Irish nurse seeking guidance!!

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hi guys,

i'm new to the app and was hoping i could get some guidance on it! i'm from Ireland and also trained here and have a bachelor of science degree in general nursing. I would love to go to America to worked, preferrably Calafornia. i do a 9month stint in the hospital before i get my papers(which ive done) and the i went straight into a job which is a tears contract, ending this september. so all in all iv had a year and 9months. too little?? With regards to interviews, what kind of questions do they ask? Im also struggling with this NCLEX as terms and everything are slightly different! any suggestions? i have the kaplan 2012-2013 book and one internet site all4nurses r something like that! i dont want to use too much resources at once! i emailed the nursing board of calafornia kinda asking like what to do and no reply!this is a good month ago now! am i better off ringing them? and anything else you guys can think of that might help me id greatly appreciate it!

p.s Happy St.Patricks Day :)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Nurse Registration forum in the World Tab

Many posts in here discussing CA and their application process. All instructions are on their BRN website. You have to arrange with your university to send your transcripts to them however until you have a US SSN then you can not send anything to them. There are also a few other sites that require a US SSN before accepting your application or alternatively they will accept your application but will not issue a license until you have a US SSN.

US SSN can not be applied for until in the US with a valid work or immigrant visa. Be aware with retrogression it is hard to find a employer willing to wait the 6 plus years it will take to get a immigrant visa and it is also hard to find a employer willing to go the work (H1b) visa route

Suggest you read up on retrogression and also check out our NCLEX forum under the student tab above

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

p.s Happy St Patrick's day to you as well

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thank u so much!

its a huge hassle to work in the US they require so much stuff!

i think when i do the cgfns it includes a working permit anyway, and then i have to take the nclex which isnt actually held in ireland! il go to the uk or america. if i chose to move to america soon despite not having nclex done is it possible to work as a carer until i get sorted or?

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

The cgfns does not include a work permit. As SD mentioned you would have to find an employer willing to wait the 6 years for a Green Card.If you move to the US with no work visa you cannot work legally in any capacity.

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Specializes in Critical Care/NICU.

You cannot just move to America you need to have sponsorship to get a visa. I think being Ireland you can apply for the lottery they run once a year. But other wise you would need to have employment sponsorship or a family member that is already an American citizen or permanent resident to sponsor you. These are not quick and there will, be a wait of many year. If you type in visa bulletin in google it will come up with the latest bulletin and tell you what dates they are currently processing. I would not advice entering on a visitors visa and trying to stay because you can not change status whilst on a visitors visa. I am trying to move to America, I am already a registered nurse, I took my nclex and passed in 2009.

It is not a easy process anymore, you will not get a work permit from cgfns they are nothing to do with immigration or the nurse registration process there exam just tells you whether you would be able to pass the nclex exam. Registering is a long process it took me 9 months from start to finish but this can be longer now.

You can private message me if you like

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thanks guys,

wow gem i cant believe you're still trying to get in? are u from ireland? i thought America was crying out for nurses! im so new to the process so i'm really clueless right now! but thanks to you guys im learning a bit more! my boyfriend has American citizenship and he is getting a job in LA , so i said id see about me going too! this sucks! il give everything a go anyway! and thats great about the cgfns, i thought it was mandatory to do it.. thats one less pricey thing to do!! :)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

If you marry your boyfriend you could get immigrant visa as a spouse otherwise you are looking at over 6 years wait. If I was still in the uk I would just about be getting my immigrant visa and I applied Aug 2006 so definitely a long wait. If you read the various forums like general nursing discussion forum and state forums you will see many US nurses struggling to find work

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Specializes in Critical Care/NICU.

You have to do the cgfns for credential evaluation and visa screen certificate but you do not need to pay and sit the exam they offer. No I am in the uk. I am currently completing my masters degree in neonatal intensive care. I have also looked at taking the advance neonatal nurse practitioner course in America. This is a new avenue for me but going to finish my masters first which should be completed early next year.

America are going through the same as the uk nurses losing jobs and the economy no being fantastic. But I will continue to hold out hope.

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thanks guys,

wow gem i cant believe you're still trying to get in? are u from ireland? i thought America was crying out for nurses! im so new to the process so i'm really clueless right now! but thanks to you guys im learning a bit more! my boyfriend has American citizenship and he is getting a job in LA , so i said id see about me going too! this sucks! il give everything a go anyway! and thats great about the cgfns, i thought it was mandatory to do it.. thats one less pricey thing to do!! :)

I'm from the Phillipines myself and here in CA and it's tough. But you might want to see if you can contact with other schoolmates from the past, if you can find some more recently that have tried to get into the States, especially CA, that's even better. Ask them if they meet the CA BON requirements, since CA does their own assessments of the transcripts.

You might find like those students and nurses coming in from the UK even AU are lacking in some courses that's needed to get your approval to take the NCLEX. These deficient courses are then required that you take them in CA and those courses are very tough to enroll in as there are other international students already here and some are wait-listed for year(s).

Ask your own school if they know of schoolmates recently that have been successful in obtaining the ATT in CA. Talk to someone who might be handling the transcripts and see if there's been any problems with getting the courses approved in CA.

Nursing shortage in CA or any of the other major desired States are like the leprechauns, it's non-existent. CA 2011 BRN nursing survey report showed amongst the CA new grads over 50% will not be working in a nursing capacity their first year after graduation. Check out the CA nursing forum, you will read where there are over 1,000 (up to near 3,000) applicants going after less than 100-200 per hospital. If hospitals are your desired work place, many of the CA ones are now hiring within the ones that did their clinicals there, but even those that worked there as CNA's or LVN's (internals) are not always hired within.

If you don't mind working in a nursing home or hospice or LTC or SNF places, that might work out but some require 1 year of experience or more now.

A lot of the new grad programs in CA or many other States accept recent applicants that have: zero to less than one year of RN experience AND must have graduated within one year of the application deadline or else, one is considered an "old" new grad and many hospitals don't hire those. Some better known hospitals have minimum college school grades to even be considered (like 3.50 GPA) and if one has very good recommendations that helps a lot.

I draw off two close CA nurses who were students but now working in two very nice and well-known hospitals, but many of their schoolmates are still working in retail or coffee shops or other non-nursing jobs after almost two years and they also had high grades and all that, but there's simply not enough openings for new grads, as the training process is pretty expensive per hospital and right now, many of them are facing cut-backs. If the CA BRN does another survey for 2012, I think it will be the same as 2011, very bleak and disappointing to say the least.

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ha, god it does sound very bleak alright. No one else in my class ( theres less than 50 of us) have attempted america , everyone seems to b heading towards australia or canada.

do hospitals take direct cvs? its obvious theres no chance of sending on your cv in the hope of getting a job but im just wondering?

i heard that if you apply to a lower demanding state that the process is quicker, is this true?

so All in all, is it obtaining a work visa or getting the nursing job that causes the most problems?

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Specializes in ED.

The US has too many nurses and not enough jobs!!!!! ( in every state !!) lol good luck in your search.

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