uk nurses who have come to the usa

Published

I am in the usvi, and have been here nearly a year, maybe all the nurses who have posted their news about immigration, can now post about the differences in the us hospitals. I dont think that american doctors and nurses fully understand where we come from, and the working environment of the nhs, its only when we get here that we can understand the differences. I am sure that stateside hospitals are different even from here. and that they also vary from state to state, but maybe nurses who are waiting to come will be able to pick up some tips and know more than us what to expect.

christine....from wales to scotland to united states virgin islands, and then to the states, in january.

Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
how very strange, i really didnt think that it would be like that i just assumed that it would be the same as here and they would have the poo eating machine that we have. (this is how i describe it to my children they think its great!)

When I was shown around the hospital where I will be working they have disposable pillows!!! I just thought wow isn't that great, no stealing from around the hospital because your patient has no pillows :rotfl: You just blow em up and stick on the bed and bin 'em afterwards

Up Vote Up Vote ×
the poo eating machine that we have

That always breaks down when it's been overloaded and then some unfortunate (usually me) has to switch it off at the mains and get their hand in to untangle and fish out the bits of wipes/plastic aprons/anything else that gets in there and shouldn't have so that the machine can get well and eat lots of poo again.

How many nurses are there out there that say to themselves 'the machine can take 3 urinals and two bedpans eh? Let's try one or two more'!!!

Not that I have of course!

Cheers

OG

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.

overload the poo eater?!?

no i would never do that either :saint: honest...

i cant imagine who would do such thing

Up Vote Up Vote ×

better to get the maintenance man out to the 'poo eater' occasionally than still using plastics and having to wash them all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am coming to the end of my 18 month contract........what are you all going to do at the end of yours?

I am signing up with different travel agencys and I am going to be working 13 weeks in each place, the pay and the benefits are really good. they dont have travel nurses in the uk. they pay for the flight to get to the assignment, pay for the accomodation, some give you a rental car and pay for utilities. the pay rate is much better than the hospital pay.

after you finish, OGP want you to stay with them, but there are lots of other options, you can sign with the hospital, if the pay and conditions suit you. you can sign with a travel company and take contracts near to where you are living, or you can pack up and move to somewhere else. its only when you come here, and speak to other nurses that you begin to realise that you are a precious commodity over here, and you can choose how much to earn and how you want to earn it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.

i cant imagine what it must be like to end the contract i havnt even started yet!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

waiting for I140,our dream still feels miles away

Up Vote Up Vote ×

ok rant...rant....when we came here we got a bank account with scotia bank as there are only 3 different banks on the island none of them big ones. OGP has an arrangement with bank of america, for their nurses but they have no branch here. so now we are moving from here to the states I would like BOA account, can I get one ....NO! because of the patriot act I have to personally go into the bank with 2 forms of ID, one of them my social security number, and proof of address, so I have to wait til I get to the states. ..next problem the agency are going to be paying for our accomadation, so we will have no utility bills or the like to prove our address, and the only other permanent kind of address that we can get is a PO box number, but the banks dont accept that either. so my next move is to see if we can use the agency address and then bank online. I have heard of nurses on here who have said they still live in the uk and have accounts over here, and heres poor little me over here and still cant do it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
ok rant...rant....when we came here we got a bank account with scotia bank as there are only 3 different banks on the island none of them big ones. OGP has an arrangement with bank of america, for their nurses but they have no branch here. so now we are moving from here to the states I would like BOA account, can I get one ....NO! because of the patriot act I have to personally go into the bank with 2 forms of ID, one of them my social security number, and proof of address, so I have to wait til I get to the states. ..next problem the agency are going to be paying for our accomadation, so we will have no utility bills or the like to prove our address, and the only other permanent kind of address that we can get is a PO box number, but the banks dont accept that either. so my next move is to see if we can use the agency address and then bank online. I have heard of nurses on here who have said they still live in the uk and have accounts over here, and heres poor little me over here and still cant do it.

Hi,

I have an account with Bank one, it was really easy to set up I was in US to do it, on hols. Can you not fax them stuff I have been sorting out utilities from here and I have to fax things over but they always seem to accept it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
ok rant...rant....when we came here we got a bank account with scotia bank as there are only 3 different banks on the island none of them big ones. OGP has an arrangement with bank of america, for their nurses but they have no branch here. so now we are moving from here to the states I would like BOA account, can I get one ....NO! because of the patriot act I have to personally go into the bank with 2 forms of ID, one of them my social security number, and proof of address, so I have to wait til I get to the states. ..next problem the agency are going to be paying for our accomadation, so we will have no utility bills or the like to prove our address, and the only other permanent kind of address that we can get is a PO box number, but the banks dont accept that either. so my next move is to see if we can use the agency address and then bank online. I have heard of nurses on here who have said they still live in the uk and have accounts over here, and heres poor little me over here and still cant do it.

Much easier to do than that. When you get over here, you will have an address where you will be receiving your mail, etc. That is the address that will be listed on your driver's license, etc. You can use the same address for the bank account, the other piece of ID is just your passport. You just need to put in a change of address when you move on to your next place that you iwll call home.

Banks actually can use a PO Box number in most cases. For years, all of my banking was done with a po box, as that is how most businesses are run. PO box for the address on everything.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

hi suzanne, if we end up in nevada, I will arrive with my vi drivers licence with my st croix address on it, do we have to get a nevada licence if we are only there 13 weeks or do we change the address on it eachtime we go to a different state? we were under the impression that you only needed a licence for that state if you are going to become a resident,,ie longer than 90 days. BOA said that I would need proof of address to open the account such as a utility bill, I didnt think that they would be in my name, so I pointed that out and the only suggestion that she gave me was to ask the agency to use their address and then once the account is set up I could then use a po box and internet access.

but until I can physically go into the bank with the documents then I cannot open an account from here, still lots for us to learn when we get there as to how to be a traveller and not have a permanent address. applied for an american airlines credit card as that is who we use to fly from here and was told that I was eligible but because of the inconsistent mail service here, they wont give me one till I get to the states, but that defeats the object of having it while we were still on the island. plus they dont accept a po box number either to set it up. any info from you is appreciated...thanks

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Staff.

Hello everyone. Excellent thread (lengthy so I've not gotten through it all yet). But as I'm a US nurse looking to go to the UK, some of my own questions about the differences are coming to light (and this has been much of what I've been seeking without results until now). I hope you don't mind, I feel like I'm crashing a thread I don't belong in.

My search for employment and answers actually began with the NHS, so I'm a bit embarrassed about what I've read concerning US knowledge of other healthcare systems (I still have much to learn myself).

Questions for OG! Wales is one of my primary targets for employment. Any advice on which Welsh hospitals I might try to concentrate on? Looking mostly in the southerly regions like Gwent and Princess of Wales for example. Also, A&E is my specialty, but man it's hard to find job vacancies for it on the web. Able to shed any light on that or point me in a better direction? Any help would be grand. Thanks.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion