Studying abroad and confused, need help! :o

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Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing great. I feel so lucky to have found this board with so much helpful information. My situation is very unusual so I really need your help right now.

Anyways, I'm from the U.S. but am currently abroad in South America and I want to get trained as a LPN.

I found several programs for what appears to be Practical Nursing. The problem is that the name they give it: "auxiliar de enfermeria" sounds more like "nursing assistant" which becomes confusing because CNA to us in the U.S. is a completely different career path.

The program I'm interested in claims to have international validity and lasts 10 months with the possibility of continuing on to specialize in neonatal nursing, oncology, intensive care etc, which seems more compatible with LPN because from what I've read here CNA is a very short course (3 months?).

Also these folks call their graduates "nurse," just not "professional nurse" (I'm pretty sure by the latter they mean RN because they also have programs that allows someone who takes this course to upgrade to "professional nursing" and it only takes two years more to complete)

Would you guys do me a favor and take a look at the study plan and tell me if this looks like LPN/LVN or CNA? I studied psychology in college, so no idea what a LPN nursing program would look like!

Hugs to all!!

Approximate translation:

Degree Profile: This diploma is officially valid and allows the graduate to collaborate in a healthcare setting, private or public under the supervision of physicians or professional nurses.

Degree plan (rough)

Ethics and bioethics

Anatomy and physiology

Microbiology and parasitology

Fundamentals of nursing

Hygiene and sterilization

Fundamentals of nutrition

Fundamentals of psychology

Evolutionary psychology

Public health

Pediatrics

Neonatal and early childhood

Obstetrics

Family dynamics

Clinical nursing

Surgical nursing

Biochemistry

Infections and transmissible diseases

First aid and emergency

Lab organization

Mathematics I and II

Spanish composition

Civic education (this seems to e about law?)

Practice in hospital setting

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Practical nurse education in Canada takes two years and our RNs take four at university.

Look at the nursing structure of the country you are in. How are the RNs educated?

Auxillary Nurses are how many nursing assistant referred to in many countries.

A ten month programme would not be recognized in Canada.

If you are going to be there for any length of time, take the education but don't count on it being recognized at any level in North America. There's a reason that people post study nursing in the country you plan to practice in.

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Hi Fiona! Thanks for replying, I'm confused though because in the U.S. Practical Nursing is a certificate, and it does take about two semesters but it's not a college degree (or not necessarily) so I'm pretty sure a 10 month program would not differ that much in length. I'm just trying to figure out whether this study plan (the subjects) is compatible with the LPN study plan.

I found this in a U.S. site and it does seem sort of compatible but I will keep on investigating.

Here's a 2 semester program similar to the one I found abroad:

http://www.gvboces.org/adulted.cfm?subpage=265292

This program is offered to adults who wish to take their state licensing examination for Practical Nursing and is taught in two semesters. Below gives an outline of this program.

First Semester

Nursing Fundamentals

Pharmacology 1

Human Growth & Development

Human Anatomy & Physiology

Basic Nutrition

Second Semester

Medical Surgical Nursing

Pediatric Nursing

Obstetrical Nursing

Pharmacology II

Community Health

Mental Health

Resume/Leadership

Fundamentals of Nursing Applied

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As a general rule, studying nursing in a country other than the country you expect/intend to practice in is asking for trouble. IDifferent countries have entirely different models of nursing education and practice, and it's not necessarily easy, or even possible, to transfer education and credentials from one country to another. I really encourage you to do a lot of research and be sure that any program you select will be accepted for licensure in the US; IMO, it would be a lot smarter to wait until you return to the US, and study here. Maybe you could take some online prerquisites while you're in South America in preparation for applying to US programs. Best wishes!

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Hi Elkpark! Thanks for your advice :) I guess I will have to carefully weigh my options in regards to LPN training. The thing is I will be here for at least another year so I thought I would make the most of my time and get trained. There's also other reasons like I'm not sure I can afford a 10k program in the U.S., at least at the moment, so it would be great if this program (which costs way less) does turn out to have international validity and allows me to challenge the NCLEX.

I know a college degree in LPN would probably be the best and most desirable but I already have one with a different major which is why the AAS in nursing is not as attractive to me as the 10-12 month diploma, but I will make it a priority to talk to these folks about whether the program is compatible with NCLEX guidelines. So far I have some hope from what I'm reading. If you note the rough translation I came up with of the study subjects it comes pretty close to the study plan for BOCES in the U.S.

I think what I translated as biochemistry should be pharmacology and what I traslated as evolutionary psychology should be developmental psych, which sounds a bit like BOCES' "human development." They also both have surgical, pediatric and obstetrical nursing as well as nutrition, etc.

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I think the best way to find out if this program will be recognized in the US is to contact the Board of Nursing in the state you plan to live in when you leave South America. They will be able to tell you definitively if the program qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Hi Fiona! Thanks for replying, I'm confused though because in the U.S. Practical Nursing is a certificate, and it does take about two semesters but it's not a college degree (or not necessarily) so I'm pretty sure a 10 month program would not differ that much in length. I'm just trying to figure out whether this study plan (the subjects) is compatible with the LPN study plan.

I found this in a U.S. site and it does seem sort of compatible but I will keep on investigating.

Here's a 2 semester program similar to the one I found abroad:

http://www.gvboces.org/adulted.cfm?subpage=265292

This program is offered to adults who wish to take their state licensing examination for Practical Nursing and is taught in two semesters. Below gives an outline of this program.

First Semester

Nursing Fundamentals

Pharmacology 1

Human Growth & Development

Human Anatomy & Physiology

Basic Nutrition

Second Semester

Medical Surgical Nursing

Pediatric Nursing

Obstetrical Nursing

Pharmacology II

Community Health

Mental Health

Resume/Leadership

Fundamentals of Nursing Applied

After further digging, it may be two semesters, but it is a 12-month program.

Most PN programs are a little over one year and are based on clock hours by the states BON; you can't compare clock hours to CC or University hours because to the varying criteria set up through state and federal requirements when it comes to higher education.

Your best bet is to find out from the states BON on whether you can transfer those credits to sit for the NCLEX; or, better yet, wait and return and go through a program; just FYI, most internationally trained students have a challenging time with the NCLEX because of how they were trained in their education, as opposed to US nursing education.

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Hi Sadie! That's a great idea, I will contact the board of nursing to see how they feel about the program.

Hi LadyFree, from what I've investigated, NY state will accept a 9 month program minimum, what matters is the type of material one is learning. I guess it depends on how long classes are, a program that's more intense might last a little less. But I will contact the BON and ask them. I wouldn't want to take a course that is not valid despite its claims.

I found another curriculum that's almost identical to the program I'm considering, this one is 10 months.

http://pnwboces.org/adulted/PDF/LPN_Handbook.pdf

LPN CURRICULUM – MODULAR OUTLINE

Module 1 Fundamentals of Nursing Practice (basic nursing fundamentals)

Module 2 Structure and Function of the Human Body (basic human anatomy & physiology)

Module 3 Human Growth and Development across the Life Span (life cycle)

Module 4 Introduction to Medical-Surgical Nursing (basic orientation to medical-surgical nursing)

Module 5 Medication Administration & Introduction to Pharmacology

Module 6 Medical-Surgical Nursing

Module 7 Maternal Health Care (maternity nursing)

Module 8 Child Health Care (pediatric nursing)

Module 9 Mental Health & Mental Illness Nursing (psychiatric nursing)

Module 10 Current Issues & Trends in Nursing Practice

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You cannot compare nursing programs based on the length of the program and the names of the individual nursing courses; that tells you nothing about the content of those courses and whether they are comparable to US nursing education.

Quite a few people who post here studied nursing abroad in order to save time and money, only to find, after they had completed the program and returned to the US, that they were not eligible for US licensure. If that is the case, you haven't saved any time or money, you've wasted it.

Also, as an IEN ("internationally educated nurse"), you will have additional paperwork and hoops to jump through in the US not just for initial licensure, but any time for the rest of your career that you want to move to another state. Being a US citizen will not affect that; it's about where you're educated. Even if you are able to secure licensure in whatever state you plan to return to now, that doesn't mean you wouldn't run into trouble and be unable to be licensed in another state at some point in the future. Each US state makes its own decisions about licensing IENs.

Best wishes.

I still think it would make the most sense to take some on-line prerequisites (from US schools) while you're abroad and wait to pursue an actual nursing program once you're back in the US.

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