Read what is being said by American Lawyers about US Nurses, basically we are uneducated, not dedicated, and need the help of foreign nurses to function.
American nurses especially ADN prepared nurses are inferior to Foreign BSN nurses.
American nurses abandon patients.
I have written to my congressmen regarding my feelings about this bill. I resent being told by non nurses how nursing should practice.
We needed, I feel qualified internationally educated nurses can add to the American Nursing profession, currently there in no need to import nurses.
Based on my non scientific very opinionated view point, I would rather have an AS degree nurse then a Doctor become nurse. Many of the doctors are using nursing to sit for the USMLE and then leave nursing. Why shouldn't they since medicine is their first choice. Also it is very difficult for a doctor to translate to the nurses role.
In a perfect world, it would be great to transition the IEN into the American workforce, but with all the budget cuts who is going to pay for this. Every hospital is hurting and looking to reduce costs , I don't think any hospital is looking for innovation and looking to increase expenses. And if they do have the funds shouldn't the funds be going towards scholarship home based?
Trust the BON, ( who are going through massive, massive budget cuts), I am going to try for a position on the board. Issues like this makes me want to volunteer my time. In my state I only have to pay my fees and take 15 CEUS, that is such a joke and doesn't keep a non working nurse current.
I think you are a bit out of touch of what is going on here in the USA, health care administrators have stated that they will accept 1.5% across the board, hospital census is down. All capital improvements are on hold. People are loosing there insurance while the state and feds are cutting programs. This nursing "shortage" is on paper and there are no funded positions for the anticipated growth. Positions at all levels are frozen ( meaning they maybe posted but they are not hiring unless critical).
We also educate nurses about all opportunities so that they aren't just applying to CA, VT and NM anymore
Did nurses think they could find a job in Vermont? Didn't they look at the population in VT? I would say they were out of touch, I think VT processes the IENs to padded their state budget.
Yes, I did contact immigration attorneys, basically everyone is suggesting to KILL SOME TIME until there is NEW BILL. There are attorneys willing to do paperworks, and hospitals willing to sponsor, but they do not want to, or I should say CAN NOT HELP until there are VISAS AVAILABLE.
Unfortunately, generally nurses with BSN degree do NOT qualify for work visa, H1B. In order to apply for work visa the position should require a BACHELOR'S degree MINIMUM. For someone to work as a RN in the States you do NOT NEED a bachelor's degree, associate degree is enough (even though they seem to prefer BSN.)
When I find nursing positions that require BSN degree, they also ask for many years of experience. These are Nursing supervisor/manager positions. As a new grad. with a BSN, who is NOT ALLOWED to work how on earth am I supposed to have experience?
I applied to several NP programs. It's not like I wanted to do master's in nursing. I'm running out of patience waiting for a stupid bill, so I thought I might as well go back to school instead of KILLING SOME TIME. I had all of their admissions requirements, even GRE and TOEFL tests were waived for me, but they are denying my applications because of the lack of nursing experience again (they should really say so in their requirements instead of saying "nursing experience is preferred"!! i guess it's their way of fooling you and making money)!
I almost wish I never went to a nursing school in the US - WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY, TIME & EFFORT!!! - in a country that does NOT give credit to people like myself who went to their university to get education, and obeyed their immigration rules and regulations! All that effort, and my US RN license is WORTHLESS really! If I joined millions of illegals from the beginning, I probably would have been much happier, at least nothing to get frustrated about nursing. This country's immigration system is sooo screwed up. They do NOT seem to distinguish someone working hard, making all the effort to be LEGALLY here and someone who does not give a **** about being legal, and falls out of status immediately, works & don't even bother to pay taxes.
Oh, I'm from a pretty peaceful & democratic country, so "I can't go home" probably won't work for me. I'm getting really disgusted about this nursing, immigration staff..
You should contact an immigration attorney and see if there is an alternative for you.
Some free advice: There are alternatives to retrogression; you need a lawyer and some patience but you can still immigrate legally and work if you fit certain qualifiers.
I understand how you feel. When I was in Chicago I was working with a community of Arab nurse graduates who were struggling to get legal status to work; luckily we were able to find ways to get them to immigrate legally because of the state of war and their inability to return to their defined "home" country.
So now there are a few dozen patriotic Arab-American nurses working happily in the greater Chicago metro area.
I hope you can find a solution soon for your situation.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Yes, I'm aware of the struggle that nurses have in getting this needed experience. However, the hospitals still need it in order to hire and saying that immigrant nurses are inexperienced when they come to work in the US is completely incorrect.
That was my only point.
Right now nurses have to go to US hospitals in the Middle east on short-term contracts to get the experience to move on to the USA, Europe or Australia and New Zealand. There are so few long-term contracts in Arab countries that nurses cannot seriously think of them as destination, only training grounds. I think the US hospitals actually like it that way, the recruiters seem to route nurses through this as a process although I cannot confirm any official or unofficial policy to do this, it is based on my observations.
Hospitals can make it a requirement that experience is required but we have seen many post that have no experience and US employer. I can only go on what I am seeing in the International forum. Agencies do make it a requirement to have experience and many require 2 years but going direct hire well that is up to the hospital.
"We must do two things: Expand our health care capacity by giving American nursing schools the resources they need to hire educators to train the next generation of nurses. And we must help the growth of health care in developing countries."
I'm giving more hope in this H.R.2536 "Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act" than a Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), which focuses on illegal immigration, borders etc. unless CIR will include a section about legal nursing immigration. In my opinion these politicians should discuss about legal immigration FIRST before illegal ones.
I'm sure I'm not the only one in this ugly situation. There are hundreds and thousands of US-educated, but foreign-born RNs, who are in the same shoes as I am. They just CAN NOT work. Unlike other majors we can not just go to a grad. school (if we decide so) because of lack of nursing experience. It does not make any sense to me, this is just one example showing how screwed up the immigration system in the US.
I'm not sure if getting a specialty in nursing will help at all. Personally I do not want to spend another cent for something, like my BSN degree, which later turn out to have no use at all! But thanks anyway!
I have to ask didn't your school inform you that you wouldn't be able to work after graduation without a SSN ? Why is this a surprise to you since retrogression has been ongoing for years ?
I hear you pain and you would be a better fit for a US Hospital employment ( I say this as a nurse and a consumer) but is it fair to all the nurses who have been waiting patiently to come to the USA and playing by the rule ? On the other hand you have been contributing to the economy here.
I guess I have lots of questions and no concrete answers and I don't have the wisdom to have a good answer that would be fair to everyone.
Do you think that I'm unable to work because I do not have a Social Security Number?? HA HA. That's funny. I'm sorry you made me laugh again (I see you have no idea). This has nothing to do with a SSN or the nursing school. This is an immigration issue (there is NO VISAS for RNs!!), I do not have a legal right to engage in employment! There used to be a Schedule A visa category for RNs and physical therapists to get a permanent visa, but that category ran out of visa about 2 years ago when I was in school. The problem is a new bill hasn't been approved since that!! NOBODY knows when another bill will pass, if it ever happens!!
I think there is a big difference (in terms of the process to apply for a visa) between foreign-born RNs 1) who went to school in the US, passed NCLEX, and got US RN license vs. 2) who are non-US-educated and waiting abroad! The ones who didn't get their nursing education from the US, and do not have US RN license they have to take some kind of international Nursing licensure exam, TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), Spoken English Test etc etc. I'm sure it is a loooong process for them to prove that their education is equivalent to US system. http://www.cgfns.org/sections/programs/vs/ there might be some info about exams etc. here. Even I have to pay money to get a Visa Screen to prove that my US-education is US-equivalent (even though my BSN is from an accredited US university!). That's another nonsense! (There are many stupid rules that don't make sense at all). But I was told my Visa Screen processing will be much faster than of those who are educated abroad. Filing applications probably has more steps, and papers involved and takes soo much time for them too. Plus they are not physically in the States, thus everything has to go through an agency or something like that. I'm just saying things that I heard, I can't speak for them really. May be there are other reasons that makes the whole process for them soo long, and that's why they've been waiting for years...
Are you trying to say that they (non-US educated RNs) have been playing by rules and I haven't? Pardon me! I hope you didn't mean it or you just don't know what you are talking about?! As I said above I know the rules and requirements are different based on where you earned your nursing education, and probably if you are in the States or not. I feel the pain of RNs waiting for years to come to the States!
My point is I think there should an easier way that ALLOW US-EDUCATE RNs to be able to work legally after nursing school. We also played by the rules, worked soo hard in school, paid so much money to get the degree (in most cases when you are an international student your tuition is much higher than in-state residents', or even out-of-state residents'; and no there no such thing as "financial aid" when you are a foreigner!). The visa process should probably be handled differently than of those educated abroad. I also think that the Congress should discuss about LEGAL immigration prior to illegal ones! That's just NOT FAIR! Also, it is NOT FAIR for us, who went to the same school, got the same degree and license as our American classmates, UNABLE to work simply because we are foreign-born!
If I knew what was going to happen, of course, I wouldn't have gone to a Nursing school here! Probably, I wouldn't have come to the States in the first place. Why waste money & time for something where the Government doesn't give any value and turns out to be WORTHLESS! I wanted to work here for a few years, because I went to school in the States. Hope that makes sense.
I don't understand people who are opposing this bill. The stats say that there will be about ONE MILLION open nursing position by 2020. So, how much of a difference will 20,000 green card visas to foreign RNs will make? one million vs 20 thousand?! That 20,000 is a one time deal, and it's for only 3 years (probably the first year they'll ran out of visas again).
I have to ask didn't your school inform you that you wouldn't be able to work after graduation without a SSN ? Why is this a surprise to you since retrogression has been ongoing for years ?
I hear you pain and you would be a better fit for a US Hospital employment ( I say this as a nurse and a consumer) but is it fair to all the nurses who have been waiting patiently to come to the USA and playing by the rule ? On the other hand you have been contributing to the economy here.
I guess I have lots of questions and no concrete answers and I don't have the wisdom to have a good answer that would be fair to everyone.
Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
My point is I think there should an easier way that ALLOW US-EDUCATE RNs to be able to work legally after nursing school. We also played by the rules, worked soo hard in school, paid so much money to get the degree (in most cases when you are an international student your tuition is much higher than in-state residents', or even out-of-state residents'; and no there no such thing as "financial aid" when you are a foreigner!). The visa process should probably be handled differently than of those educated abroad. I also think that the Congress should discuss about LEGAL immigration prior to illegal ones! That's just NOT FAIR! Also, it is NOT FAIR for us, who went to the same school, got the same degree and license as our American classmates, UNABLE to work simply because we are foreign-born!
I'm off topic but your post made me think. Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG's) who attend residency programs in the US are able to do so via the J-1 Visa. After their residency program is completed, these physicians are to return to their home countries unless they apply for a J-1 Visa Waiver allowing them to stay for an additional 3 years if they choose to work and are hired in underserved areas (mostly rural health clinics, Indian reservations, things of that sort). I wonder if the immigration service can come up with a similar exception for US-trained foreign nurses.
Medicine is 25% dependent of Foreign Trained Physicians, I think that is why they have the J Class visa, but it is a good point, if nurses wish to practice in critical shortage areas for low pay and hard conditions ( rural areas,Indian reservations, etc) perhaps that would work. The sad part is that many qualified Americans have to go to Foreign Medical Schools to qualify to practice in the USA. Do we want American nursing to follow in medicine's foot steps and have American nurses who have to be educated overseas?
Medicine also makes physician take 3 sets of boards, one is a hands on test, where a physician is measured on skills such as telephone triage. Nursing is judged on one test and no hands on experience.
Moon906, I feel bad for your situation. Your school should have counseled you that retrogression was in place( since 2006) and you could not go to grad schools without experience. As I have stated before, if I was a hiring I would rather hire you ( as US trained nurse ) but to work you have to wait your turn through the immigration process. It seems only fair.
Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
Do we want American nursing to follow in medicine's foot steps and have American nurses who have to be educated overseas?
That's not what my post is suggesting. Foreign nationals who studied nursing in the US can be an exception because they are already acculturated to American nursing practices.
I'm really off topic now but BTW, why do we accept the fact that medicine is dependent on a steady supply of FMG's and yet we couldn't see nursing in a similar light?
I'm glad that at least you, or perhaps others, who are reading this forum, are looking at Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act from this angle (US-trained foreign nurses who can NOT work because there is NO visa for them). Yes, I heard about J-1 visa, but I didn't know that FMG's could use that. > - That's EXACTLY THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE. I wrote about my situation to make some people understand what some of us have gone through (went to US nursing schools, got US RN license etc.) and that there are different interests in regard of this bill, hoping that people will not look at this bill from one angle/interest only.
I'm off topic but your post made me think. Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG's) who attend residency programs in the US are able to do so via the J-1 Visa. After their residency program is completed, these physicians are to return to their home countries unless they apply for a J-1 Visa Waiver allowing them to stay for an additional 3 years if they choose to work and are hired in underserved areas (mostly rural health clinics, Indian reservations, things of that sort). I wonder if the immigration service can come up with a similar exception for US-trained foreign nurses.
Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN
3,181 Posts
Based on my non scientific very opinionated view point, I would rather have an AS degree nurse then a Doctor become nurse. Many of the doctors are using nursing to sit for the USMLE and then leave nursing. Why shouldn't they since medicine is their first choice. Also it is very difficult for a doctor to translate to the nurses role.
In a perfect world, it would be great to transition the IEN into the American workforce, but with all the budget cuts who is going to pay for this. Every hospital is hurting and looking to reduce costs , I don't think any hospital is looking for innovation and looking to increase expenses. And if they do have the funds shouldn't the funds be going towards scholarship home based?
Trust the BON, ( who are going through massive, massive budget cuts), I am going to try for a position on the board. Issues like this makes me want to volunteer my time. In my state I only have to pay my fees and take 15 CEUS, that is such a joke and doesn't keep a non working nurse current.
I think you are a bit out of touch of what is going on here in the USA, health care administrators have stated that they will accept 1.5% across the board, hospital census is down. All capital improvements are on hold. People are loosing there insurance while the state and feds are cutting programs. This nursing "shortage" is on paper and there are no funded positions for the anticipated growth. Positions at all levels are frozen ( meaning they maybe posted but they are not hiring unless critical).
We also educate nurses about all opportunities so that they aren't just applying to CA, VT and NM anymore
Did nurses think they could find a job in Vermont? Didn't they look at the population in VT? I would say they were out of touch, I think VT processes the IENs to padded their state budget.