My name is Daniel and I'm a 24y old RN from European Union. I'm currently studying Informatics and will most probably finish somewhere in July 09 (Engineer of Informatics, Associates Degree). I finished a medical high school (4year program), have a diploma, a license to work and 3years of experience working in a local hospital.
Recently I was thinking of moving to New York because that's my wish since I was a little kid, to live in USA. I started gathering information about visas, green cards and whatnot and I came to a conclusion that moving to US is everything but a piece of cake. Apparently they don't give away GCs just like that .
So after spending few days intensively reading this board I learned the following. To successfully migrate from EU to US as a RN I would need:
- a diploma (check)
- license to work (check)
- CGFNS or NCLEX (none)
- TOEFL or IELTS (none)
So where can I apply for these exams in Europe? Can I do them online? All I could find online were testing locations in US and nothing in Europe. So can anyone help me out here?
There's one more thing that bothers me. I found this website that sponsors international nurses for US green cards and they say that you need to graduate from a nursing program (Bachelor or Associate degree). Now here in Europe we have totally different school systems and titles usually don't match those in US.
In US you have high schools which last 12 grades all in one part and then you move on to colleges but we in Europe have elementary schools (8 grades) and then you choose what you want to do in your life and go to that high school. Now I've chosen nursing and I went to medical/nursing high school (4 grades) and by the age of 19 I was a RN and fully qualified for work. I don't have a Bachelor's or Associate's Degree but I'm still a RN. Is that a problem? Am I not qualified for a nursing position in US?
The other thing I've noticed at US employers is that they look for RNs specialized/licensed in different fields like RN-ICU, RN-ER, RN-OR and so on. Here in Europe nurses in hospitals work wherever they put them to. I worked in a hospital for 3 years and few months I was working at a Hematology department, then they transfered me to Cardio ICU room, sometimes I would be working at a department of Dialysis and so on. We're more like general nurses and not specialized in one field only. So when I apply for a job, what position to choose?
One more thing, how do they treat foreigners in US? Is the staff friendly and willing to give a hand in the beginning or do they just put you somewhere and expect you to work fully individual? How are these relations between nurses and superiors?
I'd very much like to work in US but I'm not sure what to expect.
So basically:
- what exams and where
- degrees and titles
- relations nurse/superior-nurse
I would be very thankful if someone could answer my questions, I would really like to pass those exams first and then look for a job. I hope I'm not spamming this forum so if these questions were answered earlier I apologize in advance and hope someone could point me to those threads.
Thank you very much and all the best to nurses, our job is really not appreciated enough.
Yes I was just looking at the fees, it's $378 for a Course-By-Course report. So is a 2-year (Associate's) degree enough to be recognized as a RN in US or do you need at least Bachelor's?
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Yes I was just looking at the fees, it's $378 for a Course-By-Course report. So is a 2-year (Associate's) degree enough to be recognized as a RN in US or do you need at least Bachelor's?
Generally if outside the US and trained then looking at a training period of over 3 years or BSN equivalent
Kaplan has no online RN Associated degree program. I don't know what your diploma equates to in the US but my guess is nothing. Sorry even LPN have to be high school graduates.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I'll go with the CGFNS report to see the equivalent title for the US and work from there. I'm so down right now. Thanks for your help guys.
EDIT:
Can I have a CES report done only for myself?
No. CGFNS International requires you to have an official recipient for the report, but you will receive a copy.
Why's that? What should I do to get that report? Any suggestions?
You will need to put a state BON down so think of a state to apply. I know you mentioned NY but they do their own evaluation and you won't get a report as such
So what should I do? Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do. I need the CES report but I can't apply for it.
I could hire an immigration attorney to be my recipient so that the report would be sent to him and to me but that would cost too much. I'm not worried about NY because all I need right now is an evaluation of my European degree to see where I stand and after I get that I'll go on with the rest of the stuff.
You could call the BON and ask if a high school program will qualify and save yourself some money. If it is NY you are looking for, the BON makes it clear it has to same as the local standard which is post high school training. And you are aware retrogression is on going.
Specializes in intensive care, recovery, anesthetics.
Daniel,
you're allways talking about your european degree, but it's not a european one, and I know that NMC is not accepting all those degrees with high school included, and I believe according to european guidelines your country might need to change their nursing education to post highschool. There is nothing like a european degree in nursing, it's all national, but must meet european standards. And new members of the union was given time to meet standards eventually (in all areas, not only nursing), Germany for instance had once to change their nursing law to meet those standards (in the seventies)
But for your plans, an immigration attorney can do nothing about your education, I think you understand sth wrong here.
Your education need to meet US standard, and it doesn't. What you could do is contact BON or CGFNS and ask if there's anything that you can do about it, like an additional year or so.
I already contacted CGFNS and they said I should go with the CES Course-By-Course Report to see where I stand within US standards first and then upgrade my education if necessary.
I can't order a CES Report for myself I need someone to ask for it, a recipient, like an institution, employer or immigration attorney. That's why I was thinking of hiring an attorney to be my recipient so I could apply for the report.
After I recieve it I will see what my equivalent is in the US and if I'm not eligible for a Nurse Visa I'll either play the Green Card lottery again or just proceed with the education until I'm qualified RN.
I'm aware of the retrogression and I'm not in a hurry or anything. Thank you for your replies.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I already contacted CGFNS and they said I should go with the CES Course-By-Course Report to see where I stand within US standards first and then upgrade my education if necessary.
I can't order a CES Report for myself I need someone to ask for it, a recipient, like an institution, employer or immigration attorney. That's why I was thinking of hiring an attorney to be my recipient so I could apply for the report.
After I recieve it I will see what my equivalent is in the US and if I'm not eligible for a Nurse Visa I'll either play the Green Card lottery again or just proceed with the education until I'm qualified RN.
I'm aware of the retrogression and I'm not in a hurry or anything. Thank you for your replies.
Why pay for a immigration lawyer when probably cheaper to go with a state board of nursing. Even if you don't meet requirements and have paid the BON $300US better than paying a lot more to a lawyer
But that's what I was talking about in my first post. Our school system is different from yours. You can go to 4 year nursing school and become a RN and after that if you want you can attend a high nursing school and become bachelor's of nursing. That's it for the nurses in Europe. You're either RN with a High School diploma or RN with Bachelor's.
So that means no job for me in the US :).
I'm checking out the CVS (CGFNS) website. I'll ask them about degrees and my qualifications for a US job.
Thank you all!
Not all of Europe trains the way that you do, most of the countries actually require that one attend nursing school once they have completed high school. The US government requires that one do their RN program when they would be in the university, at least of that age, and possess an actual high school diploma before the training begins. If anything, they will give you credit at best for being able to write the NCLEX-PN exam which is for practical nursing and not the RN. We have seen this with several other countries in the past, and they were not accepted by any state for licensure, nor by CGFNS for the credentials eval.
The issue is not what your country accepts, but the fact that you need to meet the requirements of the new country where you are interested in working. They are not responsible for meeting yours. If you take the time to do some reading on this site, you will find that only 4 states out of the entire US actually still require that you write the CGFNS exam, and NY was one of the first to stop with that requirement. But they do require the CVS which is done thru CGFNS and takes about 8 months to get completed, ifone meets the educational requirements to work in the US.
Your training was not done under what we usually see in place in most European countries, it was done under the guidance of eastern Europe old requirements. You would actually have problems getting licensed in most EU countries as well.
Not sure where you got the idea of using an attorney for the recipient for the CES, there is no reason whatsoever to do that. There is not one thing that they need it for or can even use it for. In this case, it is strictly an evaluation of your credentials to see if you meet the requirements for the US. But when you have posted that you did your training while you were in the equivalent of high school, please save your money as we are all telling you that it is not going to be accepted by the US or most other countries.
A few other tidbits to throw in here, we have not seen a hospital in NY willing to petition anyone for the green card that did not do their training there in several years. Your training will be considered the same as the practical nurse and will not qualify you for a visa to work in the US either.
Please take the time to do some reading here, you are going to have to complete at least a two year program to meet the requirements here for licensure as an RN that was done after you earned your high school diploma or equivalent of.
Please also be aware that if you were to come to the US to go to school, the US has been under a retrogression for more than two years, so there will be no way to remain and work afterwards other than for the possibility of the OPT, that is not renewable. The economy in the US is also under crisis at this time, and NY has been hit quite hard as well.
Thanks suzanne4, I'm aware of everything you wrote up there. By searching through the web I came to a conclusion that I probably qualify as a LPN and to be recognized as a RN I would have to complete addition 2 years of studying or 4 years for BSN degree.
I'm aware of the situation in the US and I know I won't be able to find a GC sponsor just like that and that's not the problem. The thing is, I want to know what my equivalent is in the US but looks like obtaining a CES report is not a piece of cake because I just got a reply back from NY BON saying they don't accept CES reports and that I should rather go with CVS for NY state.
Now please understand that I'm not looking for a job right now, I just want to complete the CVS in case some day I get an offer so that I won't need to go through the whole process because that takes too much time, as you said yourself. I might even win the GC, who knows.
I don't understand why this has to be so complicated, why do I have to be eligible for examination. It's not like I'm asking them for a personal favor, it's just a service. Everyone should be eligible for a CVS exam, don't you think? Now I have to contact NYSED and ask for a permission to be examined, then they have to verify whether I'm eligible for a CVS exam or not.If I'm a CNA, LPN or something else, I'm okay with it. I just need to know where I stand, that's all.
IF I qualify as a LPN, two more years of education are enough for a RN license but if I don't than I'll have to go with BS. That's the reason why I want to examine myself.
Thank you all very much for your patient with me, I know I'm somewhat annoying. You have helped me very much. If anyone has any more tips or advice, please share your knowledge with me. I could use anything.
.
EUmaleRN
13 Posts
Yes I was just looking at the fees, it's $378 for a Course-By-Course report. So is a 2-year (Associate's) degree enough to be recognized as a RN in US or do you need at least Bachelor's?