confused

lilmisslee84 · Mar 9, 2008

Hiya,

Yeah i'm confused too cos im only trained in adult nursing and was told the states want clinical experience in everything (obstetrics, child and mental health). However, I think we will be fine we just need a years experience b4 we'll be accepted, cos iv heard of loads of nurses who have emigrated there and i dont think they are trained in all the specialties, i dont think anyone is. What i heard is the NCLEX is something like 200+ questions and u need 70% to pass, i was told that the first 75 questions will be totaled up and if ur passing really well then u only do those questions if u do really bad the test stops there and if ur sorta doing it alright then it will continue and you'll have to do the full 200+ q's altho im not sure if thasts true. theres a book called NCLEX made incredibly easy, im gonna buy that n buy a textbook on midwifery, mental health & paeds and just study them, cos i have 18months b4 i can apply. Do u buy nursing standard or nursing times magazines? they have a jobs section and a page is dedicated to international agencies, get the mags and contact one of the agencies and see if that helps.

:typing

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 9, 2008

Welcome to the site

Nurse training in the US is generalist which is how it used to be done in the UK a few years ago. Many are finding they do not have enough hours in all areas to meet US requirements. The best thing I can suggest is once you have completed your training and have a complete set of transcripts is to get CES done with CGFNS and find out if you are short of hours and in what. Some have done this and found they managed to cover all required hours both theory and practical in the foundation years. Another thing to add is Retrogression, this has been on going since Oct 2006 and no idea on when if anything it is resolved. Nurses used to be fast tracked but not anymore so is taking years waiting for a visa so can gain experience whilst waiting. Retrogression is affecting everyone regardless of country of origin and thousands are caught up in it including a few UK members who are posting myself included although will be moving to Canada in less than a month as hubby managed to get a job over there. I would also suggest reading the thread/sticky called Primer to working in the US

suzanne4, RN · Mar 9, 2008

Just because you see an ad in a newspaper, do not believe all that you read there. Agencies do not provide visas.

The US requires that you have hours in all of the required areas including mental health and peds/maternal medicine. And this is for the US as well as Canada.

When you do your training in the UK in the three year programs, you do 18 months of general training, and then 18 months of the specialty. More than likely with doing peds, you have done the needes hours in peds and maternal health.

Experience that you get working or volunteering does not count towards hours that are needed in a specific area, they have to be listed on a transcript from an approved school of nursing. When you apply for licensure, you only submit transcripts, you do not submit a resume with what you have done.

As long as you have completed hours, both clinical and theory at the same time, then you should meet the requirements for this country. As Anna mentioned above, best is to get the CES done when you are finished with your training and see if your curriculum will meet the requirements.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 9, 2008

Hiya,
Yeah i'm confused too cos im only trained in adult nursing and was told the states want clinical experience in everything (obstetrics, child and mental health). However, I think we will be fine we just need a years experience b4 we'll be accepted, cos iv heard of loads of nurses who have emigrated there and i dont think they are trained in all the specialties, i dont think anyone is. What i heard is the NCLEX is something like 200+ questions and u need 70% to pass, i was told that the first 75 questions will be totaled up and if ur passing really well then u only do those questions if u do really bad the test stops there and if ur sorta doing it alright then it will continue and you'll have to do the full 200+ q's altho im not sure if thasts true. theres a book called NCLEX made incredibly easy, im gonna buy that n buy a textbook on midwifery, mental health & paeds and just study them, cos i have 18months b4 i can apply. Do u buy nursing standard or nursing times magazines? they have a jobs section and a page is dedicated to international agencies, get the mags and contact one of the agencies and see if that helps.
:typing

Not sure where you are getting your information from about the NCLEX exam but it is not correct.

All that write that exam will get 50% correct and 50% incorrect. They are interested in the level that you are getting the questions correct at, and that is how the exam is scored. There is no numerical result ever given, so not sure how you think that someone needs a score of 70% or greater. This is a CAT exam, and will be unlike anything that you have ever taken.

The US actually requires that any nurse that gets licensed here, or in Canada for that matter, is what we call a generalist. It just means that you have taken classes in all of the required areas. Licensure and getting approved to be able to sit for the licensing exam is based on what you did when you were in school, not experience or anything else that you did afterwards.

Recommend that you read the Primer at the top of this thread to get information that you need to have.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 9, 2008

It also does not matter what has happened in the past, we are under a retrogression and that has been in place since October, 2006.

You cannot start the licensing process until you have a completed set of transcripts to be submitted. And you need to have a passing score on the NCLEX exam before an employer can start the petitioning process for you. It is going to be impossible for you to be in the US quickly after you graduate to work. When there are visas available, the shortest time is about 18 months to get thru things.