General Discussion about Filipino RNs currently working in the U.S.

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for filipino rns currently in the us whether still undergoing the proper documentations or already working please kindly share your experiences on this thread.

topics maybe from experiences at the workplace, impact of the new culture to you and your family, general do's and dont's, and others.

this thread would serve, hopefully, as a general resource thread for would-be u.s. nurses in the near future and to dispel myths and rumors and of course general advice coming from those already in the u.s.

Specializes in Spinal Cord Injury - Acute/Rehab.

wow! that's a nice experience

this thread is really amazing... i'm definitely learning something...

i'm also working here in the PHil as an ICU nurse about 8 mos now and hopefully, work there in the US when this retrogression will be lifted. although, i have no idea yet where will i be working. i mean hospital wise. Will there be a big possibility that i'd still be working as an ICU nurse when i reach US? or will everyone start as a floor nurse again? Please do enlighten me.:idea:

Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
this thread is really amazing... i'm definitely learning something...

i'm also working here in the PHil as an ICU nurse about 8 mos now and hopefully, work there in the US when this retrogression will be lifted. although, i have no idea yet where will i be working. i mean hospital wise. Will there be a big possibility that i'd still be working as an ICU nurse when i reach US? or will everyone start as a floor nurse again? Please do enlighten me.:idea:

It will depend on what openings are available for you when you finally find an employer to sponsor you. ICU nurse vacancies are very desirable and usually fill up faster than floor positions. A lot of the floor nurses in any particular hospital usually apply for these openings and are given priority over outside applicants. I was an ICU nurse in the Philppines but when I arrived in the US in the mid-90's most of the RN openings were in long-term care as hospitals were not hiring as much. I had to work in LTC for a while before I was able to get my foot in the door at a hospital and I did not even work in ICU at first - I was hired in a step-down unit first. But of course, there are anecdotal accounts that tend to be an exception to this rule. The SICU I currently work in as an NP hired 2 foreign nurses (from India) early last year and they were started in ICU immediately. They both have ICU experience in India. I personally do not agree with the practice as it took these guys longer to get accustomed to the US hospital setting alone, so the US ICU setting was too much of a challenge to them.

I've been working in the U.S for a year and 3 months now, on my part, 2 days after I got here in California, I started working already,only 2 days of orientation,i was already on my own, dealing with CNA's is the first challenge to me, and its was not that easy.I was living in a house provided by the employer with no heater so I have to provide myself a portable heater and heavy blankets.Ate canned foods for 2 weeks.The company that I got into are not very supportive to their newly hired nurses,so just a piece of advise,come prepared,mentally and physically when you come to the US to work,

Now after more than a year,life is gettin better,9 more months with my present employer and I would be free to apply to hospitals that I wish to work with.(Im on a 2 year contract right now.

It will depend on what openings are available for you when you finally find an employer to sponsor you. ICU nurse vacancies are very desirable and usually fill up faster than floor positions. A lot of the floor nurses in any particular hospital usually apply for these openings and are given priority over outside applicants. I was an ICU nurse in the Philppines but when I arrived in the US in the mid-90's most of the RN openings were in long-term care as hospitals were not hiring as much. I had to work in LTC for a while before I was able to get my foot in the door at a hospital and I did not even work in ICU at first - I was hired in a step-down unit first. But of course, there are anecdotal accounts that tend to be an exception to this rule. The SICU I currently work in as an NP hired 2 foreign nurses (from India) early last year and they were started in ICU immediately. They both have ICU experience in India. I personally do not agree with the practice as it took these guys longer to get accustomed to the US hospital setting alone, so the US ICU setting was too much of a challenge to them.

Thanks alot. I was just a bit worried with the patient loads. Although i started with a maximum of 15 patients before when i was a floor nurse but having more experiences in the ICU with a 1:1 of nurse:patient ratio, i fear of not being able to juggle with 6-8 patient loads or that i may not be able to deliver the best care the patients are entitled to have.

Thank you all for the inputs...

wow, its great thread with a lot of inputs that i need to know about.Guys, i want to ask, if you're a new r.n in the U.S esp. in Ca, working only 1 job for the moment, maybe 6 months or a year and of course, single.:chuckle Will Your income will be enough for the basic needs living in the California.

I am newly R.N here in PI, without hosp. exp.,and planning to take nclex this coming Oct. 18, 2007.I am so much greatful for this thread, for the usedful info.Basically, i'm not confident regarding my skills.So my next question, does your training here in PI, really matter a lot in the U.S Hosp.

Here, i'm able to attend a lot of free seminars conducted By various agency, some agency may say, at least a year or more, but other may say, no need to have an exp.,as they say, they will train you in the u.s. with pay 10dolars/hour for 3 months in california.

Of course, im not tied up, as of now in any agency.i just loved to attend there seminars and eat ther free snacks( candy).:icon_cheesygrin:

Right now, i am cgfns certified, 4 months and 18 days from now,i will take my nclex exam.

Hoping you could share your ideas....

To all Filipino Nurses in US or in any other country,

Can you please share any valuable lesson learned from your migration.

Please share so that nurses who are about to go outside the country can prepare.

All of lesson shared will be greatly appreciated.;)

Specializes in OR, DR, RR, ER, OPD.
Let us start on the first step of the journey. On the first plane ride to the US.

Remember, that we were instructed to bring along our x-rays from St Lukes. I believe most of us had bought the square plastic bag outside of St Lukes. I bought mine there. Well, you can just put it in your handcarry luggage, just fold the top portion of the envelope and it will fit right in your handcarry luggage. If you brought the square plastic, yiou will stand in the crowd as a first time immigrant and sometimes in gets in the way when you are carrying your hand luggage. The US customs will not ask for it when you arrive at the port of entry. They will only ask for the folder which the US embassy provided to us. Believe me.

Also, we Filipinos are so fond of bringing extra foods which we want to eat when we travel. My experience was my wife brought a lot of biscuits for our snacks and we did not touch any because during our travel, lot of foods/snack were offered to us during our plane ride and upon disembarking, we have to declare to US Customs that we were bringing some foods from the Philippines. The US customs will ask you that when you arrive at the port of entry regarding food, if you have any contact with plants, farm animals, etc.

Be also ready about informations about your employer, your address in the US and other things related to your immigration. They will ask you that. Sometimes, they will ask how much money are you bringing in. They asked me that.

If they asked some questions, just answer with a simple answer.

My experience was smooth, they asked about my employer, they ask about my children and asked them some question regarding their birthdate .

After they stamped your passport, the US Customs officer will say which you have been waiting ofr a long time to hear. " Welcome to the United States of America!"

I really find this thread helpful. Thanks to those who spearheaded this. I have a lot of friends who had gone to US ahead of me but I havent been told of this. Maybe because they're also busy with their new job and had to adjust to a new culture that they forgot to share this important thing.

Keep up the great work! God bless!

Pardon me for posting this hypothetical question/scenario (though hypothetical, it may gain a grain of truth depending on your response). I've already met the requirements (passing the cgfns exam, English proficiency test) enough for me to start processing my visa. I've met this Recruitment Company and employer (I believe it to be reputable) to help me ease the tedious paper and legal works for my immigration. From then on I started to get confused. I hate to discuss this with anyone it's some kind of private stuff. Haha. But since I'm zero knowledge on what's the right thing to do, I guess it would be helpful if I share this to people whom I believe had the same or at least a little grasp of my situation like you guys........ I'm single at this moment. And I'm planning to get married before I leave Pinas (if things work well for me) but I have second thought whether or not I'll push on with my plan for the following simple yet disturbing reasons:

I'm not certain if I'm going to restart the process of getting my visa in case I get married. My status in all the documents I submitted is "single" and I'm afraid getting married would affect my time table which I believe it's already just a stone-throw away before the release of my visa. My partner and I had discussed this matter already and we both agreed that it would be unwise if I restart the whole process (of securing my visa).

Another option we have is to get married after I finally have my visa or after absorption at the facility of my employment. Maybe after working a couple of months or a year, I'll go back home and settle. The only problem with this option is the huge and precious time that we'll be losing. I hate to say this, but we're running out of time to start a family (Yeah, I'm serious). If we gonna stick with the latter option, that would mean I would wait a longer time before I could get my partner with me. I've learned that getting a spousal visa usually takes at least two years since I'm not eligible to file a petition for a K1 or K3 Visa.......

Guys, please be generous of your time to give me an advice. You might have other way there. I might just isolating my mind to these limited options I have. So if you guys have something there please do share. My goal is simply how my partner and I could get and start a family in US the soonest time. I really want to bring her with me the soonest time. Thanks!

Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.
to all filipino nurses in us or in any other country,

can you please share any valuable lesson learned from your migration.

please share so that nurses who are about to go outside the country can prepare.

all of lesson shared will be greatly appreciated.;)

valuable lessons...i think i had too many. but first, you need to have a lot of patience..you need to have an open mind and the willingness to learn new things. a simple "please", and "thank you" will make your life a lot easier. learn to respect other people's opinion even if you disagree with them. if you don't understand things, never hesitate to ask, don't pretend you know everything. at work, respect the people you work with, even if you don't like them. always try to learn new things. read, read, read. america is such a big country, with a lot of people from different backgrounds. people who live here are not only black or whites. always be careful of what you say, because some of the english language we used back home may not be "polite" or acceptable here in usa. every immigrants have different experience, whether they are from pi or from other countries. you may feel awkward, uncomfortable at the beginning, but eventually you will catch on. i think it will help you a lot when you start reading, searching infos. about the place you are going to before you get out of the philippines. like me for instance, coming here 15 years ago, i had a bigtime culture shock! i had no clues of what state of hawaii would be like, i always thought people here are all whites, and nobody eats rice....and there will be snow all year long, to my dismay, i see many asians, mixed with whites, and other beautiful people of different descent ( japanese, chinese, irish, portoguese, french, italians, africans, you name it,), what a paradise!! and i had such a great time, thus, made me decide to stay here in the aisle up to now. language wise, i had a hardtime at the start, because they have different accent compare to the ones' i saw and hear on tv. going in other part of the country, such as eastcoast, and westcoast, they have different dictions or accents too. what i love the most is visiting the southern usa because they have pretty southern accents..the bottomline? practice proper english, get a grammar book, read a respectable newspaper, or books, try not to use slangs, ( trust me, it's not funny). the most important thing that i learned during my first few years hear in the us? just be yourself, and everything will be ok. sorry for being so offtopic here :lol2:.

p.s., it will help also if you read the geography, and brief history of the usa.

Specializes in None.

Im glad to have found this forum.

I am not from the nursing field but I am contemplating on jumping in the bandwagon. I mean, nurses are so in demand globally. And the pay? Very good.

However, I have been working for 12 years already and my specialty is finance. I am currently a manager in a big insurance company and if I stay here, I am sure to make it to VP position in about 10 years time or less My post is prestigious given the proximity with the CEO and I have plenty of opportunities to show off and shine. On an average 8-hour work day, I do solid work for 4 hours and 4 hours goofing (net surfing, eating, phone calls, personal stuff). I am not earning so much compared to nurses in the US but I get by. Meaning, I can assist my family and have enough to finance my whims. Not really luxurious living but just enough. I don't have savings and basically count on my gratuity after retirement.

I don't have any major debt except for my car (still 6 years in amortization of about $600 a month) Next year, I can apply for a housing loan and mind you, I can buy a huge house with the amount I am eligible to loan. Payment terms is for 25 years.

I am sure I can fast forward everything if I go into nursing. But, I wouldnt want too much stress. I started working for a consulting company and by the end of my 7th year, I was close to consulting a psychiatrist due to burn out. With all the nurses stories I hear, I'd get a burn out long before my 1st year anniversary as nurse.

I guess I have to forego the big bucks for a more convenient life, huh? It's just that with all the buzz about nursing and with doctors shifting to nursing as second course, I am really thinking about giving it a try.

I dunno. Maybe I'd stick with status quo and go the slow but sure way. Or take nursing, and just enjoy the ride. Uh oh.

More power to nurses. :)

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