Foreign Educated Nurse in pursue of becoming CRNA..Will it be harder for me?

jls189 · Oct 3, 2008

Hi everyone. Newbie here. Im an RN from the philippines, scheduled to take my NCLEX-RN 28th of this month here at CA. Ok, Ive been calling around at hospitals and I really wanted to be in ICU. Been calling around at Universities here too for Master's program and the lady at UCLA told me its best if I have my experience here in US (already had a year in the phils) this is with regards to letters of recommendation.
So ok I will gain experience here and I'm thinking since my education is not based here, do i need to make extra efort before pursuing my CRNA dream. Here is what I'm thinking of pursuing as "routes":
1) Go into MSN program like NP or CNS even just part-time and finish it before applying for CRNA school (of course working full time at ICU hopefully). Will this help me for entrance to CRNA school knowing that I have US education ?
2) Or I will gain good experience (at least 2 years at ICU), pass CCRN, gain lots of Continued Education (seminars, trainings etc) and take the pre-requisite subjects like chemistry, Biochemistry, Physiology etc. And of course save money
By the way, I already have my foreign transcripts evaluation and it is over 3 on the GPA 4 scale. Appreciate your response. Blessings:nurse:[/quote
I would definitely suggest working in a US ICU for at least a couple years. Nursing practice is so different here than it is in the Philippines. I know this from speaking to MD's and RN's who are from the there and practiced there. I think your plan is great, but I don't think you need to get your NP or CNS prior to applying. Maybe try taking some graduate level classes after taking a class or two that you listed above. Don't forget about taking the GRE. Not sure if it is required by the school(s) you're interested in, but just something else to think about.
Not sure how long you have been in the US, but WELCOME!!!! And I wish all the luck!!!!!!

richo_006 · Oct 3, 2008

I would definitely suggest working in a US ICU for at least a couple years. Nursing practice is so different here than it is in the Philippines. I know this from speaking to MD's and RN's who are from the there and practiced there. I think your plan is great, but I don't think you need to get your NP or CNS prior to applying. Maybe try taking some graduate level classes after taking a class or two that you listed above. Don't forget about taking the GRE. Not sure if it is required by the school(s) you're interested in, but just something else to think about.

Not sure how long you have been in the US, but WELCOME!!!! And I wish all the luck!!!!!!

Hi thank you so much for your reply.:) I just got here at ORange county, CA this year and I have a year of experience in the philippines, so Im really counting on building my skills in here. There are only 3 schools that Ive research that offer CRNA here , I may be wrong, but those three are:

1)Samuell merrit college

2)USC keck school of medicine

3)CSU fullerton in partnership with kaiser permanente

The samuell merrit and USC requires GRE but CSU fullerton doesn't. Either way I will still take GRE. And suzzane also said its not a good idea to go on the NP route first, I think you guys were right that I will just need experience in here, take the prerequisites that they need and then when im ready, experience and money wise:p Ill go ahead and apply for CRNA school im thinking of CSU fullerton with kaiser. Oh well, suzzane said I will need at least 5 years of experience before applying for CRNA school, although Ive read that at least a minimum of 1 year. Maybe me being educated outside US need to "EXERT EXTRA EFFORT" EEE:D

tyro8 · Oct 3, 2008

Your second option sounds better to me. Get some ICU experience first and take some pre reqs while doing this. Then take your GRE and CCRN. You will need at least 3 letters of recommendation usually coming from your manager, a professor, an MD or CRNA. I know and worked with several nurses from the phillippines who are CRNA's now. You're still young, just keep your focus and you will succeed. Good luck! :up:

richo_006 · Oct 3, 2008

Thank you so much tyro8 for your reply. Blessings:nurse: If you don't mind I would just like to know how many years of experience does your filipino coworker have before getting into CRNA and what area are they in? Im here at orange county, CA btw. Again ty :-)

ferrerjen · Jun 27, 2012

Hello! i was looking around for a thread like this coz im also interested in pursuing the same thing. i see that you posted this back in '08...but im in the exact same shoes right now when you posted this. is there by any chance any advice you can give me on how your plans went for you? I also just took my nclex exam 2 weeks ago and i've already passed the nle back in dec '11. i stay in TX now and im trying to land a job in the ICU with absolutely zero experience! is this possible?