Immigrating from US to UK

[lukatrn]

I've been a RN for about a year now, I've been working in a level 3 NICU the entire time. I absolutely adore my job, and I love my little patients. In spite of this, I am interested in leaving the US for the UK in the next one to three years. I want to know how much experience I would have to have to ensure that I get a NICU position and ideally dealing with the same level of acuity that we have at my hospital.

I have been looking at the requirements and I see that they require a minimum of one year experience, and is it 18 months or three years of specialized schooling? I have a BSN, but it was a 16 month program as I had a prior degree so I was able to jump straight into the nursing program without repeating my general ed classes. Would I want to apply for pediatrics or midwifery? Will my lack of experience with children and/or adults make it difficult for me to pass the competency tests? Are these basically the same as the US NCLEX exam? At what point should I begin applying for jobs? After I've passed all the exams or after I've begun the visa process?

After two years of work, we're eligible to get a certification in NICU nursing, would getting this look good to future employers (even though I'm sure my certification would be meaningless overseas).

Any advice anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

I suggest getting registration sorted as it is a long long process. Once that is sorted I would then start looking for jobs

[HandmadeRN]

Hi Lunakatrina,

In the UK we have single discipline nursing. So for NICU you would need to have paeds training. You wouldn't need to be midwifery trained.

I think you'd probably find our healthcare pretty different in the UK compared to the US. For a start, we don't refer to drugs as brand names. We only call them by their generic names in hospital. However, I should think any hospital would be keen to have you if you have NICU experience. However licensing and visa would be your main issue.

For licensing, have a look here: Trained outside the EU/EEA

You will also have to do a practical exam (OSCE) as a foreign trained nurse.

Here's some more information about visas and becoming a nurse in the UK: Overseas nurses and midwives - NHS Employers

Good Luck!

P.s. I should add that any US NICU certificate would not be valid here. However, I should think that an employer might look favourably on any certificates that you have when looking for jobs but in terms of promotion etc... if you stayed here, you would need to do an English NICU course.

[lukatrn]

That's very helpful to know! I wasn't sure if NICU would be pediatric or not. Mine is in a children's hospital, but a lot of NICUs are located in "women's hospitals" here.

I know there will be quite a few differences, and I'll try to do my best to prepare as well as I can. I've heard that nurses operate ventilators in other countries and here we have respiratory therapists to manage vents and administer inhaled medications. Fortunately, the hospitals in the US and the nursing schools are beginning to use only generic names so that won't be very difficult. We mostly only use brand names so that parents can recognize them or if they're much easier to pronounce. I entered school right as this movement started so I don't know a lot of brand names, actually.

[HandmadeRN]

I'm ex-ICU and yes we do operate the ventilators. You wouldn't be expected to know how to manage the ventilator straight away, so don't worry! As with any job, you would be supernumerary for a short period of time to get used to the unit and the machinery! And with time, you learn how to manage the ventilator.

We usually have a technician on the unit to help with any technical issues. But essentially your team leader and the medical team are there as well to help. Not too sure what the NICU set up is like but I imagine its similar.

That's super useful that you are aware of generic drugs names! I think we do use some different drugs occasionally but not always. Here's a good link for common drugs in the UK with brand names and generic names. Although I imagine there will be some differences between US and UK brand names. Drug listings by brand and generic drugs | MIMS online

For more drug info this is our drugs bible in the UK: BNF Publications but you might find it difficult to access in the US.

[lukatrn]

I didn't even think about the drug differences and I really should have! I recently visited the UK and had a bit of a shock when I tried to find my usual anti motion sickness medicine and discovered it wasn't available in the UK, and the medicine that I got as a substitute isn't available in the US! I'll definitely need to study up on my drugs! Thanks so much for the links!!