Australian nurse wanting to work in America

[oz-nurse]

So many of us Australian trained nurses wanting to move to the US but are deficient obs/paeds, I have done so much research and still no closer in finding a solution :(

[Maria Rountree, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

It's such a short coming for us! I've done two degrees now and it's still not enough! I've been looking at the Graduate Certificate of Paediatrics, but I can't see that it has a clinical placement component

[oz-nurse]

7 minutes ago, Maria Rountree said:

It's such a short coming for us! I've done two degrees now and it's still not enough! I've been looking at the Graduate Certificate of Paediatrics, but I can't see that it has a clinical placement component

Hi Maria, I believe your right from what I have seen none of the Grad Certs includes any clinical placement, its a shame they can't take into account our professional experience.

[AussieK]

Hi, I haven't pursued by plans any further due to various reasons, although I haven't ruled it out forever.

However for you guys, I am wondering if working in an Emergency Department of a major or district hospital for a period would assist in overcome the deficiency in paediatric experience. Having worked in a busy district emergency department with a high proportion of paediatric presentations, I gained plenty of experience in all levels of paediatric acuity, from triage to direct nursing care. Great learning, and the skills gained were exceptional. Of course, like any emergency department, there was also some obstetric presentations but the ED only cared or the very ill ones who had to be stabilised.

If I pursue my plan of working in the US I hope I will be able to capitalise on my previous ED experience when applying.

However, reading all of your comments, and given the varying requirements from each of the US states, it doesn't seem there are clear criteria to apply.

The Agency, Avant (US) may be able to assist navigate this challenging process. Good luck!

[MikkieZhzh, RN]

Has anyone been successful I need to relocate but have a nursing degree from Australia. Is there a state I can try without doing additional courses at the moment

[YeXinZhi, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, MikkieZhzh said:

Has anyone been successful I need to relocate but have a nursing degree from Australia. Is there a state I can try without doing additional courses at the moment

The State boards of nursing evaluates each application on an individual basis. The only way to know for sure is to submit an application and wait for a decision by the relevant State board.

There are some states which are lenient in terms of educational requirements i.e. Vermont or North Dakota, however, these states are usually not desirable desirable destinationsfor nurses. Bigger states like California are very strict and are known to have high rates of dening applications from internationally-educated nurses.

[MikkieZhzh, RN]

Quote

Okay thank you I will start asap

[Maria Rountree, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

What state are you looking at applying for? I was interested in Texas, that's where my hustb is from and where we'd locate too.

Let us all know how you go!! Good luck ?

[OzNurse73]

So I started my application process well over 2 years ago and I’ve come to a standstill. I do not have the clinical practice hours in paediatrics required by the board to go ahead with my application. They said I require 80 hours of supervised clinicals. My initial bachelors degree did not include a paediatric specific placement and although I’ve worked for several years in paediatric surgical, this is not recognised as sufficient experience. My options now are to complete a Grad Cert in Clinical Nursing (Paediatrics) here in Australia or to pursue a bridging course in the US which will probably cost just about the same as a Grad Cert by the time I allow for all the fees and related expenses. TBH I’ve put the idea on hold for now. Seems like a huge hurdle just to have 80 hours of supervised practice.

Good luck to those of you still pursuing!

[Maria Rountree, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

2 years, my god. I don't blame you for leaving it for now.

I spoke we with a student advisor from Deakin a couple of months ago who basically confirmed what your personal research showed. She said you may as well do a bridging course in the USA, not only due to the fees, but you also run the risk of the USA Registration Board still not accepting it, and have wasted all that money and time. And if they won't already accept your experience, what would an additional 80 hours in the same area accomplish?

If it helps, here is the question I initially posed to Deakin and their response:

My question:

Do you offer stand alone units in obstetrics and paediatrics for RN's, which include clinical placements?

I understand Australian nurses lack the obstetrics and paediatrics academic and clinical placements required for licencing and registration. I was directed to Deakin and told they might have these supplementary courses, as people have undergone in the past.

Deakin answer:

In the past we did offer additional single unit studies and the compulsory clinical placement to fill the lack of maternity and paediatric studies for nurses wishing to register in the USA. This was a process costing up to $4000 to complete all the requirements and could take up to 6 months to complete.

However in recent years a number of US Nursing Registration Boards have rejected our studies as not meeting their requirements so we no longer offer studies.

We now advise nurses to complete the additional studies at the available US providers to ensure registration can be achieved. You may be able to seek further details on how to go about this from the Board of Nursing you are wishing to register with.

[MikkieZhzh, RN]

Maria my aim is Texas but seems tricky with the obs/paeds missing so I'm hoping to try a state thats less lenient with registration then when I manage to relocate probable study the missing obs/ paeds in the US then move to Texas because I have been told once you have a license in any state you can endorse in any other state. I have called Australian nursing college they have grad certificates in paeds but do not have clinical placement so it will be pointless enrolling.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

You can not endorse to every state once you have a license. Sometimes the state will require you to provide a report as if doing initial application because you trained outside the US. We have seen this posted a few times from members that still have issues despite being licensed and even worked in another state