Education requirements for an Australia nurse to become registered in America

grantsally1 · Jul 19, 2012

Hi Sezza83

I am in that process now and have been through CGFNS to get my CES report. I am booked to take the NCLEX in August (Hawaii) and hopefully become licensed in New Mexico shortly after that. I had no problems with meeting CGFNS 1st level general nurse equivalency. I hold a bachelor of Nursing (3 year) completed in 1992 and a dip in midwifery after that in 1997. I believe CGFNS primarily look at your bachelor degree content. I covered all areas in obs, paeds in my bachelor degree however I did not complete 'humanities' which Vermont Board required. I then applied to NM Board rather than going through a denial hearing with Vermont regarding the lacking of humanities hours nonsense. Humanities studies are completed in our High School level, not Uni but Vermont required 40 hours. With your subject breakdown you will have to get your Uni to complete the CGFNS forms for you. Maybe ask for a copy first prior to them sending the docs. Vermont BON has the minimum required hours for RN's to get licensure on their webpage. I suggest if you are really serious you get a move on as more and more states are requiring a social security number SSN prior to RN application which makes if difficult. Vermont just introduced a SSN for applications in May. If you believe you have the required hours i would suggest paying extra $$$ and getting your CES report expedited otherwise you are in for a long wait and perhaps all States requiring a SSN.

Regarding employement we are also not really sure which State to aim for but have singled out Texas and a few others in the Southern areas of U.S. I will be looking at Labor and Delivery positions, Nursery etc and probably like yourself could work in any of these positions. As long as the position in the U.S requires a bachelors degree you can meet E3 visa Status. Certain Magnet Status Hospitals require experienced new applied RN staff to have a BSN.

From reading threads you will need experience to go with that and a fair bit by the look of the job situation in certain States. Having gone through this process for 18 months now you have to be 100% committed otherwise you will waste you time and money. You have an option of the E3 visas most others DO NOT so it is something special to work toward.

regards

Sezza83, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2012

Thanks! So how do you get around the ssn issue? If you joined an international agency would this solve the problem? Also once you've registered in one state do you have to go through the whole process again if you decide to register in another? Or does the 1st board forward all you paper work to the 2nd state? I worked interstate before oz went to a national board & all I had to do was give my original states registration number & they shorted it all out!

grantsally1 · Jul 19, 2012

Good question. I'm not an expert in this area but can answer you with what I know. Once you have a state license you can endorse to others. They may require a ssn for endorsement. You don't have to go through the "whole process" again but obviously a new endorsement application and fee. California and new York are different again. New Mexico is in a state compact license with other states but this only allows those living in these compact states to use the temporary license permits whilst transferring between states to work. Not sure about agencies? The first step is ces report because without that you will not be able to move forward.

CocoClicquot · Mar 2, 2013

Hi, I just wanted to check in to see how you went with gaining your certification to work in the US. I'm graduating in November, 2013 and very keen to return to Texas. Just trying to work through all the hoops.

Thanks