Future nursing from UK to USA

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Okay, so I'm about to begin doing my BA (Hons) Nursing Degree in the UK but my life long ambition is to nurse in Texas (Dallas area). I know I need to do my degree and the NCLEX test but what else do I need to know in order to make this life long dream of mine a reality? I know my degree is going to take 3 years but what sort of time scale am I looking at for this to make it actually happen?

Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated

Many thanks

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Side-note: I have emailed the Texas Board of Nursing but have had no response

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Specializes in NICU.

Are you studying adult nursing in the UK? If so, you'll need OB and peds hours before they'll let you sit for NCLEX. I'm pretty sure if you're doing mental health/peds/learning disabilities, you'll need to do an adult course as well.

Do you have any permission to work/live in the US like a spouse or a relative? If not, the nursing retrogression for visas is from back in 2006, I believe. The economy isn't great over here, as you may know, and our own new grads can't get jobs, so they aren't shipping foreign nurses over. It will likely be several years. I'd look into Canada, although to confess, I don't know what their situation is like.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

You will need theory and clinical hours in adult, peds, OB and mental health to qualify to write the NCLEX. You are looking at least 6 years for a Green Card.

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I am doing adult nursing yes, I figured that would be the best route as it covers a bit of everything. Could I possibly do an internship once I'm qualified? My degree will be 50% theory too which I think is going to be helpful but I figure if I do an internship I can train as they do in America.

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6 years is what I thought

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I don't think they would accept an internship, it would have to be part of your education at university.It would have to be hours in both theory( classroom) and clinical in all areas and you would have to have the number of hours they require.It couldn't just be a "bit" of everything.

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So I'd probably be looking at doing me degree and then getting about 2 years qualified experience? My dad has lived out there for the past 9 years but is only on visa through work :( this is such a big dream for me and I'm willing to do what ever it takes to make it happen. The information that you have provided has been very helpful and I will continue to strive towards my goals. Thank you so very much.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

If you are doing a degree in adult nursing you will still need to get theory and clinicals in peds, OB and mental health in order to write the NCLEX.Working experience wouldn't count, it has to be formal education.

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Okay, I'm going to have to do some more research on what my degree is going to cover exactly each year but I do know that it will be a 45 week year and 50% will be theory and 50% clinical and the clinical will be 37 1/2 hr working weeks and I'll get to work and get experience in all departments.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Check with the BON in the state that you want to get a license in.They should have an outline of how many hours in each area are needed.

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Specializes in NICU.

So your Dad is not a permanent resident? You can't get over based on the work visa (unless it allows for dependents), but if he ever does become a permanent resident, he can petition you.

If you are under 21 (F2A), the wait time is about 2.5 years (they are allowing folks from Feb 15, 2010 applications), and if you're over 21 (F2B), it's about 8 years.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5733.html

There are intricate rules about when you apply vs when you're approved for the cut-off age (something like your age can be frozen in time as long as you apply before you're 21, but they might have changed the rules), and I would highly recommend visajourney.com and look under the forum, "family members of permanent residents" which can help answer all those questions.

Of course, if the economy picks up, the visa retrogression for nurses may pick up as well. Or, if you marry a US citizen or a US permanent resident, you could get permission to live/work that way.

Good luck! I am an American nurse and married a born/raised Brit. I recently got my nursing registration with the NMC and while it was a lot of headaches, I didn't need to go through nearly as much as you guys, let alone take a test! Keep us posted on how things go.

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