Pinoy Caregivers to the UK

suzanne4, RN · Aug 3, 2008

hello everybody! i'm just new here but i've been visiting/reading this thread for a while now!
i'm also an RN! NCLEX, CGFNS, IELTS passer. but i'l be working in UK(west bristol to be exact) as a caregiver soon while waiting for the US retrogression to be lifted. personally, it's the most practical choice to make at this time. i'm hoping and praying that i'm making the right move here! i just don't get a break from hospitals here in the phils.

We do not expect the retrogression to be lifted for years, the demand for visas far exceeds the supply of them. And it goes by country of birth in determining issuance of the visa, not where one will be residing.

But you need to be aware that working as a care-giver is not the same as working as an RN and will not count as current experience if planning to work in the US. And we are expecting the US to be requiring current work experience in the near future, same as almost all other countries. And the job that you are planning on taking will not meet the requirements of that.

Not sure where you are in the petitioning process of if you have even started, but the expected wait in now around five years for a chance at a green card, and is no longer guaranteed at all. Five years without RN expereince, and it will be hard for an employer to have work for you then.

Best of luck to you.

babygee · Aug 3, 2008

hey suzanne4! thanks for the reply. my I-140 application is now at the USCIS, received on Nov. 2007 and pending. i'm lucky though that i already signed a 3-yr contract with a Texas employer that does not require an RN clinical experience. they'll gonna place me in a nursing home/hospice care somewhere in houston though, but i really don't mind on that.

i tried applying in several hospitals here in the phils. but to no avail. i believe that only KSA accepts unexperience RNs to work in their country, but it isn't one of my options. UK, Canada, NZ, and even Dubai require at least 2 yrs of clinical experience. that is why being a caregiver would be the best option for me, at this time.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 3, 2008

And you are directly behind the retrogression. Once you get approval on the I-140, and then everything stops.

Does not matter where the agency is going to place you, but if that facility decides that you do not have enough experience for them closer in to the interview time, or they change management, then you are going to be out of luck.

Not sure if you understand how nursing homes function here as well, but you will be legally responsible for 45 to 60 patients per shift and it will be your nursing license on the line. With no experience of ever working in the role of the RN, and more than five years since you would have graduated, and things being done so very differently in the US; you are only setting yourself up for problems. And if the US changes their requirements, and we anticipate that they will be doing this, you will not have the two years of experience as an RN. All other countries are requiring actual work expereince now, and without it in the role of the RN, you are going to have problems.

Next issue is what type of contract do you have with the agency for Texas? What is the cancellation policy on it? That is what many are hoping that you sign since there are no visas now and that is how they are making their money. They are most definitely not petitioning and spending money on you out of the goodness of their heart.

Just something else for you to think of. As well as the fact that Bristol is quite cold in the winter and any money that you earn will be spent on clothing and transsportation in most cases, your pay is going to be at what would be considered poverty level for there.

Best of luck to you.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Aug 3, 2008

To follow up on Suzanne's post,

I went to dinner with 2 former students one is working in a nursing home right now, she is the easy floor right now, this is her second week and she is alone. She has 20 patients , 4 of them on vents, and many with trachs. She is over whelmed with the medications. In school we had a 3 week medication rotation in a nursing home where they did meds for a side.

I counseled her to find another position where we went there were 20 patients but the saving grace was the fact they were long term and didn't change much.

The only industry that has more rules to follow is a nuclear facility, so many rules and if you don't follow them you get written up or fired.

I can understand the need for a job and income. Traveling to a beautiful country has a great value and learning another lanuage will never go to waste, but as far as nursing experience this placement will give you none.

My students who work as aides are given no credit for their professional caregiving all the years they have worked in nursing homes.

Lightblue, RN · Aug 5, 2008

Good thing you have shared what you know about working as a caregiver. You see, a lot of nurses here in Philippines resort to working as such since there are no opportunities to practice their degree. What I want to know, and I'm sure others here, is really how different work as a caregiver is from a nurse? Can you site some procedures and responsibilities that differ?

suzanne4, RN · Aug 5, 2008

It is significantly different, you are essentially working as an unlicensed care-giver, and nothing more than that.

A bigger issue is that there is not one employer or one country that considers work as a care-giver as that of the RN, so that means that you would not have current work experience if you were to apply later on for licensure/immigration to another country.

There is no way that you are going to be able to remain and work in the UK as an RN when this contract is up. The visa that you would be going on will not permit you to remain there, or adjust it to anything else.

allnurses Guide · Aug 5, 2008

Can I follow up on Suzannes first post, Bristol is not only cold in the winter, it is summer now and it hasn't stopped raining yet and it's not particulary warm either.

Secondly, Bristol is quite an expensive place to live I am not sure how much you will be earning but on a carers rate of pay I would bet that you are going to struggle to survive financially in any of the major cities in the UK. I am sure there will be someone along in a minute to quote how they know people living here and how well they are doing and how much money they are earning but, I am a qualified British nurse, I earn a top end salary in the nursing scale and there are months I struggle to make ends meet, it is very expensive to live here and prices and the cost of living is increasing.

The differences between a carer and qualified nurse, you will be responsible for washing, dressing, feeding, assisting nurses to mobilise patients and following instructions from qualified nurses.

You will have no responsibilites for medications, assessment. You will be discouraged from using any clinical judgment, that is a qualified nurses responsibility and you are not there in a qualified capacity.

The minimum qualification for a care giver in the UK is to have no criminal record, that's it. You will not be allowed to use any of the skills that you have learnt to be a nurse as you are not qualified in the UK.

I know it seems as if we are very negative about this type of role but it infuriates me that there are companies who will exploit nurses from other countries when there is absolutely no prospect of them getting work as a qualified nurse in the UK. And I do mean that, no prospect at all, you will not be able to convert your visa to a working visa and even if you did there noone would be allowed to employ you. It is pure and simple exploitation.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Aug 5, 2008

Can I follow up on Suzannes first post, Bristol is not only cold in the winter, it is summer now and it hasn't stopped raining yet and it's not particulary warm either.
Secondly, Bristol is quite an expensive place to live I am not sure how much you will be earning but on a carers rate of pay I would bet that you are going to struggle to survive financially in any of the major cities in the UK. I am sure there will be someone along in a minute to quote how they know people living here and how well they are doing and how much money they are earning but, I am a qualified British nurse, I earn a top end salary in the nursing scale and there are months I struggle to make ends meet, it is very expensive to live here and prices and the cost of living is increasing.
The differences between a carer and qualified nurse, you will be responsible for washing, dressing, feeding, assisting nurses to mobilise patients and following instructions from qualified nurses.
You will have no responsibilites for medications, assessment. You will be discouraged from using any clinical judgment, that is a qualified nurses responsibility and you are not there in a qualified capacity.
The minimum qualification for a care giver in the UK is to have no criminal record, that's it. You will not be allowed to use any of the skills that you have learnt to be a nurse as you are not qualified in the UK.
I know it seems as if we are very negative about this type of role but it infuriates me that there are companies who will exploit nurses from other countries when there is absolutely no prospect of them getting work as a qualified nurse in the UK. And I do mean that, no prospect at all, you will not be able to convert your visa to a working visa and even if you did there noone would be allowed to employ you. It is pure and simple exploitation.

Thanks for your post. This should be an eye opener for Filipino nurses who are disillusioned and fooled about life in a foreign land. Nurses coming straight from the Philippines should be cautious when signing up with companies that recruit caregivers even if the destination is in a developed country like the UK. I am almost certain that the way these companies operate, they will hire all these Filipino caregivers and house at least 8 of them in quarters that can only accommodate 3 adults legally in order for the caregivers to afford rent and utilities. I imagine they will choose housing close to the facility so the caregivers can walk to work as they would not be able to afford a car. Walking to work in the dead of winter? that is definitely no picnic especially for someone who grew up in the tropics. Living in close quarters with 8 people? that is plain inhumane. Reconsider your options and do not fall prey to these companies. This practice of hiring overseas cheap labor is what's corroding the lifestyle citizens of first world countries expect for themselves. And who benefits? who else but the business owners and the recruiters.

Lightblue, RN · Aug 9, 2008

thanks for responding. this should really be an eye opener, same reason why I asked in the first place. I don't have first-hand knowledge of what agencies promises to those who recruit nurses as caregivers (only heard from co-nurses who took the bait), but I'm pretty sure these information are intentionally left out.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 9, 2008

As we keep stating, the only ones that come out ahead are the owners of these companies as well as the recruiters. Any of these offers do not help the nurse from any country in any way; they actually make it worse for them as they will not have any current work experience as an RN when they are done with their contract.

They will also be living at poverty level for a start and cannot renew to remain there when their contract ends.

There are no visas to work in the UK as an RN. Just is not going to happen.

Same thing that we see with the LPN programs and the ADN programs that are offered in the Philippines, they do not help anyone but the owner of the school.