Older UK nurse finding application confusing

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I am 43 years old and live in the US and have my green card. I left the UK in 1995 and have not worked since then but am now ready to get back to work. Can anyone let me know if I have this right......I apply for the NCLEX and the application lasts for a year in which time I have to take any required courses to update my qualification ? Would it be a better option to apply to a college and begin the RN training from the beginning ? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

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Specializes in Dialysis, Nephrology & Cosmetic Surgery.

I'm not sure of the set up in the US but if it was the same as the UK this is what I would do:

I would start the transcript evaluation process as this can take a long time.

In the UK there is a return to practice course and I would look to see if there was something similar for you to complete as you have been out of hands on care for sometime.

If possible you should sit a NCLEX type exam to give you an idea of the sort of questions you will be expected to answer.

I'm sure there are other ex-pats who will be able to advise you from their experience of the US experience

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Just trying to clarify a few things. Are you looking at working as a RN in the US and you are already a RN and trained in the UK?

If this is the case you need to read the sticky titled Primer to working in the USA in the International forum. Moving this to the International forum as per the red banner requestion questions on registration outside of the UK be asked in that forum.

You will not be applying for NCLEX but licensure to be a RN in the USA of which NCLEX is just a part of that process. You will need to meet Board of Nursing (BON) requirements for foreign trained nurses which will involve your transcripts from the UK. Not sure which state you are in but best thing to do before you apply to BON is get CES full course by course at http://www.cgfns.org and that will let you know how your training stands against the USA.

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Thanks, that make it clearer. I will start with the CES and then go from there.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Glad to help. Good luck and hope to see you keep posting :)

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Most states require current nursing practice, I do the evaluation and see if you could attend a nursing refresher program. Much has changed since 1995. Have you taken any CEU classes to show the board you have kept current in nursing practice.

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Just to add into this: The refresher programs require that you hold an active license in the US. So you will need to get thru the NCLEX-RN exam first before you can do anything else.

Check out the NCLEX Forum that we have here under the student tab for help with preparing for that exam.

Best of luck to you.

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