Newbie in need of advice/Guidance

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Hello and Welcome to all nurses:groupwelcome: all your questions should be answered in here and you will find questions you never thought of.

The first question I have for you is when you trained did you do hours practical and theory wise in paeds, maternity, mental health? Or did you do the new training which doesnt include the above mention modules. If you did then great, if you didnt then you may have a few problems.

Some of us came by using an agency and some came alone. There are plus's both ways and you have to decide what is the way for you. If you come alone you need to find a recruiter and be sponsered by a hospital direct or you can come with an agency who will do the bulk of the work and worrying for you.

Tanvi Tusti · Sep 30, 2006

Hi Guys
Wow this site is HUGE I didnt know where to start lol
Im Clare im 26 from ther UK I currnetly reside in the West Midlands and work on a 48 bedded unit which has 24 beds in renal, 12 in cardiology and 12 in Endocrinology my main experience is in renal medicine but the last 6 months I have been in charge of the Cardiology section which I am really enjoying. I qualified when I was 21 and have always stayed on the same unit when I was 25 I was promoted to Sister or Shift Lead as we are called now, I have been in my current posisiton for a little over 12 months.
I fell in love with the USA in 2003 when I visited New York, since I have been on a few fly drives and have visited LA, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Lake Havasu, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and San Francisco ~ I love California and have dreamt since then of emigrating along with my husband Adam and our 2 chihuahuas Ozzy and Lily, So I begqan to look into moving and quickly realised the only chance we had was through me been a nurse (Thank god I am lol) so I have been collecting info and came across this site and here I hope to get a few questions answered if you all wouldnt mind :
Where do I start ?
Should I join an agency (OGP is the only one i have come across) or do it alone ?
When shall I put in for my NCLEX ?
Is the wage alot better ? as I am on a fairly good wage at the moment.
Im sure I will think of more but thats about it for now
So thanks in advance and I cant tell you how happy I am to of found this place

Hi Clare

:welcome:You can get loads of info from here, you are in the right place.

Joining an agency has its advantages, they do all the legwork and the financial outlay to yourselves is kept to a minimal. The main drawback is you are tied to them for at least 18mths on contract in the USA.

Be prepared for a LOOOOONG haul. Some of us here have been going through the process for 2 years or more and still not there.

First, you MUST be a general nurse, if you are paeds, mental health, youll have to do top ups as the US doesnt recognise your skills. Colleges do the required top ups but I believe they are pretty hard to get on.

If you are general trained you can sign up with an agency such as Adevia or OGP, they guide you through the process from that point....studying for NCLEX, getting your ATT, sitting and hopefully passing your NCLEX.

Then theres Visa Screen....it goes on and on. Lots of frustrations so be prepared for it.

Nurses generally can earn more in the US than here, obviously depends on what level you are at in the UK. Hope I answered a few of your questons, youll find lots more info on here. Ask away if I can help you with anything else:monkeydance::monkeydance:

xx

Silverdragon102, BSN · Sep 30, 2006

Hi Clare and welcome

as said previously lots of questions and answers both on here and the international forum, there is a stick called Primer in the international forum which explains the process especially if doing it alone. Going with an agency will not guarentee you to go where you want to go and is recommended not to go through CA for initial application as they will not issue license withour SSN (there are a few other BONs that are the same) best find a BON which doesn't require SSN for issuing SSN. Will take just over 12 months or even longer so be prepared for the minefield of paperwork and waiting but will be worth it in the end

Good luck and welcome to the gang

Clarecartwright · Oct 1, 2006

Thankyou all so much for the warm welcomes and the great info it is hugely appreciated - I think I will look at the mentioned agencies and see what they are like.

I did my training 1998-2001 so on the back end of Project 2000

I did practical placements on Maternity and mental health but there was not enough placements on Paeds so I had to do a theory session instead ? Should I be really worried what do I need to do ?

Many thanks guys

Clarecartwright · Oct 1, 2006

Can I ask out of the 2 agencies mentioned which one would you reccomend ?

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Oct 1, 2006

Thankyou all so much for the warm welcomes and the great info it is hugely appreciated - I think I will look at the mentioned agencies and see what they are like.
I did my training 1998-2001 so on the back end of Project 2000
I did practical placements on Maternity and mental health but there was not enough placements on Paeds so I had to do a theory session instead ? Should I be really worried what do I need to do ?
Many thanks guys

You will need to make up your hours but before you panic, it is decided by the US CGNFS, so go to their web site and have a look.:wink2:

Tanvi Tusti · Oct 2, 2006

Thankyou all so much for the warm welcomes and the great info it is hugely appreciated - I think I will look at the mentioned agencies and see what they are like.
I did my training 1998-2001 so on the back end of Project 2000
I did practical placements on Maternity and mental health but there was not enough placements on Paeds so I had to do a theory session instead ? Should I be really worried what do I need to do ?
Many thanks guys

Hi Clare,

not really sure about that, but CGFNS have a credentials evaluation service that check out that your qualifications are US equivalent.

If you go via an agency they will be able to tell you for certain, so it might be worth your while speaking to them about it, (it sure will be quicker than trying to speak to someone from CGFNS:rolleyes::wink2:) youre not committed to anything till you sign on the dotted line.

There are positives and negatives about all the agencies, its hard to just recommend one. Going it alone will cost you more in the short term in various fees and such, but on the other hand you pay it all back (and probably more) indirectly to the agencies through your commitment to them on your US placement. You are also more in control by going it alone but it takes a lot of legwork.

Good luck and keep doing lots of reading!!:monkeydance::monkeydance:

Clarecartwright · Oct 2, 2006

Thanks again for the brilliant advice - I am so happy to be here and of found all this valuable information.

Me and my hubby are going to have a sut down and read through the 2 agencies info and decide which we htink best and then try and decide where we would like to live before we procedd any further

I will keep you all posted :)

RGN1 · Oct 3, 2006

Hi Clare, & welcome to this group. You will find all sorts fo useful info. AS has already been said it's those dreaded hours which I think you may have to make up. CES is quite exoensive but comprehensive but it might be cheaper to go through one of the Borads of Nursing who require you to send them your transcripts.

Most universities charge about £30 & the BON will have it's own fee. I know Vermont is one that does it's own transcript assessment but whereas they used to be one of the quickets they hit a glitch recently so you'd best check out their times. You can ring them - the number is on their website. Just type them into Google.

Others here may be able to give you names of more BON's that don't need CES or fingerprints (which are another pain).

Clarecartwright · Oct 9, 2006

Lol what are BONs and CES - Sorry if Im thick lol

I did the theory side so form what I have gathered is that I just need to do the practical part of paeds which should hopefully be easy enough to get sorted (fingers crossed)

I have sent off my enquiry form to OGP and am just awaiting to heasr back from them - its been over a week is that usual ?

Thanks again for the warm welcomes this site is great I am having such fin reading all your posts

Tanvi Tusti · Oct 9, 2006

Lol what are BONs and CES - Sorry if Im thick lol
I did the theory side so form what I have gathered is that I just need to do the practical part of paeds which should hopefully be easy enough to get sorted (fingers crossed)
I have sent off my enquiry form to OGP and am just awaiting to heasr back from them - its been over a week is that usual ?
Thanks again for the warm welcomes this site is great I am having such fin reading all your posts

Hi Clare

BON is the Board of Nursing, each state in the US has one, rather like our NMC but separate for each state. CES is credential evaluation service which CGFNS offer to evaluate your qualifications to basically tell you whether or not they comply to minimum US requirements for obtaining a nursing license and being eligible for NCLEX.

You wont have to worry about any of this if you are going through OGP as they will do it all for you. Have you tried ringing them?:monkeydance:

xxx