uk nurses who have come to the usa

cariad · Jul 23, 2005

hi, I did my cannulation course in the uk but had very little practice before I came, but they just let you go ahead and practice on the patients, the cannulation sets are different to what I was used to and even if I think that its going to be difficult theres always someone thats usually good at it who will do it for you. the american nurses learn to do it in their training, but even then either you are good at it or indifferent. some hospitals do have a team who do it for you but not here. you still didnt say how your interview went ????

christine

do you need to do an extra course to do cannulation or is the course done in the uk ok? over here its an extended role, ive just completed the course, just need to find willing people to practice on.

expatnurse · Jul 24, 2005

hi expat nurse...well how did the interview go? I presume that its the us where you are interviewing for? where I work the nurses put the iv access into the patients, and give all the iv drugs, antibiotics, pain meds and anything else that isneeded. nothing is iv pushed, on the floor its all put into 50ml or 100ml bags of saline and then piggybacked onto the main iv fluid line. if somebody has problems with getting iv access due to poor veins then they will get a central line put in, the doctors never even try to put the cannulas in like they did back home. its a skill that the hospital like you to have, but will help you if you have not got the competency to do it. we mix our own iv antibbiotics on the floor, but theres lots of us hospitals where the drugs come already pre-mixed, just ready to hang.
christine

I interviewed for job in UK I GOT IT!!!!:-)))))) :) It is very interesting to here that you mix your own antibbiotics. I haven't seen that done. I am now rereading my ICU, Pharm, and A&P like mad. I will start in Sept and be orintation for 3-4 months. I am so excited. I am so glad I am getting to right into the area I want to at the start. Thanks for the tips. Hope your having a super day. :balloons:

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2005

I interviewed for job in UK I GOT IT!!!!:-)))))) :) It is very interesting to here that you mix your own antibbiotics. I haven't seen that done. I am now rereading my ICU, Pharm, and A&P like mad. I will start in Sept and be orintation for 3-4 months. I am so excited. I am so glad I am getting to right into the area I want to at the start. Thanks for the tips. Hope your having a super day. :balloons:

Congratulation :balloons: Where will you be working ??

english_nurse · Jul 25, 2005

I interviewed for job in UK I GOT IT!!!!:-)))))) :) It is very interesting to here that you mix your own antibbiotics. I haven't seen that done. I am now rereading my ICU, Pharm, and A&P like mad. I will start in Sept and be orintation for 3-4 months. I am so excited. I am so glad I am getting to right into the area I want to at the start. Thanks for the tips. Hope your having a super day. :balloons:

congratulations! :balloons: was the interview hard? any tips for questions to ask when i eventually get one?

mixing antibiotics takes flipping ages sometimes, especially in winter when you have a ward full of 36 patients and nearly all of them have a nice yukky chest for which they need iv therapy.

expatnurse · Jul 29, 2005

Congratulation :balloons: Where will you be working ??

Addenbrook's Cambridge :balloons: :) :)

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2005

Addenbrook's Cambridge :balloons: :) :)

A colleguee of mine from work has got two interviews for that Hospital I have just written her reference for one of them which was for a research nurse not recieved the second application for reference yet so unsure where she'll be interview for. Jackie moved to Cambridge friday.

cariad · Aug 14, 2005

had a telephone call from a nurse who has relocated to california from here. she trained in jamaica with british influences. she was asking about the uk training regarding physical assessments, she said that they have a new male nurse just arrived from the uk, and is acting like he doesnt know that nurses use stethescopes to assess the patients, and document the findings. bowel sounds. lung and heart sounds are listened to. my friend is amazed at his attitude, she says that his orientation is going to take longer, and she didnt realize that it wasnt part of our daily patient care in the uk.

just to say to my uk friends that it is advantageous to start with the patients that you are taking care of in the uk to listen in and get used to listening. speak to doctors etc for advice and it will be easier when you finally get here.

you can even get a cd with sounds to listen for.

christine

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2005

Dunno if you UK nurses know that we have to have a negative heaf test prior to employment in US and then have to have it done yearly. Now you wouldn't think that was a problem except our government withdrew all the testing vaccines from the shelves due to some problem with the manufacturers and so it is practically impossible to get tested at the moment mY trust have said they may be able to start testing Oct but cannot let me know yet as they are waiting to see if they can get hold of supplies.

Apparently it is affecting everybody nationwide.

Anybody else heard of this??

Kay x

cariad · Aug 16, 2005

hi kay, before I left the uk, I went to occupational health, but my trust were only doing mantoux tests. checked with OGP who said to have it done and if employing hospital insisted to have the heaf done here. uk nurses can have positive test result as we usually have had a BCG in school. us nurses who have a positive result means usually that they have been exposed to TB, because they dont have the BCG routinely. I just had mine re-done here, and for me a positive test was acceptable.

christine

Silverdragon102, BSN · Aug 16, 2005

Dunno if you UK nurses know that we have to have a negative heaf test prior to employment in US and then have to have it done yearly. Now you wouldn't think that was a problem except our government withdrew all the testing vaccines from the shelves due to some problem with the manufacturers and so it is practically impossible to get tested at the moment mY trust have said they may be able to start testing Oct but cannot let me know yet as they are waiting to see if they can get hold of supplies.
Apparently it is affecting everybody nationwide.
Anybody else heard of this??
Kay x

Can't say I have heard of this, just that it would be mentioned at medical but would always have a positive test due to having BCG as a child

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2005

hi kay, before I left the uk, I went to occupational health, but my trust were only doing mantoux tests. checked with OGP who said to have it done and if employing hospital insisted to have the heaf done here. uk nurses can have positive test result as we usually have had a BCG in school. us nurses who have a positive result means usually that they have been exposed to TB, because they dont have the BCG routinely. I just had mine re-done here, and for me a positive test was acceptable.
christine

Apparently not doing anything at the moment because of this problem with the suppliers. :wink2:

jodyangel, RN · Aug 19, 2005

Nice to meet you cariad! My hubby is from Wales, moved here 3 years ago so your post caught my eye! He tells me the differances in UK nurses to USA nurses and I imagine its quite a feat learning how we do things differantly!

I work with several nurses, one from Canada and one from Africa who got their jobs at the hospital in exchange for their green card..so we encourage each other as I'm helping my hubby with his immigration.

Anyway..just wanted to say Hi!

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.