a state that has low crime rate, has good educational system and my family can live a life comfortably eventhough i am the only one working for them? because i want my wife to take care of our son full time. greatly appreciated for any inputs. thank you. God Bless

mabuhay!!!

wow, i wished i could have read this thread before me and my husband migrated here. i have been a member of allnurses early this year, and i found some of the threads/posts were informative but none like this...thanks to lawrence! anyway, we live in melbourne, florida and we got here last july. i just wanna share our experiences (though they may not be as extensive as those who have lived here longer) for those who are yet to come.

re apartments -- we were lucky our agency found us an apartment near our hospital. we simply took the hospital shuttle bus which was across the block where we lived and it was more or less a 10 min ride away. everything else was also walking distance; the grocery, church, thrift store, dollar store (oooh, i just love these stores! im a sucker for bargain stuff.) our apartment had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, a fridge (they dont call it ref), an electric oven, free water and cable, a communal washer/dryer, swimming pool and gated access and rent is at 735$ a month. apartments here could go as low as $600 for a 1 bedroom/1bath and as high as 1000$ plus, again, depending on the location and the featured amenities.

re credit history - yes, that. this was as alien to me as pumpkin pie! at first, i couldnt understand the point of making "utang" just to be able to "utang" later. hehehe...people started to advise us about using our credit cards to establish credit history. again, we were lucky our agency helped us secure credit cards, we paid 100$ to open it and was refundable at the end of the year. made sure we paid them on time, including all our other bills.

re car - we realized that florida has one of the poorest public transportation systems in the US. so even if we lived just nearby to everything else, we needed a car to get around (eventually, we got bored with our local grocery store and needed to find some asian/pinoy stores too. hehe) so, after 4 months of hard work, we just bought our car last week! yey! and its not a lexus by the way.. we made sure to stay within our means. the thing is, we were given advise to inquire about a car loan from the local credit union bank but we got denied bec we didnt have enough credit history, however, if we could get someone to co sign for us, then they would probably let us. but having someone to co sign for us is another story..anyway, we went straight to the car dealer and guess what, their inhouse financing approved us. we agreed on a down of 4$. didnt bring cash/check that day since we were still saving for it, but they said we could drive away with the car after we settle the insurance. we gave them 1500$ from our debit cards, signed an iou for the balance and really did bring the car along with us that night.

and yes, someone posted here about relatives back home thinking that we have lots of money just bec we're earning dollars. true, but we're also spending in dollars. they think that dollars grow on trees...asking here and there..not even thinking that we are working hard for that and that we have our own needs too -- sp if you are just new to this country. i guess its our job to inform them of the harsh realities here in america, that everything is not as easy as it seems...

well, i hope this helps....good luck to all of your out there!

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
good day everyone,

i am a registered nurse from the PI and i have a wife and a son. i was petition by my agency in NY. whem im done with my contract, i will definitely change to another state.i heard that NY is not for person who has a family because of its expensive lifestyle. can you suggest a state that has low crime rate, has good educational system and my family can live a life comfortably eventhough i am the only one working for them? because i want my wife to take care of our son full time. greatly appreciated for any inputs. thank you. God Bless

If you go to a state with a high cost of living then the nurses' salaries are also high compare to other states.

Just want to update this Sticky for the benefit of everyone.

Pls. share information re: the orientation program from your facility. How long was it? Kindly indicate the State and name of facility (if you want).

Also, you may state any major or minor differences you observed from the Philippine setting you would want to share w/c may include but not limited to: facility policies, nurse-patient ratio, salary, bonuses, OT pay, what shift-rotation they employ, use of computerized charting, still uses NANDA or if not what do they use, etc..

Thanks in advance.

Hello!

I read bisayaispisyal's contribution on the thread and it was quite interesting to know that her agency took care of almost everything she need to settle in the US.

I am a new RN who is married and have 2 kids, 14 and 12. I'm also aspiring to go to the US but having second thoughts as to applying independently to US hospitals by going there as a tourist at first or via an agency.

Please enlighten me on the advantages and disadvatages of coursing my application through an agency.

My other questions are:

How much is the fee or percentage they get from you if they get it from your monthly salary and for how long is your contract with them?

What is the name of your agency by the way?

Is is true that they will also pay for your NCLEX review and exam?

How long did the process take before you actually migrated?

Im sorry if im taking too much of your time with all these questions. Im just so anxious and would like to start applying ASAP.

Anybody is welcome to answer.

Thanks in advance

There are many unscrupulous agencies in the Philippines. It is quite hard to find a decent one. Of course there will always be exemptions but quite rare.

Best thing is to apply for NCLEX eligibility, IELTS and Visa Screening on your own then once you passed the NCLEX look for an employer.

Do not sign w/ an agency until you passed the NCLEX exam or at least the CGFNS exam (if your State BON requires it only) because not one thing can be done by the agency anyway w/o those as it is a requirement to file a petition to USCIS.

Many have sign to diff. agencies right after passing the NLE w/o realizing that you just got yourself tied-up w/ an agency and the agency can't do any petitioning anyway w/o having passed the NCLEX exam (preferably) or the CGFNS exam.

I understand that not all can afford the exams on their own no matter what they do but for those that can afford it do it on your own.

How to do it? That is what allnurses.com's Int'l Nursing forum is for (http://www.allnurses.com/forum/f75)

Also, if I may add; it doesn't have to be agencies that have offices in the Philippines only. Many went through agencies that are US based only but most often than not they want a foreign nurse that has already passed at least CGFNS exam or the NCLEX exam.

Specializes in medical-surgical, CCU, Catheter Lab.
mabuhay!!!

wow, i wished i could have read this thread before me and my husband migrated here. i have been a member of allnurses early this year, and i found some of the threads/posts were informative but none like this...thanks to lawrence! anyway, we live in melbourne, florida and we got here last july. i just wanna share our experiences (though they may not be as extensive as those who have lived here longer) for those who are yet to come.

re apartments -- we were lucky our agency found us an apartment near our hospital. we simply took the hospital shuttle bus which was across the block where we lived and it was more or less a 10 min ride away. everything else was also walking distance; the grocery, church, thrift store, dollar store (oooh, i just love these stores! im a sucker for bargain stuff.) our apartment had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, a fridge (they dont call it ref), an electric oven, free water and cable, a communal washer/dryer, swimming pool and gated access and rent is at 735$ a month. apartments here could go as low as $600 for a 1 bedroom/1bath and as high as 1000$ plus, again, depending on the location and the featured amenities.

re credit history - yes, that. this was as alien to me as pumpkin pie! at first, i couldnt understand the point of making "utang" just to be able to "utang" later. hehehe...people started to advise us about using our credit cards to establish credit history. again, we were lucky our agency helped us secure credit cards, we paid 100$ to open it and was refundable at the end of the year. made sure we paid them on time, including all our other bills.

re car - we realized that florida has one of the poorest public transportation systems in the US. so even if we lived just nearby to everything else, we needed a car to get around (eventually, we got bored with our local grocery store and needed to find some asian/pinoy stores too. hehe) so, after 4 months of hard work, we just bought our car last week! yey! and its not a lexus by the way.. we made sure to stay within our means. the thing is, we were given advise to inquire about a car loan from the local credit union bank but we got denied bec we didnt have enough credit history, however, if we could get someone to co sign for us, then they would probably let us. but having someone to co sign for us is another story..anyway, we went straight to the car dealer and guess what, their inhouse financing approved us. we agreed on a down of 4$. didnt bring cash/check that day since we were still saving for it, but they said we could drive away with the car after we settle the insurance. we gave them 1500$ from our debit cards, signed an iou for the balance and really did bring the car along with us that night.

and yes, someone posted here about relatives back home thinking that we have lots of money just bec we're earning dollars. true, but we're also spending in dollars. they think that dollars grow on trees...asking here and there..not even thinking that we are working hard for that and that we have our own needs too -- sp if you are just new to this country. i guess its our job to inform them of the harsh realities here in america, that everything is not as easy as it seems...

well, i hope this helps....good luck to all of your out there!

wow! your stories were really informative. thank you very much.

i'm waiting for my papers to be process while working here in london.

hi k-an 24,

you're more than welcome. there is nothing better than helping fellow filipinos out. a lot of kind hearted filipinos also helped us when we first came here and we are simply passing it forward...good luck in your processing and take care!

also, i will be posting at some other time (not now, coz i will be getting ready for work in a few mins. hehe..) more information about hospital, orientation and other stuff i can think of that might be useful..

to everyone, have a good day!

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