Travel Nursing Questions - Irish Graduate

[NurseLife]

Hey Guys,

When I graduate from university with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Nursing I really want to experience something new and exciting. I heard about travel nursing in the US and it sounds really cool!

I'd love to head off on this adventure with some mates from home but not many of them seem too keen to move abroad from Ireland to America.

Question:

1. Is there any agencys that can match you up with a few other people so you can all live together and get to know each other?

I dont want to head over on my own and know nobody and have co-worker relationships. I want to experience what American culture is like, make friends, live a little and let my hair down on the weekends/off-days and just have great time as well as advancing my career!

2. I was also wondering, if I were to head on my own or with 1 or 2 others whats the social life like for travel nurses?

Hope you can help!

Cheers!

[NedRN]

You won't having any trouble making friends here with an Irish (or British) accent, even if you are socially awkward! I think you will find that your coworkers will go out of their way to be social after work. If you ask your agency to place you in a facility with a lot of travelers, that they will take you under your wing.

So I wouldn't let the lack of roommates hinder you. It is very rare for agencies to house travelers together except by requests from travelers who already each other. It is possible of course, but fairly unlikely. What is more likely is that if you find housing on your own, that you can find a place through Craigslist (the US GumTree) with roommates. That will leave you with a lot more money for letting your hair down.

Unless you take a long term assignment, you need to have a year of two of experience under your belt before anyone will consider you for a travel assignment. Your nursing program probably has more clinical hours than the typical US one, so you might be able to get by with a bit less experience but it will be difficult for most US hospitals to accept a foreign trained nurse here. Irish nurses are rare in my experience - I've never met one. Lots from the UK though.

I'm not fluent on the process of becoming licensed here, but working here is probably going to require an employer sponsor and limit your choices to a larger agency, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Since you have some time before coming here, hanging out on travel nurse forums may find you someone willing to travel with you. Some American nurses also don't want to travel alone and post here.

[NurseLife]

Alright, Thats grand!

Yeah we have aproximately 10-15 (35 hour/week) week placements from 1st to 3rd year in uni and then our final year is majority internship based (35+hours per week including night shifts). Not sure what kind of clinical hours you guys have tho.

I think I'll do a bit more research into Travel Nursing anyway before I commit to anything. It sounds great and your advice is really helpful.

Also, I think I have to sit an exam to register as a nurse in the US. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Cheers buddy!

[NedRN]

Yes, you will have to take the boards, and even more insulting, an English fluency test. No reciprocity here! That said, at least you have a pathway to work here. Have you ever met a US trained nurse working in Ireland?

The main hassle with the boards is understanding the legal issues surrounding practice here. The boards are easy for US graduates with well over 90% passing on their first attempt (which is fabulous for most of us touchy-feely non-science types). Some foreign graduates never pass and it isn't because they are not qualified.