US Nurse Heading for England

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm an American and I am going to move to London in March. I'm going to work for the NHS in an ICU. I know there are a lot of UK nurses who visit this site, so I'm soliciting your input. I'm really exicted about the whole thing and it's all about the experience of living and working in another country. I love London and can't believe what a great opportunity this will be. What do you think I need to know? Cheers!

To curtsy to the Queen is most certainly correct, whatever one's nationality. It is a sign of courtesy which one can extend or not.

It is no longer obligatory for a British Subject to curtsy, but I think most of us do.

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Originally posted by donmurray

LOL! And you don't wrap your arm around her like a certain Aussie!

LOL Can't take an Aussie Prime Minister anywhere:imbar :D

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Originally posted by Huq

To curtsy to the Queen is most certainly correct, whatever one's nationality. It is a sign of courtesy which one can extend or not.

It is no longer obligatory for a British Subject to curtsy, but I think most of us do.

Yeah, I knew someone was going to argue with me about this. ;)
Royal personages are like any other personages, only more regal. Their perogatives include being called charming when they are civil, witty when they are pleasant, handsome when they are presentable, and astute when they are informed. They are entitled, by heredity and custom, if not by divine right, to have all their weddings referred to internationally as storybook romances, and all public meals in which they participate as feasts fit for a king.

They do not, however, have the right to receive physical obeisance from American citizens. Miss Manners has had to issue the decree many times now that American ladies should not curtsy to royalty, and there are still those who do so at every available opportunity. They are in error, not only in the matter of world etiquette, but of geography....and history.

How, then, do we Americans treat royalty? With the dignity and respect we naturally show to heads of state and other foreign officials. Our traditional form of greeting is to shake the hand. This gesture is not interchangeable with the curtsy.--Judith Martin, Miss Manners' Guide To Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, c. 1983.

It is courteous for a British or Commonwealth citizen to curtsy to the Queen. It is rather gauche for an American to do so--to ANY foreign royalty. There's a lot more on this in the book quoted above, so I trimmed it down; but Martin includes a quote from Queen Victoria to a visiting American: "You need not curtsy."
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stargazer.

" Yeah, I knew someone was going to argue with me about this"

Argue with you? Certainly not my intention. I simply added my opinion to an open discussion.

I reiterate, a curtsy is a form of respect and is no more a physical obeisance than a handshake. Can we not accept different cultures and customs in a friendly way?

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Something wrong with the way we speak over here,Sjoe??!!!

:wink2:

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Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

aye--yep. I often can not understand what you are saying. At least when you write, all I have to do is ignore all the extra "u"s and figure out what "real" word was intended.

You'll be getting some new, more colorful money one of these days, I understand?

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Originally posted by donmurray

LOL! And you don't wrap your arm around her like a certain Aussie!

Soooo..

Is a high five and a head butt OK? Followed by the bootie dance?(Probably been watching way too much football today.)

Kevin

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Kevin.

Any form of greeting is O K with me as long as it is sincere.

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Hi,

For the person who started this thread or anyone else with experience: When you emigrate to the UK to work, do you get an EU work permit? I know it is very hard to get jobs in the EU if you don't have a work permit. I would love to get one!

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Specializes in Psych.

You have to be an RN to be registered in the UK. a work permit must be applied for by the employer and is only good for that employer. Should I evver meet the queen I will most certainly not say "Hey Lizzie, whassup?"

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LMAO

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Have a wonderful experience and do keep us updated...it is certainly fun to visit and work within another culture...even if it's similar to ours it will be lots of fun for you!

My best friend is a nurse originally from the Sussex area and I have such fun hearing her stories of nursing over 'across the pond' in her younger days.

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