Scottish Mental Health Nurse

nurseangel47 · Dec 15, 2006

Glad to have you here on allnurses! Good luck on relocating. :welcome:

Silverdragon102, BSN · Dec 16, 2006

Hi, my name is Linsey and I am a registered nurse over her in Scotland, UK. I work in the community and have done so for over 15 years. I am hoping to move to california in the next few years, I'm not really sure what I have to do in order to practice in the state. I noticed the NCLEX-RN exam, so I think I will have to study for that.
Anyone who can ofer any advice or tips would be greatly accepted, need to make sure the kids are asleep!!!
I'm excited to have found this site and get in touch with other nurses.
Linsey

hi and welcome

which training do you have? A lot depends on training if RN with experience during training in all specilities you shouldn't have any problems. If mental health trained then you may need to make some hours up in certain areas. Suggest you read the sticky in the international forum Primer to work in the USA. Plenty of us are currently going through the process so be prepared for plenty of patience as you will need it. I also believe at the moment CA are not employing foreign nurses so you may have to have a bit of a re think on where to live. Also Suzanne moderator in the international forum does not recommend going through initial process with CA BON as they take several months to issue ATT to sit the NCLEX and will not give you hard license without SSN which you won't get until you are in the US and can prove being there legally. Plenty of threads on here as well as international forum so have a good read and then ask any more questions you may have

:welcome:

english_nurse · Dec 16, 2006

are they really not employing foreign nurses in CAanymore? blimy!

english_nurse · Dec 16, 2006

welcome to the forum by the way Blondie :)

are you hoping to work in mental health in the USA or in general nursing?

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2006

Welcome to all nurses

suzanne4, RN · Dec 16, 2006

CA is definitely employing foreign nurses........and especially those with experience. The issue is that some areas are harder to find work in, especially as a new foreign grad in the San Francisco area.

And as mentioned above, the biggesdt concern is whether or not you will need to make up courses, the US requires that you be a generalist and not a specialist when going for intial licensure. You may need to make up hours in peds and maternity, even if you never worked those areas and never will.

CA also takes the longest in giving permission to sit for the NCLEX exam, so as a foreign nurse it is always advisable to get thru another state and then endorse to CA.

Check out the International Forum with the stickies at the top there, it will give you quite a bit of information that you need.

UKRNinUSA, RN · Dec 17, 2006

Hi, come on over. I moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago from Glasgow (for a year or two!) I am not up to date on the practicalities anymore, but feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

Brace yourself for "What a cute accent" etc. And we have more than enough mental health problems here in California to keep you busy for quite a while. You might run into some interesting opportunities that wouldn't be available to you in the UK, over here, depending on what direction you want your career to take.

My main advice would be to get as much money together as possible before you come over. Noone told me that I absolutely had to have a car when I got to LA, which is one thing that I would have appreciated knowing back then. Technology makes it easier to be away from family and friends -I can webcam, instant message, text message, email (and attach photos and homevideos) or simply call back to the UK to keep in touch.

How's Christmas- time in Scotland this year? Any snow yet?

blondie1289 · Dec 17, 2006

Hi Anna, thanks for your reply. Hopefully by the time we want to move California will be accepting foreign nurses. Where would I find out that information?

As for Christmas, it's not snowing, the weather has been pretty changeable, really windy and raining...YUK!!! Today however it was frosty....bbrrrrrrr!! My partner is American, form California originally so we want to return to California, specifically LA, he lived there for about 9 years. We wouldn't plan to move until he finishes his Masters degree which will be this time next year. i thought it may be useful to start thinking about work though in case there was a lengthy process to registration in USA.

Community Mental Health is my speciality 11 yrs post reg, I have a Bachelors degree too.

I really appreciate you taking the time, I didnt know where to start, there is so much on the internet.

Linsey:idea:

blondie1289 · Dec 17, 2006

Hi,

Just reading the CGFNS stuff, it reads as though I would need to do further training. I am an RMN, I did the old 1982 sylibus, which means I did general medical, surgical, maternity, acute psychiatry, community psychiatry, rehab, enduring psychiatry, adolescent psychiatry and organic admission. I am a first level registered nurse, however not a general nurse. Where can I get info on this, I'm confused I'm glad I have plenty time to sort all this stuff out.

Linsey

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

I reckon you'd only be short on paeds, but as another nurse just found out you need to send in your transcripts and they will tell you what you need before you look for courses etc

english_nurse · Dec 17, 2006

yes get your transcripts and see whats on them, thats good advice

out of curiosity, are you getting married or planning to in the near future