US Citizen, thinking of foreign nursing route... no dice?

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Got a query here that I need to have fleshed out by those that are in the know. Can't seem to find any good definitive answers or opinions so here I go.

Backstory: I have tried several times to get into nursing school at the local JC in my home state of California and have been turned down each time. Made the GPA cut, have the work experience, passed the TEAS with an 87, have a biology degree, etc and no dice. Been very discouraging.

Current situation: Took a trip to Europe to find/discover extended family and am stoked to have found a bunch of them in both Italy and Ukraine that I love with some more in France and Germany that I have yet to meet. While here I have given thought to maybe going to school in Europe and that seems like a real possibility. Salerno has the oldest medical school in the world and Ternopil in Ukraine has an extremely good price on nursing school with an advertised pathway to passing the NCLEX. As a plus, these schools are all taught in English, though I do desire to learn Ukrainian and Italian.

Questions:

1) Am I crazy for thinking about being a US citizen with a foreign nursing education or should I go back home and keep trying to get into nursing school?

2) Is it difficult for foreign-trained nurses to find jobs in the USA, even with citizenship?

3) Once I pass the NCLEX, does the whole "foreign-trained" thing even really matter?

4) Are there limitations on which states I can practice in?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Better to train in the country you plan on living and working in.

If planning on staying in CA when you graduate then most foreign trained nurses have issues registering with CA. You will need to make sure your transcripts contain what CA require.

CA is a hard market to get into never mind training outside of CA or the country

If endorsing then being foreign trained can still come into play depending on requirements of state

As long as you meet state requirements there is no limit.

Moved to the International Nursing forum. Suggest reading the Nurse Registration forum

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Why not just move within the US to gain entry?

I agree that you should train in the country you plan to work.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Ternopol lies. It is known for quite a while now - what they teach there has nothing at all to do with NCLEX.

Otherwise, getting any profession requiring professional licensure in a contry other than the one would like to live and practice is a bad idea. At the best, it significantly decreases degree "value" and makes employment search difficult.

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Well, nuts. That sort of solves that issue I suppose.

Thanks all!

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