just married a foreign nurse who can help?

[piglett]

well to make a long story short i married me sweetie on June 5TH

She is a nurse in the philippines & after she gets her CR-1 visa will be moving to New Hampshire which is where I live.

I am 39 & she is 27. we met online about a year & a half ago.

She has been working as what we would call an LPN for the last 5 years.

she did attend a 4 year nursing school there but didn't have the money( like many ladies over there) to take the test so that she could be an RN. I am sending her to a review class that will last 2.5 months & then after about a 30 day wait she will be able to take the nursing boards.

I am not a nurse & know little of nothing about what it will take for her to be able to work as an RN here in New Hampshire.

i did check out the new hampshire nursing license site but i didn't really understand all of the terms that they were using so at this point i am not so sure where to turn.

General Information About Licensing - New Hampshire Board of Nursing

if anyone here has some insite as to what it's going to take please let me know

thanks

piglett

[nursepacific]

The New Hampshire Nursing Board requires the CGFNS process (credentials review, predictor exam, and english exam) for all foreign educated nurses. Unless your wife is an English major, I suspect she will need to study or take a class for the TOEFL/TWE&TSE. I did not see anything about a Philippine exam on the NH nursing board website, so your wife may not need to take it. She will need to take the AGNK exam through CGFNS. New Hampshire is pretty strict on taking the NCLEX. I believe you only have 3 tries and if unsuccessful, you will have to become licensed in another state.

[elkpark]

so i guess there is no LPN in the philippines & she has not ever taken the test to become an RN there so i guess she is a nurse but not a RN? i am not really sure about how all of that works over there.

well not exactly she is working an a nurse there but she has never taken the test to become an RN ( lack of money)

so in my book she is a LPN ...but they don't have any of those there so i guess she is a nurse ???

Here or there, she's not a "nurse" unless she's licensed as a nurse (LPN or RN) -- until she has a license, she is simply a person who has a nursing degree. Since she's not licensed as an RN in the PI, and they don't have LPNs, I would guess she's working as some kind of aide or caregiver. There's no way that she's (legally) working as a nurse.

Best wishes.

[cebuana_nurse]

She has her BSN which takes 4 years to complete. I'm thinking she is still a nursing graduate with 4 years of nursing school knowing that she hasn't taken the Philippine nursing exam yet. Her doing clinicals is not considered as her being employed as a licensed nurse. So this means she is a nursing student at that 4 years. She may take the Philippine nurses exam after she graduates which doesn't matter if she pass or fail since she'll be relocating to the US. I believe that you would save more money and time

if she takes her NCLEX here in the US. As I've said before and being a Filipina myself, she will benefit more if she takes her review classes here in the US. Review centers in the Philippines are very unreliable when it comes to teaching strategies of a US-based exam. I am not trying to discriminate my country's teaching standards but I wanna help you save some time and aggravation. Review centers there may cost less than an actual review center here in the US but trust me, you don't want her failing the exam 3 or more times. I've been down that road and believe me, its depressing and frustrating at the same time.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

well not exactly she is working an a nurse there but she has never taken the test to become an RN ( lack of money)

so in my book she is a LPN ...but they don't have any of those there so i guess she is a nurse ???

as far as employment goes around here for the last 20 years ( maybe more) around here they are always short on nurses.

Why ? many people retire up here from NY,NJ,CT,MA, ect. ect. these people get old & require nursing care.

so i have never known of 1 nurse around here that was out of work for any amount of time.

However i am sure the rest of the country is not like it is around here.

Respectfully, you came to this BB asking for our advice, presumably because you doing not know much about nursing (and given some statements made, you don't) and you want advice from people who actually work in the profession.

Your beloved is not, in the eyes of the US or legally in the Philippines a nurse. Now in some areas (very, very few) there is a status called Graduate Nurse that one holds briefly while waiting to write Boards, after graduation from a registered nursing program. This is only intended to allow practice until first opportunity take Boards, and then you either pass, or you fail - at that point one is no longer a GN but either a licensed nurse or they lose GN and have NO NURSING status whatsoever. And if one does not take Boards, one is not a nurse at all. Therefore, she does not hold any "nurse" status legally whatsoever, in the eyes of the US states BONs.

And to my knowledge, if she did not write Boards in the Philippines, she also holds no nursing status. Thus she is not working legally as a nurse, regardless of what she physically does. But their standards may be slightly different.

As far as work. She does not have a registered nurse license, therefore cannot be practicing "nursing". And even if she says that she has been working "like an LPN" in her area, as there is no LPN status recognized there, she is also not legally working "as an LPN". At best, she is working as a nursing aide which is an unlicensed assistive role and not legally a nurse.

I know that you love and feel that she is smart. And knowing what little I do about the nursing environment in the Philippines, I am sure that she works very hard and has probably worked beyond the usual role. But it does not matter that "IN YOUR BOOK, SHE IS AN LPN". In the legal and experience eyes of the USA, she has no nursing status whatsover until she passes the NCLEX. And she also has no experience except as perhaps a nursing assistant. And that is not a licensed nurse.

This would be true even if she got a BSN here in the USA, but did not write Boards. She could work for years, but none of that experience would be considered more than nursing assistance/home health aide/etc.

In fact, if she used the word nurse to refer to herself (LPN/RN), it would be considered illegal/fraud in many states. Those terms are reserved for those that are licensed. And in this country, to work "like an LPN" when not licensed as an LPN, would be grounds for censure or violating scope of practice. Though things may be different in the Philippines.

It does not matter why one does not take Boards immediately, only that they didn't and aren't licensed.

She does need to practice English, in American style in written and oral form, especially medical American English. While she may have gone to school in English, there are many differences and nuances of American style, not to mention adapting to the NH accent. And medical terms vary greatly from one form of english to another, though the Philippines are much better at American english than others.

As far as employment. I worked as a traveler up and down the East Coast, and have been a nurse since 1993. I used to work in FL(am a FL native, a dying species), also heavily populated by retirees from NY/NJ /CT/OH/ MA/ etc. I , too, see the ads for nursing jobs, read the stories about nursing shortages, hear from relatives who were nurses "a while ago" about how nursing is a surefire immediate job. There was a time when that was true. And I have heard ad nauseaum about how much money that we make.

IT IS NOT TRUE NOW!!!!!!!!!

There are, I repeat, thousands upon thousands of new grads as well as some experienced nurses that cannot find jobs in virtually EVERY state in this nation. Especially in retirement areas - most which pay more poorly, and are cutting back on staff). You may not have heard of an unemployed nurse....no one ever has....until the younger niece/nephew graduates, sends out dozens of resumes/apps and hear nothing back. Current employers want current LICENSED nursing experience (and no, nursing assistance experience which is what your beloved probably has helps some but not much), and if new, recently graduated.

I hope that for you and her, and for that matter everyone else, that things turn around soon. Hopefully, by the time she gets over here and gets her paprwork and ducks in row, the economy will be btter. But do not be too disappointed if it takes quite a while.

We frequently have people come here that are marrying foreign educated nurses and they are frequently shocked and disappointed at the amount of legalities, paperwork, difficulty in finding a job. And many expect better pay rates after reading articles that misrepresent nursing pay rates and job market. Though I think that the pay in NH/job market is better than many.

Please review the many threads on these issues. And Good Luck!

[piglett]

thanks for everyone's input on this subject.

there may be plenty of hoops to jump through but me & my sweetie are more than up to it :)

thanks

piglett

[Hope2017]

hi there... if your wife completed her nursing school years back, the review would help her recall pass learning but its not a sure bet passing the board. If sure makes it that would be great and helpful for her. Would suggest that she put together all her school documents, credentials, certifications.. some of this might be useful.. just check on NH board of nursing requirements.

Also to take the test SSN is needed and she can get this after homeland security issued her permit to work...

[Precious Pinay]

Also to take the test SSN is needed and she can get this after homeland security issued her permit to work...

Wrong

She can get her Social Security Number as soon as she hits American Soil, She can go directly from airport to Social Office and apply and it should be in the mail within 1 week

[Precious Pinay]

If you are smart, then listen to Cebuana Nurse

Very Sage information

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Wrong

She can get her Social Security Number as soon as she hits American Soil, She can go directly from airport to Social Office and apply and it should be in the mail within 1 week

She can apply once she lands in the US and visa is activated however I think it will take longer than 1 week to receive it. Couple other sites I go on all state they had issues when going before in system and took nearly 4 weeks to get SSN but if they waited approx 10 days and was in the system they got it a lot quicker

[piglett]

She can apply once she lands in the US and visa is activated however I think it will take longer than 1 week to receive it. Couple other sites I go on all state they had issues when going before in system and took nearly 4 weeks to get SSN but if they waited approx 10 days and was in the system they got it a lot quicker

I think there is something about not yet being on the list that prevents people from getting a SSN sooner than 2 weeks.

when dealing with government always figure on it taking longer than they say. after all they have all the time in the world to jerk people around.

thanks

piglett

[loriangel14, RN]

I wouldn'tsay they are just "jerking people around". Rules have to followed and things have to be processed. You seem to assume that rules don't apply to you.

[Fiona59]

What's the rush to get her working? She'll need to learn her away around town, banking, your credit cards, driver's permit.

Give the woman a chance to acclimatize.