I'm deciding whether to study in the UK or US... Any advice?

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Hi everyone,

I am currently in the process of looking at Universities to study at and get my degree in Nursing, specifically Pediatrics. I was born in the UK, but grew up mainly in the USA. Now as I have grown older, I have become more interested in returning to study in the UK preferably in London with the intentions of becoming a nurse.

As I am still in the process of looking do any of you all have any tips for me with the pros and cons of getting my degree in the UK vs. in the USA?

Thank you so much and I hope someone may get back to me!!

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My advice would be to study nursing in the country in which you intend to practice nursing. There are significant differences in the models of nursing education used in different countries, and the education doesn't always transfer easily to another country for licensure purposes. In the case of UK/USA specifically, the UK uses a different educational and licensure system than the US, and nurses who come here from the UK and seek licensure often find that their education isn't considered equivalent/adequate for licensure in the US, because of the specialized adult, mental health, and peds education and licensure system there.

Best wishes for your journey!

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My advice would be to study nursing in the country in which you intend to practice nursing. There are significant differences in the models of nursing education used in different countries, and the education doesn't always transfer easily to another country for licensure purposes. In the case of UK/USA specifically, the UK uses a different educational and licensure system than the US, and nurses who come here from the UK and seek licensure often find that their education isn't considered equivalent/adequate for licensure in the US, because of the specialized adult, mental health, and peds education and licensure system there.

Best wishes for your journey!

Thank you for your advice and getting back to me! If you have any more advice at all I would be very grateful! As I am still searching for the right match.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

UK training is more specialised than the US and many do not meet state requirements also not many universities offer International places due to how nurse training is funded in the UK and unless you have lived in the UK for 3 years recently you will be classed as a International student

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Specializes in NICU.

Like others have said, I would do the training in the country in which you intend to practice.

Beyond that...I would recommend an American BSN because the conversion process is much easier from US->UK than UK->US. You are almost guaranteed to need extra clinical hours from UK to USA because the UK training is specialized and the American training is generalized. Plus you'll need to take the NCLEX licensure exam, which is geared towards nurses who completed an American nursing degree. Even if you have a UK nursing degree, you still have to take it if you want an American RN license. I would probably fail it if I took it now because I don't remember much of anything about adults.

That being said, the NMC (nursing regulatory body in the UK) does have some strict requirements. You can look at my post here for my journey to getting a UK nursing license:

https://allnurses.com/international-nursing/journey-foreign-nurse-651871.html

So when researching programs, make sure you note down the theory and clinical hours as this is vitally important for registration.

Best of luck on whatever you decide to do; I love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything!

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