European Nurses

suzanne4, RN · Dec 5, 2007

There are already several threads on this topic and one on the UK Forum that pertains to nurses from the EU that wish to work in the US.

There is a thread at the top of this forum called Primer for working in the US and that has information that pertains to you. You will also need to complete the series of English exams if you did not train in an English speaking country. All that you need to know can be found there.

Requirements for working in the US are the same for all foreign nurses, and do not change because of the continent. Visas are distributed based on birth country and not where the nurse is currently a resident of or living. There is a retrogression in place and that means that there have been no visas for anyone for more than a year.

Please check out the threads that are stickies at the top and then let us know if you need more information.

luci_gh · Dec 5, 2007

Thanks! I am just having a hard time finding topics especially about Eastern EU countries nurses, and especially the requirements for these nurses to apply to a BON in US. What I mean and I am trying to find is.... here in Europe we have a 3 year degree or nursing OR 4 year BSN. Applying to a BON in US (I have sent my documentation to BON from CA 2 months ago, and now I am waiting for an answer from them) - is our education enough, considering that our EU nursing education is different than US ? I am wondering if our education may be sufficient to be found eligible to sit for NCLEX ? After reading many threads here, even though I have applied to the BON from CA, I am thinking of applying in the same time to the NY BON... for the fast processing sake. What would you advise me ? I know there are many other nurses from Eastern EU in the same situation I am in. Thank you... and sorry if I am not understandable enough in my inquiry.

suzanne4, RN · Dec 5, 2007

There is no difference in the requirements for those from Eastern Europe or any other country.

One major requirement is that your training must be equivalent of a first level general nurse in your country; that is a requirement for immigration purposes if nothing else.

NY is definitely not fast, they will not do anything with your application until you have completed the CVS process thru CGFNS and that takes about eight months to get done.

Be aware that CA does not issue a license if you do not have a SSN#, and they only give you three years after passing the NCLEX exam to give them one or they destroy your file. CA also will take about a month to find out your results, they will not post anything if you do not have a SSN# and will have to wait for the snail mail to arrive.

The approval from a state BON is also based on the number of theory and clinical hours that you had during your training, they must have been completed at the same time, and you must have hours is peds, maternal health, as well as mental health in order to meet the requirements for licensure in the US. This can be a problem for some, but can be fixed with one or two classes if you need them.