akpierce314

I'll try to break down my process for you. I found an agency (one of many good ones) called MSI that was helpful for me. https://www.msirecruitment.com Have a look at their site and if you're interested in them I can put you in touch with the woman who helped me, Carmen. She was SO helpful and responsive. MSI basically asked me where in the UK I wanted to work and Carmen looked for various postings matching my wishes all over the country and set me up with an interview that I did over zoom and was immediately offered a job in London. But I'll take a step back and list the process from the start. 1. Go on to the NMC website and register with them (many agencies will reimburse this fee once you arrive in the UK). This is the governing body for all UK nurses who issue your PIN (what we call a license). 2. Schedule your CBT (computer based test) and begin studying for that. It's basically a Pierson exam which is not too dissimilar from NCLEX, but quite a bit shorter and easier. You'll take this at a Pierson exam center somewhere near where you live. (This fee also often reimbursed, MSI covered mine). 3. Get in touch with MSI or some other recruiter if you plan to use one, which I recommend. 4. After you've passed this test, start narrowing down the places you'd like to apply and seek out interviews. If you use a recruiter they will do this work for you. Btw using a recruiter costs you nothing, they get paid by the trusts for the nurses they bring in. 5. Once you've had an interview and secured a job you will begin applying for your visa. You will be getting a Skilled Worker Visa which is valid for three years but easily renewed by your employer. You will need sponsorship from the hospital that hires you which is why you can't really apply for this until you're offered a job and accept. (MSI reimbursed the cost of visa). 6. Once you get your visa the hospital will set a start date for you and you'll want to start booking flights (MSI covered the cost of my flight.) and looking for housing. 7. Once here your hospital will help you schedule and prepare for OSCE which is the in-person practical exam. (MSI paid this for me). After you've passed that you will be working fully as a nurse in the UK! I hope this timeline gives you a good starting point.

Sofin, whichever book you buy, if you can get your hands on one that has the scoring criteria for each station, you basically need to memorize them. I used a book provided by IELTS medical but there are many. Memorize the “red flag” errors. I passed first attempt along with the 10 others who took it with me. I was obsessing right after about an error I thought I’d made when I failed to get a second nurse to sign for administration of diazepam, but it turned out it wasn’t required so there was no error. It’s often hard to remember things like that which may or may not be different to US practice. Feel free to email me and I’ll try to dig up my books for you.

Happily Sofin, While it would take me hours to go through my entire experience working here, I can at least sum it up for you. I find work life balance in the UK to be far better than in the states. That said, you will feel the impact in your income. I take home like £2100 after taxes a month on a band 5 salary. As a newly qualified UK nurse you must start at band 5, but many of us already have years of nursing experience and as such, should band up to 6 and higher very quickly. I personally anticipate making a good bit more very soon but regardless, you WILL make less than back home and you’ll feel that in your daily life. The option to have 7 weeks paid leave, plus essentially unlimited sick time in this country makes it all worth it to me as someone who doesn’t value money as much as experiences. You’ll have to make your own decisions based on what matters to you. Personally I also find that Londoners are all resigned to being broke all the time so there’s not the societal pressure that I felt in the states to be making more than anyone else. We all just buy each other a round and admit we’re strapped, and no one cares. Next, nurses in the UK have less autonomy and unfortunately with that, less respect, than in the states. I love being a psych nurse, so I can brush that off, most of the time, but there are days you feel small, which is not an experience I had back home where my psychiatrists trusted me to make decisions on my own nearly all of the time with very little interference. If you work in London, you’ll have a massive amount of diversity in your workplace which I love. Any other specific questions or if you want to know about OSCE, just ask.

Jeunge, I am happy to help. I’m an American nurse who came to the UK in February of 2022. I started searching for info to make the move in December of 2021, so it took me only three months from first interest to boots on the ground in London. If you’re interested in my pathway, feel free to reach out at [email protected]. Alyssa

Very helpful, GrumpyRN! Thank you!

I am also an American RN looking to move to UK in 2022. I am getting a lot of help reading these forums, but I'm still looking for someone who currently works as a nurse in the UK who can talk the nitty gritty about pay. I work overtime and put in the hours here in the US, but the pay rates I've seen advertised compared to cost of living in the UK don't seem to add up. Can people really live off of this? With how much overtime I work and with COVID incentive rates in the US right now I can bring home 6K (US) after taxes each month and I'm comfortable, but I am by no means hoarding money or living a lavish lifestyle. How do people survive off a third of that in cities that seem to cost just as much as mine? I'll clarify, I am NOT a travel RN. I work as a permanent staff in a hospital in South Carolina where pay is known to be lower than much of the country for nurses. I would LOVE to hear from a nurse who pulls some overtime shifts here and there and know if you can live a decent life as a single nurse. I am open to any and all cities in te UK, but top of my list at this moment is Edinburgh.