new in the states

stpauligirl · Oct 18, 2005

hi , my name is tina and i moved to the united states from germany where i used to work as a nurse in the surgery room. here my examen is not accepted without going through some troubles but i just found out about the surgical tech job... is there a surg tech out there who could answer a few questions for me ? i know for nursing questions i have to ask the "board of nursing" is the surgical tech under the same board or who do i contact to find out wether or not i would have to go back to school to become a surg tech .............HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPP MEEEEEEEEEE

I a German, too. Not a nurse yet. I am sorry that I cannot help you with your question but hope to be able to offer some moral support. It is hard to leave your country and find that you have to start over. I came here and had to start from scratch....lass nicht Deinen Kopf haengen! Viel Glueck!

german_nurse · Oct 19, 2005

danke st. pauligirl ... moralische unterstuetztung kann man immer gebrauchen . how long have you been in the states ? it's really difficult , you are right with that .

stpauligirl · Oct 19, 2005

danke st. pauligirl ... moralische unterstuetztung kann man immer gebrauchen . how long have you been in the states ? it's really difficult , you are right with that .

I have been in US on and off for 20+ years, my husband is in the military, and we moved ca. every 2 years back and forth all over the planet! It was hard to do anything becasuse we were never anywhere long enough to get anything started....but now we are in Texas to stay. I have a Realschulabschluss in Germany and had to get a GED here and after that started with General studies , I didn't get any college credit for anything that I accomplished in Germany???!!!! It's been a tough road but after all these years of constantly having to move but I finally see the end of the tunnel and I am 5 classes away from application to BSN program. I hope that you will get some credit for your skills.

Feel free to write anytime and Viel Glueck!

suzanne4, RN · Oct 25, 2005

hi , my name is tina and i moved to the united states from germany where i used to work as a nurse in the surgery room. here my examen is not accepted without going through some troubles but i just found out about the surgical tech job... is there a surg tech out there who could answer a few questions for me ? i know for nursing questions i have to ask the "board of nursing" is the surgical tech under the same board or who do i contact to find out wether or not i would have to go back to school to become a surg tech .............HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPP MEEEEEEEEEE

Certified Surgical Technologists are not covered under the Board of Nursing. Most facilities are now requiring that you attend an approved school and then take the certification exam. If you had the equivalent of the RN in Germany, I highly suggest that you go that route and get licensed here as an RN. Check out the International Forum, it will give you all of the information that you need. It will actually be less trouble for you.

I am going to move this thread over to the Operating Room forum.........

SFCardiacRN · Oct 25, 2005

Depends on where you live. California has no requirement for scrub tech. Anyone with experience can scrub here. Other states require certification such as ORT or CST. Ask at a local hospital recruiter.

suzanne4, RN · Oct 26, 2005

But if they already have the training, why not get the RN license here, and probably double the money, at least in some states.

Jerico, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2005

Hello!!! Welcome to the States!

Get your RN license. It may take some patience, but is worth it.

I have known several Russian/Ukrane/English women who came to the states and obtained US State Board Licenses. It just takes patience with the "red tape" (government paperwork jumbles).

You must take an English Examination and license/RN proficiency test - I think it is based in New York?

Good luck, and again, WELCOME!:balloons:

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 31, 2005

But if they already have the training, why not get the RN license here, and probably double the money, at least in some states.

I agree that would ultimately be the most ideal route, but maybe she would like being a scrub tech while she works out the best way to pursue her US RN?

I do have a friend from Germany who is still trying to find a way to get licensed in the US and not having any luck as she never had a pediatric course and no nursing school in the area (for many miles) will agree to offer just this one class. Right now it appears that she needs to start over, that's what she's been told, and that isn't practical for her right now. You'd think in a shortage the government or NLN would provide a standard for this... a few schools that agree to be part of a program to provide the few classes a foreign nurse needs?

We did do a search on the international list but came up with nothing relevant to her situation which is missing coursework before she can even pursue the rest of the red tape.

German Nurse- Den besten Erfolg! I think in most states you will need to pursue a formal course then certification.