General Discussion about Filipino RNs currently working in the U.S.

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for filipino rns currently in the us whether still undergoing the proper documentations or already working please kindly share your experiences on this thread.

topics maybe from experiences at the workplace, impact of the new culture to you and your family, general do's and dont's, and others.

this thread would serve, hopefully, as a general resource thread for would-be u.s. nurses in the near future and to dispel myths and rumors and of course general advice coming from those already in the u.s.

If you have an account in HSBC here in UK, you can transfer your account to USA and that includes your CREDIT HISTORY!!! but you have to pay around £100 for the transfer and one big problem is the availability of the bank. I was informed by their rep that it is available in major cities like, LA, San Francisco, Chicago or the big apple. So you have limited number of branch but at least you have a good start there.

Good luck

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Specializes in Case Manager.

Nice thread! Great job Lawrence!

Anyway, here's my question...I am planning of taking Master's Degree in Nursing here in the Philippines and some CEUs, will US accept/credit them?

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Nice thread! Great job Lawrence!

Anyway, here's my question...I am planning of taking Master's Degree in Nursing here in the Philippines and some CEUs, will US accept/credit them?

The degree will be accepted as a generic master's degree, it will not be accepted for the Advanced Nurse Practitioner or the Clinical Nurse Specialist without completing additional coursework in the US. Both of those areas actually require special licensure from the BON in addition to the regular requirements for the RN license.

The CEUs must be accepted by the state BON where you are planning to get licensed. Most that are overseas are not accepted, as they are not usually assigned a special number for the course for that particular state, and that is required for them to be used. They will be for your own learning, but not for credit in the US more than likely.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
REp,you mention abt. Citibank,is it possible that i can use my credit account in this card once im there working?thanks...

Your credit history is tie up with your SSN#, So when you are new here and with a new SSN# means your credit history is virtually ZERO.

I have a HSBC Visa Credit card in the Philippines and when I told this to a employee of the bank where I have a debit account, she said that the HSBC credit card does not mean a thing here even if I have a good history with that account. The thing is my Philippines HSBC Visa has a credit limit much higher than my credit card here. :lol2:

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Specializes in Case Manager.
The degree will be accepted as a generic master's degree, it will not be accepted for the Advanced Nurse Practitioner or the Clinical Nurse Specialist without completing additional coursework in the US. Both of those areas actually require special licensure from the BON in addition to the regular requirements for the RN license.

The CEUs must be accepted by the state BON where you are planning to get licensed. Most that are overseas are not accepted, as they are not usually assigned a special number for the course for that particular state, and that is required for them to be used. They will be for your own learning, but not for credit in the US more than likely.

Thanks Suzanne.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Orthopedics.

So is there is basically no use to have a master's degree here in the philippines as it is not credited in US?

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Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.
so is there is basically no use to have a master's degree here in the philippines as it is not credited in us?

after working as an rn for 6 months here in the u.s., getting a master's degree sorta crossed my mind, you know, maybe to become an educator, or maybe a nurse practioner..after searching the internet, and calling different universities, i realize how complicated it is to get in the master's program. you need to pass certain requirements, ( gre, gmat, etc.), and the tuition is not cheap either, and as a foreign graduate rn like me, i need to have my bsn transcript evaluated before i can even apply for the master's program. now, from what i understand, if you have a master's degree in the philippines, or man, it needs to be evaluated too, it is not comparable to the master's degree here in the united states...because like suzanne posted above, it will be only credited as a generic master's degree. so, the bottomline? you will still need to get more classes here in the u.s. in addition to your master's done in pi. i don't know what's the man curriculum like in pi, but i am very aware of what it's like here in the u.s. ( i been searching and requested college/university applications, brochures, and their curriculum breakdown, and guess what? you still need to do a coursework, write papers, clinicals, blah blahs...and when you say papers, you have to follow their standards). so, if i were you? probably i will wait until i get a job in the us first, then get my msn. why waste your money there, when your not even sure if your man is credited here, right? for me? probably continue working, and maybe decide later whether to get my master's degree...i'd love to be a nurse practioner, or maybe an nurse educator, nurse manager later, but i am happy that i am working now, and yet i am aware that i still have a lot to learn in this profession. trust me, it is not easy, you might think you all figure it out, but it is not...but hey, it is good to be always be positive..aim high, nothing is impossible !!!:lol2:

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So is there is basically no use to have a master's degree here in the philippines as it is not credited in US?

It will not get you an EB-2 for immigration purposes. In the US, you will need to do additional hours to meet requirements for licensure as a Nurse Practitioner or Clinical Nurse Specialist. The hours from PI do not fulfill the requirements needed in the US.

And as we keep mentioning, nursing in PI is very different from that practiced in the US. Unless you actually complete the degree there, you will find it hard for any university in the US to accept any of the hours or credits from there. This is even the same for those that transfer programs in the US, you always lose quite a few credits.

If you have not already started, you would be better off doing the degree in the US and get part of the tuition paid by your employer.

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I'm working for a year here in Florida, and I can say that my transition was very, very good. My family and I have been blessed by an American who's very supportive from the time that we arrived until the present time. She is like a mother to us. And when we came there were 10 Filipinos who picked us up in the airport, plus this American that I have told you about, and I can tell you that seeing them at around 12 midnight made us feel welcomed and understood - and it meant a lot.

There were about 15 Filipino families when we came. And they are pretty close to one another. They would come visit us and introduce themselves. They would dropped by on their way to the grocery store to check whether we would want to buy something, since we don't have a car yet.

There are places here in the United States that have very good public trasportation services but in our place car is a necessity. And I advice you to take driving lessons and pass your driving test - both written and practical there in the Philippines. This saved my husband and myself in taking the DRug test online which would normally take about 4 hours. We only took the written and the practical test to get our licenses.

At work communication was my problem. I know that I understand spoken English but when I started work, I found it quite alarming that there are people that I simply cannot understand. When this happens I just ask them to repeat what they said and sometimes politely I would ask them to speak slowly.

A preceptor was assigned to me. And I can say that background in basic bedside nursing would have helped me adjust better, I needed it for my self, not for them, because they will teach you how to do it, but it would have been better if I have the necessary basic skills.

I hope somehow I have been of help to those who will read this. I wish you all the best of luck :)

So glad to hear good news from nurses already working abroad. Hopefully when I'll get the chance to work outside the country, God willing, I'll have a good story to tell from my experience as a certified nurse.

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Specializes in Med-Surg,OPD ER,School/Clinic,Teaching.

If you have not already started, you would be better off doing the degree in the US and get part of the tuition paid by your employer.

Hi ma'am Suzanne! Are there employers/petitioners who would fully sponsor or at least partially help in the expenses for those who are still here and have not started(eventually start)the immigration process/have started the immigration process?

Do they have distance learning options given such provision(s) above? I think it would greatly help the nurse in transition(while waiting for the papers).

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Specializes in MEDSURG, IMU, ONCOLOGY.
great and enlightening posts. would like to ask for advice though which is more practical - bring the kids along (ages 6 and 8) or give myself time first to adjust first.

Great thread, Why didn't Lawrence post this 5 years ago?:) :chuckle It would have helped me, I had to learn it the hard way:o :chuckle

Anyway,

when i came here, It was only me and my husband first, we are sort of "trying the new water" first, so I can concentrate on my new job, and he can concentrate on looking for a job (hey, I'm smart! got to let them work!) My kids followed after six months (she was 7 and he was 4) , but, boy those were the hardest 6 months of my life! Spent too much money on long distance calls to p.i. and end up getting eyebugs for crying too much (you get the picture):sniff:,

Then, we enrolled them to school as soon as possible (my 4 yr old got accepted because he is what they call ESL (english as a second language) otherwise, if your kids are born here, they won't accept them until they are 5 or 6? I'm not sure. They can always put them in daycare but they are very expensive. The kids adjust really quick. I remember my son only know "yes" and "no" for english, after a few months, he has to think had na to talk in our language.

6moths fast forward, me and my husband are having a difficult time adjusting our schedule (we only had one car then) he has to hurry home so I can leave for work (7p)....so he decided to leave his work as a security officer (which he only received base pay of $5.15, no insurance, no benefits, hey I was glad he decided to leave) and just be a homebody so "he can take care of the kids".....fast forward few months, my husband got crazy with DEPRESSION (my diagnosis, anyway, he was in denial:lol2: ) being at home most of the time, nothing to do drove him crazy. We were always arguing (BEWARE: a big part of your adjustment is the spouse that's left at home to take care of the kids, esp when they had a totally different role back home)

THen my husband decided to go to nursing school :saint: thinking it is one job you can have good pay, and where you can find job in most place you go.

So now, we're both working as nurses... end of story.

You have to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of bringing your kids with you. If you have a spouse that is already taking care of your kids in the Phil full time, then I guess it's okay, because he/she is already used to that role. BUT if you have a reversal of role when you come to migrate, PLEASE always remember it's a BIG adjustment for BOTH of you.

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Specializes in MEDSURG, IMU, ONCOLOGY.
Hello Guys!! im Also an RN here in the philippines and will be coming soon in the US after this retrogression i'll be working in OR..just want to ask if experience is a big factor before going to US?....or its okey if you have limited experience will they train you when your already in their facility?

Having an experience in Phil before coming here is an added bonus, if you have it, fine, if you don't, still okay because they will train you. They treat foreign hired nurses as new grads in this hospital) I had 2 months orientation in a MedSurg-Oncology floor. It was not a bad transition for me because I started off as a PCA (nurse aide) and Unit secretary while waiting to take my licensure exam. When I oriented as a nurse, they give us a whole week of general orientation, what the hospital's mission, policies, all those good stuff (free lunch and paid hours;) ) and how their computer system works. nursing stuff like medication dosage calculations and the equipments that we as nurses use (IV pumps, PCA (patient controlled analgesia machine) glucometers, etc.

On the floor I was assigned to a Filipino nurse for a preceptor which really helped a lot, language/cultural barriers are eliminated. They give you patients starting with one, and gradually increasing till you take the full load (6-7 patients in my case).

I got a new graduate nurse rate on this hospital, so when when my contract was done 2 years after, a converted into PRN (no benefit, pays better, more flexible schedule) and got a full time job in another hospital which jumped up my salary to $7 more/hr.

Then when we moved to the bigger city of Houston, I found a hospital that credited half of my total Phil experience (10yrs experience in Phil, credited my for 5yrs here, so I got a very good offer) They just asked a copy of my job certificate from back home. And the work condition is way better than the remote city of McAllen. Here, on this hospital, their nurse patient ratio is 1:4 in MEDSURG! At first I did not belive it but it's true. So i grabbed the opportunity and still works here today. Of course I've moved to a specialty unit, but another story.

If you have experience on the Phil. make sure you get a job certificate and hang on to them, you'll never know you'll use it some day.

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