Nurse Practitioners in the UK?

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Hi!

I am currently a RN at a pediatric hospital in the US. I have been working for almost 3 years now. I married an British man and although we are currently living in the States, I believe he will want to move back to the UK at some point. I have always planned on going back to school in the US to become a PNP, but I wanted to know if the UK has NPs, PNPs? and if I would be better off being more or less specialized? Or if I will even be able to get a job as an NP over there. Or would it be better to go to school in the UK or AUS? I realize the economy is bad here and there right now and we are not planning on moving for a few years, but I want to be able to work when/if we move to the UK. If anyone has an answers I would be most appreciative. Thanks so much. :)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

There are nurse practitioners in both the community working with GP's and in the hospitals. Work may be different to the US and you may have to get the NMC to check your training etc and register you as a NP.

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

SD there is no separate registration for Nurse Practitioners in the UK at the moment, the NMC have been talking about it for many years but as yet nothing has appeared.

To the OP, to become a NP in the UK you need to be a registered nurse with a significant amount of clinical experience, if you have an advanced practice Masters degree that is useful although not essential in some places. NP's roles vary greatly in the hospital setting.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Hey there KMiller

I'm the same way. My boyfriend is a doctor (in the beginning of his residency) in the UK so it's harder for him to move here in the US and be an doctor because, to my understanding, you pretty much have to start over all over again. So I'm opting to work and become an NP there instead. I am an RN with a BSN in the ICU for 2 years now and I'm thinking of applying to MSN programs in the UK. Like what the others have said, NP programs are not yet developed as it is here in the US. I'd like to share what I've gotten so far with you and hopefully, this will help you as well.

Here are the schools that are offering advanced nursing practice: Universities and Advanced Practice Programmes

(Note that it is preferable to go to an RCN (Royal College of Nursing) Approved program since it recognized and the RCN has actually set guidelines rather than each college making up their own.)

I have found this website useful as well: NPUK

How to be a nurse in the UK: http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/163509/UKemp.January.2010.pdf

This is the organization that license nurses in the UK: The Nursing and Midwifery Council: Safeguarding health and wellbeing | Nursing and Midwifery Council

This is the packet that helps you become an RN in the UK: http://www.nmc-uk.org/Documents/Registration/Registration%20information%20trained%20outside%20Europe.pdf

I hope this helps you. It's a lot to take in especially for people like us who have minimal knowledge about the UK system.

Good luck on your plans.

x

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hey. I know it is almost 5yrs since you have posted. Are you a NP now. Was it hard to get settled or find a nursing job there.? What challenges did you face with your nursing career?

current US Rn

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HI, I know this post was from 6 years ago, but I am actually the original poster. Thank you for all that information. Did you end up moving to the UK? Are you an NP? I have still not gone back to school but I am planning to in the next year, just trying to decide between FNP and PNP. There is still a chance we will move to the UK in about 5 years, so i want a degree that will be useful. I have over 8 years in pediatrics and that is where I want to stay, but I just don't know how good the job prospects are over there with a PNP.

If you have an information I would appreciate it!.

Thanks

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I am looking for similar insight. I may be in a situation where moving to England will be a possibility. Is there any information if the NP degree in the US is transferable to the UK without too many hurdles? I am close to finishing my masters FNP degree. I most importantly want to know if i have to go back to school again, resit my boards, work as an RN first, to have the same qualifications they require in the UK to work as an NP. Thanks!

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Specializes in NICU.

There is no separate licensure or board exam for NP, you just need the RN license (which can be a headache to get, but they've made it much more possible nowadays, before they had very high clinical hour requirements in nursing school that were basically impossible in the US). I believe you get some sort of certificate or license in order to prescribe, but that's about it as far as I've read. I have a UK RN license (and work as a neonatal NP in the USA) but have never practiced there personally.

The NP role is very new in the UK as compared to the US and I haven't read about much utilization for specialties outside of neonatology. You can do a search where a couple of the UK posters here have mentioned a few types of jobs for NPs and you should also look on the NHS jobs website, do a search, and see what their requirements are.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

There are a lot of NP's that work in GP surgeries seeing patients in the same setting as GP's and in a lot of towns ect they have the same rights as GP's in referrals, prescribing narcotics and much more

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Thank you all for the responses. My other question is that I did a bridge program from rn to np in the us. 8i have little to no experience working as an rn at the bedside. I was reading the Nmc website that I need at least a year in exp working as an rn here before they will grant an rn license. Will I have difficulties obtaining this if I want to work as an np and not an rn? Can the exp be as an np instead of an rn?

Also is it true as a foreign us graduate wanting to work in the U.K I'll have a harder time finding a job bc nps are typically recruited internally? Thank you!!

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Also is it true as a foreign us graduate wanting to work in the U.K I'll have a harder time finding a job bc nps are typically recruited internally? Thank you!!

All NHS jobs are supposed to be (but admittedly aren't always) advertised here NHS Jobs - Candidate Homepage You shouldn't be disadvantaged as long as you meet the critera requested.

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babyNP- I am so glad I came across your post. I will be finishing FNP school in the US this month and have 6 years NICU Level 3 RN experience. We will be moving to the UK next fall (my husband will be getting his MBA in London). Would you advise working as a NICU RN in London or FNP?

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