Difference between nursing in the UK vs nursing in the US?

QTRN74 · Nov 11, 2006

We pay well??

I figured it was just the Fillipino nurses who left their home country to work here...

All I know is I am now making double what I did 9 years ago when I first graduated!

suehp · Nov 11, 2006

I make more money £ for $ as a nurse here than what I did as a Manager in the UK. I am much happier here and less stressed than what I was in the UK, but it isnt just that - it is the way of life here.....there are a lot of pros and cons for bothe sides of the pond and at the moment I prefer to be here

Skwidward · Nov 11, 2006

Oh there's no denying the fact that life in the US kicks ass, especially Florida.

Are there any differences between the job itself though besides the pay?

I heard nursing in the UK was a lot more CNA type stuff and less, I don't know, delegating and pt care management type stuff.

EDIT: pt ratios and stuff like that?

cariad · Nov 11, 2006

ok, skidward tell everyone in the uk threads exactly what sort of nursing that you do? i am uk trained and as other emigrants came to the states to take the n-clex to be an american rn. thats after 3 dedicated years of nursing school, some nurses take a dedicated 4 year class. unlike us nurses who do the nurse training in 2 years. uk nurses can make and act on decisions on their patients unlike us nurses who cannot make any decision about their patient unless the doctor has written it as an order.

if you didnt mean to be inflammatory then fair enough, but the comments that you have made are very condescending towards uk nurses, but i know what both nurses are like and could tell you a million stories about us nurses, but i wouldnt put myself in that position of generalising about the us nurses that i have met and worked with.

Skwidward · Nov 12, 2006

ok, skidward tell everyone in the uk threads exactly what sort of nursing that you do? i am uk trained and as other emigrants came to the states to take the n-clex to be an american rn. thats after 3 dedicated years of nursing school, some nurses take a dedicated 4 year class. unlike us nurses who do the nurse training in 2 years. uk nurses can make and act on decisions on their patients unlike us nurses who cannot make any decision about their patient unless the doctor has written it as an order.
if you didnt mean to be inflammatory then fair enough, but the comments that you have made are very condescending towards uk nurses, but i know what both nurses are like and could tell you a million stories about us nurses, but i wouldnt put myself in that position of generalising about the us nurses that i have met and worked with.

eerrrr.....i'm an lpn student. obviously something i said offended you. nothing i said was meant to be "inflammatory," nor was anything i said derogatory towards uk nurses. i simply asked a question and provided a statement i had "heard." if what i heard is incorrect, why not enlighten me with the truth. this is, after all, what i am looking for....hence the starting of this thread.

i'm sure in your opinion uk nurses rule supreme over us nurses. i mean, how could a us nurse be any kind of effective nurse with only 2 years training? and am i correct in thinking that you believe this 2 years is undedicated? most us nursing programs require at least 1 extra year of prereques, and given the competitiveness of admission in such programs, these prereques are normally required before entry into the program is granted. so, straight outta high school, at 18, you're looking at 3-4 years before one can graduate as a nurse in the us.

you do have cna's, and lpn's in the uk then?

seeing as you partially answered my question, i am now extremely intrigued as to what decisions exactly uk nurses are allowed to make regarding their patients that us nurses require first a physician's order?

are you allowed to prescribe meds?

you made the claim that you do not wish to make any generalization of us nurses, yet you threw out this one comment, which if you have worked in any us facility as a nurse would know to be false, "unlike us nurses who cannot make any decision about their patient unless the doctor has written it as an order."

you want to point your finger at me for asking a question, but you want the freedom to make "condescending" statements about us nurses.

i apologize if i said something that offended you, but please understand that asking a question implies very much an ignorance of something.

Jabramac · Nov 12, 2006

I thought you had a great question. My wife is in love with the UK and frequently, mostly tongue in cheek, tells me we should go there and I could be a nurse. I've wondered a lot about what the different medical practices would be like. I have seriously considered going back for my masters degree and I have found that the UK is inviting US students to do just that there.

cariad · Nov 12, 2006

yes i did take offence that you had heard and think that uk nurses are likened to cna's, i am in the us and do know that your training can be dedicated, but have seen some nurses take the 2 year course over many years, something that is not available in the uk. and as a nurse now in the us i dont see many decisions being taken by a nurse without a written doctors order. some of my examples would be whether to give a patient with angina some oral medication to relieve the symptoms, do an ekg on a patient with chest pain, whether to catheterise someone with urinary problems. these are a few examples.

and yes we do have cna's and no we do not have lpn.s there used to be a qualification called sen, but this is not the same as an lpn, they did 2 years training and just about do the same as an rn.

maybe i havent experienced enough in the us, but as i said previously if you didnt mean to be inflamatory, then ok, but to compare cna's and trained rn's rubbed me up the wrong way.

i am quite sure that if i posted on the us threads in the same way then i would get the same replys.

Trauma Columnist · Nov 12, 2006

While I think the question: what is the difference in style of nursing in the UK versus the US, perhaps it could have been phrased better.

I have only practiced nursing in the US. However, as an ER RN, I frequently provided Nitro, oxygen, labs, xrays, placed catheters, started IV's, gave meds, etc without a direct order. This is frequently done in ER's and ICU's - the staff nurses work off of protocols.

Nursing in the US is much more dependent on the state in which you practice in as there are no national guidelines. Is nursing practiced the same everywhere in the UK?

I am an advanced practice nurse now and I order meds, order tests, assess and do pretty much all the primary care without consulting with an MD. I sign and prescribe all my own meds including narcotics without an MD.

Again - it is the individual state's nurse practice act that governs our actions.

As to the education level of the RN's in the US - this is a big area of controversy. One which I will not even begin to explain - nuff said.

At any rate, I am sincerely interested in your answers about the difference in the nursing in different areas of the world.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 12, 2006

While I think the question: what is the difference in style of nursing in the UK versus the US, perhaps it could have been phrased better.
I have only practiced nursing in the US. However, as an ER RN, I frequently provided Nitro, oxygen, labs, xrays, placed catheters, started IV's, gave meds, etc without a direct order. This is frequently done in ER's and ICU's - the staff nurses work off of protocols.
Nursing in the US is much more dependent on the state in which you practice in as there are no national guidelines. Is nursing practiced the same everywhere in the UK?
I am an advanced practice nurse now and I order meds, order tests, assess and do pretty much all the primary care without consulting with an MD. I sign and prescribe all my own meds including narcotics without an MD.
Again - it is the individual state's nurse practice act that governs our actions.
As to the education level of the RN's in the US - this is a big area of controversy. One which I will not even begin to explain - nuff said.
At any rate, I am sincerely interested in your answers about the difference in the nursing in different areas of the world.

In the UK we just have the one governing body, so it doesn't matter where abouts in the UK you live and work we all should follow the same rules. However hospitals will have local policies which can vary on what a nurse can do but there is also a lot of stuff we can do without orders from the doctor and local policies ie catheterise patients, dressings, remove sutures.

I originally was an Enrolled nurse and for a lot of my role on a ward was very similar to the RN but I was accountable for my own actions not the RN and a lot of the time I did exactly the same work as the RN the only differency would be management of the ward which did not usually involve the EN although depending on the ward and shift it was common to have a senior EN in charge.

RN's can now do a prescribing course which is very intense and once passed can prescribe everything which is in the BNF (British National Formulary).

I find it interesting to see how nursing changes in other countries and what nursing responsibilites are. But I do not feel just doing it one way is the right way although if doing a trial after discussion it works better then I can't see why it couldn't be adapted to the area you work in. We all have a wealth of experience which can and could enhance our care of patients and family

Trauma Columnist · Nov 12, 2006

Silverdragon - I couldn't agree with you more. We all gain when we share information.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2006

The biggest difference in my opinion is the hassle to get in touch with the doctors to get orders, nurses here know what is needed but are unable to act without a doctors say so.

In the Uk the roles of a nurse and a doctor are clearly defined, here I find the roles blurr, and sometimes it is difficult to comprehend why doctors are controlling nursing roles. Nurses here spend a lot of their day chasing up doctors to get verbal orders.