Foreign BSN Undergraduate Seeking A Career In Advanced Practice Nursing

[KurtRN]

How's it going everyone? My name is Kurt, a registered professional nurse in the state of New Jersey. To give you more of my background, I obtained my BSN degree in Philippines back in 2012. I was struggling to get an RN license in California and I had to leave my family behind to pursue this career. Then again, I'm digressing! I'm almost in my first year of practicing professional nursing. I've always wanted to be a proactive nurse and in my chosen career. I eagerly want to be an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner someday.

Focusing on my inquiry, I'd like to know if there are PH (or graduates outside the United States at least) undergrads like me who are currently in an NP program, or at least planning to take hold of that NP title in the future. It would be nice if you guys can share your knowledge about this query. Generally speaking though, what are the implications of choosing an online-based NP program? It seems that one of the toughest challenges in taking that route is the fact that I myself have to look for hospitals/clinics for my field-work affiliations or in our native terms back home in the Philippines, "DUTY". Help me out you guys! My lack of knowledge about the system is flushing my hopes down the toilet. I just want to make sure that I can be someday eligible to get in a program. Thank you!

P.S. The category for this thread is merely broad. I'm sorry if I posted this under "International Nursing". Cheers, guys!

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

All NP programs I know of have specific requirements for applicants who received their undergraduate degree from a country other than the US. In a nutshell, the school would want to make sure that your BSN is equivalent to the US standard. In order to establish this, schools rely on third party credentials evaluation services and there are many companies that do this. Be sure to check with the school first because some only accept evaluations from specific companies. Once your BSN is deemed acceptable to US standards, you will have to meet the rest of the requirements for all NP program applicants which typically include a license (RN) in the state you will do clinicals in, professional references, and a minimum GPA. There are some schools that still require a GRE.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

I did my bachelors degree in nursing outside the US and completed MSN in the US and became ACNP. There is not much to say - your questions seem to be more general about admission requirements, which depend entirely upon the programs you plan to apply to. If you're working here already, you must have done CGFNS evaluations etc and so shouldn't have any problems showing BSN equivalency. Your school may or may not need GRE exam scores; you'd have to check with each school. It may be more difficult for you to find your own clinical experiences if you don't have local contacts, but again this depends on your school - they give you different amounts of support to find clinical placements.

[TalarossaRN]

Hi guys! I am a bsn grad in the Philippines 2008 and an Rn there as well. I just got here in the us 2012, and i am currently an active RN working here in NC on ER's clinical decision unit for a year now. I am planning to go back to school but apparently i am not familiar with or how school applications here work. I am thinking of going FNP, rn-msn track. But also thinking of taking crna but i have no med-surg experience. I am looking into one of the universities here that does not require GRE and wants credentials to be evaluated for all international students.

Any inputs or more info regarding application process? And what if i did finish my msn, am i considered as an NP if i passed certification exams?