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Discussion

Scared to work as a RN

I am a German nurse and passed the NCLEX-RN this year.

I studied a lot to pass this crazy test, but everything theoretic. Anyway, I heard that to work as a nurse in the USA is completely different compared to Germany. I am really scared to work in here. All this responsibility...

I have 4 year working experience in my home country but there are some things I never learned, like a full body assessment or drawing blood.. feel so stupid. :(

Does anybody has a advise for me what to do? Or somebody has the same feelings?

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Are you in the US allready and have a job waiting for you? Or are you still in Germany?

5cats

Enroll in a nursing refresher program it will help you feel more confident in your nursing practice.

It's common for many European based nurses not to take bloods, listen to breath or bowel sounds etc, our scope of practice is different. We do lots of things but not those, as a rule.

Don't worry, if you ever get to the USA (& that could take YEARS - unless you are married to a US citizen - see threads re retrogression) you will be trained.

I've been in Canada for a year now & can site IV's, do full assessments etc etc as if I've always done it! As long as your basic nursing knowledge is there the rest is just a matter of learning some techniques, no more!

  • Author

Thanks for the answers.

I am already in the USA with the J2 visa and will get my working permit hopefully soon.

Already waiting 9 weeks for it, so should arrive in about 3 weeks.

A refresher course sounds great. Hope I can find one.

Full body assessments are easy. I'm shocked that nurses don't do that in other countries. I've heard that also in the Philippines, they don't do assessments either. Which is a BIG BULK of nursing. You have to know your patients status. I agree with the previous poster, enroll in a nursing refresher course and explain to your instructor that you don't do that in Germany. But honestly, there's nothing to it, it's really easy. Good Luck

Full body assessments are easy. I'm shocked that nurses don't do that in other countries. I've heard that also in the Philippines, they don't do assessments either. Which is a BIG BULK of nursing. You have to know your patients status. I agree with the previous poster, enroll in a nursing refresher course and explain to your instructor that you don't do that in Germany. But honestly, there's nothing to it, it's really easy. Good Luck

What you have to remember is that each country will have their own way of doing something. In the UK I would not listen to heart and lung sounds as a routine as that is seen as a doctors job however I can still hear when a patient has a problem and act on it. We still did assessments there are just done different to the USA. It doesn't mean it is wrong

With your four years experience and your ability to study and pass the nclex. Believe me you will be fine and eventually pick up very quickly with practice in a hospital setting how things are done here in the USA. For example i remember when i came to the USA from England i thot i would never be able to drive on the right side of the road; i had been driving on the left side of the road for 15 years in england. But now i dont even think about my driving, i am now very confident.

Silverdragon, I agree with you. I just find it hard to believe, I mean something so simple is done in one area, but not done in another. For that reason, I believe that all foreign educated nurses should be required to take a transition course in order to show them how nursing is done in the particular country they wish to work in. That goes for US graduates who wish to work abroad, they should be required to take a transition course in order to know how nursing is done in that paticular the grads wish to work in. I will admit that heart and lung sounds were hard for me, but practice, practice and practice. But to this day, all heart sounds sound either regular, or irregular. I can't distinguish between the irregularities. But I think the German nurse will be fine, the assessments are easy as long as you learn the technique that best works for you and the outcome is the same as someone elses.

hey Sinawahi which state are you located? I am also waiting on my working permit in new york, I really need a job until i receive my permit to work. Any help out there? The wait is killing me.

hey Sinawahi which state are you located? I am also waiting on my working permit in new york, I really need a job until i receive my permit to work. Any help out there? The wait is killing me.

Until you get a work visa allowing you to work you can't work in the US

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Full body assessments are easy. I'm shocked that nurses don't do that in other countries. I've heard that also in the Philippines, they don't do assessments either. Which is a BIG BULK of nursing. You have to know your patients status. I agree with the previous poster, enroll in a nursing refresher course and explain to your instructor that you don't do that in Germany. But honestly, there's nothing to it, it's really easy. Good Luck

I know this is off topic but I wish the nurses from the Philippines would quit saying that nurses do not perfrom physical assessments on their patients in the Philippines because it's the physician's responsibility. First of all, physical assessments are included in the nursing curriculum in the Philippines. Head to toe assessments are taught on all age groups and life cycles from newborn, childhood, child-bearing women, adults, and the elderly. The problem lies in the implementation of these skills once the nurse graduates and starts a job as an RN. Some hospitals there overwork their RN's with large patient assigments that it is close to impossible to do a head to toe assessment on every single patient on your watch. However, many senior and experienced nurses there can eyeball their patients and tell if something's wrong with a particular patient and act on it similar to how silverdragon cited it as an example in the UK setting. I have had experience working in an ICU setting in the Philippines and we definitely did physical assessments on our patients. We actually had to be extra vigilant with subtle changes in the physical exam as we didn't have the luxury of having expensive ICU monitors similar to the US than can alert the nurse of many vital sign changes.

Gilly how did you transition from a 3rd world country nursing (I hope that's the right term) to nursing in the US where you have the high tech equipment? How well would you say that you adjusted to that change? When I float to other floors sometimes I look at those monitors and I'm like what the heck????....but eventually I got it.

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