I want to be a UK nurse

suzanne4, RN · Jan 19, 2009

The UK has a hiring freeze in place, so unless you have significant experience in an area where they have a shortage, you are not going to be able to get a visa to work there. Jobs go first to those with UK passports, and then next to those from other EU countries.

Even if you go to school there, you are not going to be able to work there for any longer than the one year post-degree visa that they have. And English exams will need to be passed, etc. As well as other items.

Suggest that you have a good read here as to what is actually happening there now in terms of visas.

seliava · Jan 19, 2009

nursing and midwifery council of the UK:

http://www.nmc-uk.org/

you need to be registered to the council first to be able to work in UK, on the site you can find the ways of registration , for EU or overseas trained nurses.

can't help you with visa, it's much easier for EU members.

mayumi17 · Jan 20, 2009

thank you guys, hope i could receive more answers and stories to share from all of you bout Uk nurses!

more power!

allnurses Guide · Jan 20, 2009

mayumi, I'm a UK nurse and Suzanne is correct. It would be very difficult for a nurse from outside the EU to get work in the UK.

Registration

You would need to register with the Nursing and Midwifery council (the link was in one of the above posts) look at the requirements for overseas nurses on that website, this is the only way to get a license to practice in the UK. You will need to pass the ILETS and you will also need to do the overseas nursing program (again details of this is on the NMC website)

Work Permit

It would be very difficult for a Non EU nurse to get a work permit, there are only a few areas of nursing that are considered as shortage occupation, and you would need significant experience in one of these areas for an employer to even consider sponsoring a visa. These are critical care, PICU and senior nursing grades.

There are some areas of the country that are still recruiting, but not many. Where I work we have closed wards and nurses are having to be placed in areas outside their speciality. This means that there is a hiring freeze on as there are so many nurses already employed that have to be placed in a job, and this is not a unique situation to where I am located, this goes on throughout the country.