Best way to find a nursing job in the US ?

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Hello!

This is my first post in the forum.

I'm a French nurse and I'm planing to move to Florida. I started all the paperwork to pass the Nclex but I don't really know which way is the best to find a job...

Based on your experiences, do you think it's best to find a job on your own ? With a law office ? Or with a recruitment agency ?

And if you think a law office or a recruitment agency is the right path, do you have some to recommend or any advice and/or warnings ?

And lastly, can you start looking for a job while you're waiting to pass the Nclex or is it a waste of time as hospitals won't even look at your resume without it ?

Thank you all!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

in what capacity are you looking at moving to the US with? Many employers will not look at you unless you have a pass in NCLEX. Depending on route ie immigrant or work visa will depend on how long it will take. For immigrant visa most nurses come under EB3 which has a several year wait. H1b requires minimum of BSN or 12 plus years experience. Either way you may find it hard. If you are going to the US via another visa ie spousal due to them being a US citizen then it is easier to get a immigrant visa but still may be difficult finding a job and will require a lot of effort from you. Going with an agency or recruitment firm will not make any difference in the waiting time

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My husband is also French so I was thinking about finding a sponsor as soon as I have my Nclex and start with a non immigrant visa because it looks "quicker" to get than an immigrant one. I have been working in the medical world for more than 12 years but I haven't been a RN since that long.

I'm surprised you say finding a job as a nurse in the US will be very hard because dozens of foreign nurses on this forum have done it and everybody say that the shortage of nurses will continue till 2020. And when I went to the US last june, I saw a lot of advertising for employers looking for nurses.

And about the agency, I thought a big company already working whith hospitals will have less problems getting a visa than me on my own but I may be wrong...

Thank you!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I can't advise about the best route to go as far as obtaining a visa, but I can tell you this: THERE IS NO NURSING SHORTAGE IN THE US. Anyone who is telling you this is full of tomato soup (as my grandfather used to say). DOZENS of threads on this site will tell you that finding a nursing job in the US, whether a natural citizen or foriegn trained, is incredibly difficult. New grads are sending out hundreds, yes hundreds, of applications without so much as getting a nibble of a call back, much less an interview or job offer.

My husband is also French so I was thinking about finding a sponsor as soon as I have my Nclex and start with a non immigrant visa because it looks "quicker" to get than an immigrant one. I have been working in the medical world for more than 12 years but I haven't been a RN since that long.

I'm surprised you say finding a job as a nurse in the US will be very hard because dozens of foreign nurses on this forum have done it and everybody say that the shortage of nurses will continue till 2020. And when I went to the US last june, I saw a lot of advertising for employers looking for nurses.

And about the agency, I thought a big company already working whith hospitals will have less problems getting a visa than me on my own but I may be wrong...

Thank you!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

In regards to your original post, I'm not sure where you got the idea that a law office would help in a job search for a nurse, that's not how it's usually done here. Also, it is very costly for hospitals to provide sponserships to nurses who require it when the pool of available nurses is so packed that its standing room only in the deep and shallow ends

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Your post is a bit depressing but I really want to live and work in the US so I'll fight ;)

And regarding the law offices, I came across several of them that were specialized in foreign nurses, that's why I was wondering if it was an option for me as well as the recruitment agencies.

Thank you for your time!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I don't mean to be depressing, but I refuse to sugar coat either, know what I mean? I think its cruel to continue to perpetuate the myth of a nursing shortage when that is clearly no longer the case. I wish you the best of luck in your search and fight to obtain a license to work here!!!

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

There may be law offices that deal with immigration but they do not find you a job.

Like Bucky said, the job outlook is bleak so you don't have much hope of being sponsored.

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Specializes in Home Care.

The only thing Florida has in abundance is sunshine.

There are lots of threads here on the difficulty of immigrating and finding a job in the States.

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Just so that others may try to give some more insight, you said you have been an RN for not so many years, but you do have some years as an RN in what particular special nursing field and was it a paid hospital clinical position for how many years?

It might help in a US sponsor looking at your experiences to see if you're a good fit for them. A sponsorship does mean that the sponsor will be paying for your entire cost to do all the legal paperwork and it's not cheap. But as mentioned earlier, sponsorships are very hard to come by but not impossible, just not as many as previous years.

While FL does allow one to take the NCLEX-RN without presenting a SS#, they will not issue the actual license until they are provided with a valid SS# that's work authorized or you have a valid working visa. I don't know how long the US will begin to start to look at applicants coming from France, but it's expected to be several years with regards to them looking at the visa process.

Check with the local French embassy there or see if you can ask a French immigration lawyer if he/she can give you a 15-30 free minutes of consultation advice on how long it will take to obtain such a working visa as a nurse.

Glance over the FL state nursing forum here and you can see how the job market is going (or not going).

Be very careful in dealing with recruitment agencies, especially if they charge a lot of up-front fees and sounds too good to be true (and it is if they can promise you the moon and the stars with easy to get visas, as each level gets more expen$ive).

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
My husband is also French so I was thinking about finding a sponsor as soon as I have my Nclex and start with a non immigrant visa because it looks "quicker" to get than an immigrant one. I have been working in the medical world for more than 12 years but I haven't been a RN since that long.

I'm surprised you say finding a job as a nurse in the US will be very hard because dozens of foreign nurses on this forum have done it and everybody say that the shortage of nurses will continue till 2020. And when I went to the US last june, I saw a lot of advertising for employers looking for nurses.

And about the agency, I thought a big company already working whith hospitals will have less problems getting a visa than me on my own but I may be wrong...

Thank you!

Dozens of nurses may have made it but did you look at how long they have had to wait? H1b is hard, immigrant visa is harder due to the several years wait. We do have some nurses posting about E3 visa but that is only for Australian citizens.

We are not trying to be down on you but just want you to be aware of what the current situation is like. We have had nurses that have been waiting several years for the date to become current only to find that their employer no longer has a job for them so then there is a mad rush to try and find one otherwise they loose their spot for a visa.

As long as you are aware of the situation and keep yourself up to date I say go for it but be aware it will take years for a immigrant visa at the moment (that date can go up and down believe me I have been there) and work visa just means a lot of leg work trying to find a employer willing to go the route and pay $$

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Thank you all, I know you're not trying to discourage me and that It's important to start such an adventure with a true understanding of the current situation. I'll begin by passing my Nclex and then, I'll get ready for a lot of leg work ;)

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