Student Possibly Moving to England

cah · Oct 4, 2006

Hi,

I am a British trained nurse now living (and trying to get nursing licence) in Texas.

The RN training in England is a 3 or 4 year course (diploma or degree) which must be sucessfully completed in order to gain registration with NMC (nursing and midwifery council) and to work. I am not sure about a transfer and how that would work but my advice would be to contact the nursing schools local to the area you would be living to see what they say.

Finally, no you do not have to be hired by the government.

I hope this is somewhat helpful.

Good luck!

suzanne4, RN · Oct 4, 2006

I am halfway through nursing school (RN) in St. Louis Missouri. My husband is possibly getting a job transfer to England. I am trying to get advice about whether I should stay in the US until I graduate, (and have two households for almost a year) or transfer to a nursing program in England.
I do not know much about UK nursing. I understand England has a national health care system. How do nurses get certification when they graduate? Do they take exams? (In the US, the tests are called state boards) Do you have to be hired by the government in England before you attend nursing school? I know these questions my seem dumb, but I honestly never had to wonder about things like this before.
I looked on the NMC website and all it really gives advice about is if you are ESL. I am also wondering if the nursing colleges will take my college credit. I really don't want to start over!
Thanks for any information or advice anyone can give me!

Alot will depend on the type of program that you are in here in the US. The two year degrees from here are not accepted for licensure there, must be at least equal to their three year degree, nothing less.

Be aware that they have waiting lists as well, but for most programs there, you must be a resident there for at least three years to be able to even get into a program there. It is not automaitc liek here, do the the way that they handle things and they are quite different. Even training is considerably different, they do 18 months of general nursing, then 18 months of specialty...........your best bet is to finish where you are at, and then go over........if you are determined to be an RN.

The other issue is that if you graduate over there, and wish to come back to the US, you may be missing needed hours and will need to make those up before you can take the NCLEX-RN, as well as having to go thru the procedures as a foreign grad, and you would be considered one.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 5, 2006

I would complete your training before coming over to the UK, nurse training is a lot different than the US and not sure if your credits are transferrable. Recently there has been a lot of changes with immigration and you may find it hard to find a job once qualified even once you have passed through all the hoops that the NMC have laid down, hospitals are told they haveh to employ in this order UK, EU and then non EU and if they employ someone who is non EU they have to be able to justify reason (as long as they can prove best for job should be ok) just making it arder for work permits even if you have one on your husbands visa they still have to go in that order. Was a piece in the nursing times a few weeks ago on a nurse non EU who has work in the UK for over 6 years and due to the changes may not get a job and have to leave the UK.

Hope this helps

sarahbellum · Oct 5, 2006

Thanks! The information and advice was really helpful!!

Clarecartwright · Oct 12, 2006

You could always join an agency and do bank working rather than getting a permanent job that way you can work in the hospital you choose and visit lots of different wards and get experience that way - Plus you can put your feelers out for up coming jobs because if the ward manager wants you they will probably get you lol :)

RGN1 · Oct 12, 2006

I would complete your training before coming over to the UK, nurse training is a lot different than the US and not sure if your credits are transferrable. Recently there has been a lot of changes with immigration and you may find it hard to find a job once qualified even once you have passed through all the hoops that the NMC have laid down, hospitals are told they haveh to employ in this order UK, EU and then non EU and if they employ someone who is non EU they have to be able to justify reason (as long as they can prove best for job should be ok) just making it arder for work permits even if you have one on your husbands visa they still have to go in that order. Was a piece in the nursing times a few weeks ago on a nurse non EU who has work in the UK for over 6 years and due to the changes may not get a job and have to leave the UK.
Hope this helps

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: This is the best advice to you along with that concerning the hours for N-CLEX. If possible complete your training in the US because I think it's very unlikely you'll get anything over here in the UK.

If your school has a "choice" module like some of ours do over here you might be able to do some hours in a UK hospital near your other half for a while. I knew a student nurse here who did 6 weeks in a New York hospital when she was training. At least you'd get to see him for an extended period & get to see what it's like for nurses in the UK.

Of course I have no idea if that's possible for you.

I met my lifelong best friend when she was a US student (not nurse) & came to do a module at my Uni way back in the late 80's. Got loads of cheap hols in the USA visiting her:lol2: over the years!