Is the italian degree comparable with the US one?

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Hello,

has anyone been through the credential evaluation process as an italian nurse?

I've been looking forward on working in the US when I graduate. I already am a US citizen. I know I have to get my credentials evaluated by CGFNS, but the process is costy, and I'm not willing to waste my money so I'd like to know in advance if the titles will not be comparable.

In Italy we have a 3- year university course, we are one of the most qualified in EU togheter with the spanish nurses.

Greetings,

SilentRain

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Specializes in NICU.

If your nursing degree was in a specific unit of nursing (Mental Health, Maternity, Pediatrics, etc), then no they are not comparable. US nurses are general nurses. We are trained in all areas of nursing. You would need to complete the missing sections in order to have a state BON qualify you to take the NCLEX.

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My title would be generic too. There are many differences though... I heard you american nurses can prescribe drugs, dismiss patients and do a lot of stuff by your own. Here in italy we have almost 0 independence when it comes to treating patients. I have studied a lot to get this degree, unfortunately us future nurses will use 20% of what we actually study in nursing school. I don't know if I would ever be able of prebscribing any drug to a patient, not because I dont know how that drug works, but because I wasnt trained for it! (I would love to learn more btw)

I just wondered if anyone had any experience in the comparison between the two titles or heard anything about it.

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Specializes in NICU.

US RN nurses do not prescribed medications. A nurse practitioner (Masters degree) can prescribe medications under the supervision of a doctor.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
US RN nurses do not prescribed medications. A nurse practitioner (Masters degree) can prescribe medications under the supervision of a doctor.

Collaboration not supervision. Not including NP in independent practice states.

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Specializes in Acute and Critical Care.

Hey SilentRain,

I'm not an Italian nurse but I'm from the EU nevertheless. My degree was evaluated by the CGFNS and it was accepted as an equivalent to the American BSN.

For the CES you'll need to ask for your university to fill out a transcript validation form. On that form they've included a request for breakdown of coursework, divided into medical, surgical, maternal/infant, children, psychiatric/mental health, geriatric, community health, long term care, acute care and physical assessment as well as anatomy, microbiology, pharmacology, nutrition, chemistry and physics. The basic rule is you need 40 hours of theory and 80 hours of clinical in each area.

I noticed that with a BSN from the EU my hours far exceeded the minimum requirement, especially with clinicals, so I guess and hope that'll be the case for you as well.

Anyway, before you go ahead with ordering the CES, you could request your university break down these hours for you (or do it yourself). See if you can match the requirement in each nursing area and if you do, your degree should be fine.

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Specializes in Acute and Critical Care.
My title would be generic too. There are many differences though... I heard you american nurses can prescribe drugs, dismiss patients and do a lot of stuff by your own. Here in italy we have almost 0 independence when it comes to treating patients. I have studied a lot to get this degree, unfortunately us future nurses will use 20% of what we actually study in nursing school. I don't know if I would ever be able of prebscribing any drug to a patient, not because I dont know how that drug works, but because I wasnt trained for it! (I would love to learn more btw)

I just wondered if anyone had any experience in the comparison between the two titles or heard anything about it.

As an RN BSN in the US, you can't prescribe medications or discharge patients. Compared to my country, the RN role is pretty much the same, a lot of independence, but from what I've learned there are some specific things that I'm going to have to learn to give up in terms of independence. In the US you need a doctor's order for everything.

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Hi SilentRain, yes you need clinical hrs in pediatrics/obstetrics, psychiatry and community nursing among the others...I had my CES report, passed nclex last july and had my visa screen. I started the whole process in 2016, it is costy but after my internship in arizona i fell in love with the american way of nursing and i believe it is worthy the time and the money. I'm now in the final, hopefully, leg of my immigration process. Best of luck

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