US RN looking to work in UK -- ER

GrumpyRN, NP · Dec 5, 2017

You are asking a lot of questions that are difficult to answer. ED's or A&E's (NOT ER) differ in themselves. Some will give you more than others. Insertion of IV's and Foleys should be standard but it is extremely unlikely you would run a code unless you are in some small cottage hospital. You can still be ALS qualified and assist with this. Remember, you would be the junior nurse so would have staff above you.

What do you mean by "advanced medication?" You give what is prescribed.

How do A&E's differ from US? Don't know, never worked in the US. Someone on this site may hep you with that. I only have what I see on TV and that tends to get my blood pressure raised due to the usual 'physician as nurse' nonsense and the way that doctors talk to nurses on TV programmes.

The autonomy you get will depend on the senior medical/nursing staff - I was an ENP and had complete autonomy but my colleagues had to go with what was prescribed by medical staff - ie, a doctor would say this patient is for wound dressing but it is usually the nurses decision what dressing is used. Wound suturing again depends on place. Nurses can suture but a lot of them don't.

Just as a difference that springs to mind, you will not need a stethoscope in UK ED. Nurses do not sound chests unless they are advanced practitioners

You won't have much to do with phlebotomist's - do your own bloods.

Respiratory therapists don't exist - they are called physiotherapists. They tend to be utilised on the wards as you should not need them in ED. You look after your own ventilated patients until you hand them over at theatre or ICU.

Patient-care technicians??? Whats that? Again you look after your own patients.

Pharmacy will probably not have a great input into ED on a daily basis.

Pay is what it is. As a staff nurse you are paid at Band 5. All staff nurses are paid at Band 5 no matter where they are. Working in ED, ICU are not seen as specialist unless you have a specialist qualification/role. Then you can move up the bands. Charge nurses tend to be band 6. There is no point whatsoever looking at US salaries and trying to do a direct comparison. Costs are different. Approximately 1 third of your salary goes to tax and national insurance but health care is free at the point of use.

4 hour target in ED - 95% of patients discharged or admitted within 4 hours of attending ED. Very few ED's meet this. I was lucky enough to have worked in an ED that met the old 98% target.

Finally, and most importantly, can you work in the UK? Do you have the qualifications, hours etc to get an NMC PIN number?

This forum is full of foreign nurse who are trying to do that. It takes time and money and you have to pass an assessment.

Good luck.

Extra Pickles · Dec 12, 2017

Grumpy I am personally not looking to be a nurse in the UK but I found this a very interesting and informative read! Thank you for posting it.

skylark, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2017

Just wanted to add another few thoughts to Grumpy's excellent comments.

Wound care - in the UK its the nurses domain. Doctors don't do wound care. You will be expected to know the different dressing categories and when to use them, and don't even think about trying that darned WTD gauze if you want to keep your licence! You will usually do plaster casting as well, although the bigger A&Es do have technicians for this during the daytime.

Suturing is usually a nursing role as well, although most A&Es will have protocols where certain wounds, (mostly facial) get referred on to Plastics for suturing. But the majority of A&E suturing is done by nurses.

And there are no respiratory therapists, you will set up your own CPAP and BiPAP, and work with the docs on RSIs.

As Grumpy mentioned, the 4 hour rule prevails and sets the pace. You will get into a rhythm, patients are triaged within 15 minutes, including labs and EKG, then seen by a doc within the hour. At 2 hours all results are in and they are reviewed. By 3 hours you should be getting a decision on discharge v admit, and they need to be gone by 4 hours.

There have been several A&E closures in recent years, which means that the ones that still exist have far higher census numbers. Its not unusual anymore for departments to see several hundred patients each day, when they might only have seen 200 a decade ago.

Nursing is a lot more 'hands-on' in the UK, and you will be changing diapers for incontinent patients, and helping to feed those that need it. Body fluid spills are cleaned up by nurses, and you will work as a team player, doing whatever is needed to keep the department moving. This might include pushing carts to xray, (they are called trolleys, btw) or emptying linen bags, or running to pharmacy. You work far more as a team, so when you coworker receives a new patient, you all dive in! One does the triage, another does the EKG and another does the labs, so that everything is done in the 15 minutes.

GrumpyRN, NP · Dec 31, 2017

Yep, what skylark said. :yes: :up:

Wuzzie · Dec 31, 2017

Just as a difference that springs to mind, you will not need a stethoscope in UK ED. Nurses do not sound chests unless they are advanced.

Grumpy, Very interesting synopsis but I have a question. In the US we use a stethoscope for more than "sounding chests". We also listen to heart tones and bowel sounds. It is part of our regular nursing assessment. We also use them to check blood pressures when a machine is not available or appropriate. How do nurses in the U.K. assess these things or is that not part of your duties?

GrumpyRN, NP · Jan 1, 2018

Simple answer is, they don't.

Listening to bowels sounds, heart sounds and chest sounds are all medical tasks. It is not part of the nursing assessment.

If you are an advanced practitioner you may listen if it is part of your role.

As an example; I was an ENP and listened to airway sounds for chest wall trauma but totally uninterested in listening to anything else.

Using a stethescope to listen to BP - yes, although I wonder if this is still taught as the students coming through us did not seem to know about it.

Would add, if ALS, TNCC, ATLS qualified part of that training was to listen for air entry.

Hope that makes things clearer.

Wuzzie · Jan 1, 2018

Simple answer is, they don't.
Listening to bowels sounds, heart sounds and chest sounds are all medical tasks. It is not part of the nursing assessment.
If you are an advanced practitioner you may listen if it is part of your role.
As an example; I was an ENP and listened to airway sounds for chest wall trauma but totally uninterested in listening to anything else.
Using a stethescope to listen to BP - yes, although I wonder if this is still taught as the students coming through us did not seem to know about it.
Would add, if ALS, TNCC, ATLS qualified part of that training was to listen for air entry.
Hope that makes things clearer.

Thank you! Hearing about how nursing is across the pond is fascinating.

kaitfinder, BSN, RN · Jan 5, 2018

Thanks for the information, it was very helpful! It's sometimes difficult to collate all of the information out there about nursing in various countries. What you've mentioned seems to be exactly on par with what's expected of nurses in the U.S. (at least in the ED I currently work in) with the exception of suturing, which is strictly a skill performed by doctors in the U.S.

Another question for you, if you've the time: would you happen to know anything about the process of a foreign-prepared nurse getting hired in the U.K.? From what I've seen it seems there are two routes; getting hired through an agency/travel company or getting hired and sponsored by a hospital in the U.K. directly. I'm undecided (given the fact that I know little) about which path would be best to pursue, as there seem to be few reputable travel agencies and I'm not sure how I'd best go about trying to contact a hospital directly.

In any case, thanks for your (and everyone's!) help/advice thus far!

GrumpyRN, NP · Jan 5, 2018

Sorry, I can't help you I'm afraid but lots of people on Allnurses can.

Go to "World Nursing" (you are here already).

Go to "International Nursing" and "Nurse Registration" forums.

You will (hopefully) find everything you need to know.

Edited to add; You may even find information on the UK forum.

Again, Good Luck.

Extra Pickles · Jan 6, 2018

So many differences in nursing! Although I would have expected significant differences between the US and some other country's, I had no idea that the UK would be so very different from us. Interesting indeed!

Gus_RN · Feb 13, 2018

This site has a lot of information including agencies other than Continental Travel Nurse - travel nurse overseas – Nursing Across the Pond

- which is the one most people are aware for US nurses looking to travel nurse to the UK. Also, from what I understand of the process, you need to be prepared to live over there for at least 30 days without a job while you take a class or a test or finish the process of getting licensed. I know it's changed recently but I'm still under the impression there's hoops to jump through once you get there and you don't get to work right away unless it's as a CNA (I don't know if they're called CNA's over there, just using the US terminology).

There's also a facebook page for US nurses interested in working in the UK - they address getting two year work Visas.

You have to have a job (a sponsor) before you go. You have to take an english (IELTS) as part of the Visa application process. I know with Continental you live with roommates (up to 4 other nurses) and pay part of your housing. It takes approximately 6 months to complete the process of getting everything done.

I keep thinking about it but not sure I want to afford the paycut even for the opportunity.

If you do it - please post about your experiences!