Checking In With Nurse Brennan: “Do I Have Enough Nursing Experience To Become A USRN?”
For Registered Nurses who have already looked into the process of becoming a USRN, you will know that a minimum of 12 months of experience is needed and is in fact an immigration requirement. There are many reasons why experience as a Registered Nurse is important, which includes:
The ability to fill an immediate employment need in the USA
Having the competence to complete the required tasks of a Registered Nurse
To ensure the successful transition to the USA when immigrating from another country to work as a Registered Nurse
To allow for successful placements of USRN applicants into positions that match their specialty and experience
To have a foundational knowledge and understanding of key concepts, tasks, and procedures
To have begun developing important critical thinking and decision making skills needed to provide safe and competent patient care
To have clinical practice and experience with commonly used machines, equipment, medications, etc.
To understand the flow of the medical system and the role of the Registered Nurse within the interdisciplinary team setting
To have demonstrated your ability to practice safely as a Registered Nurse, with no disciplinary action taken against you or your nursing license
While some Registered Nurses will understandably be eager to immigrate to the USA immediately upon graduating from a Bachelor of Nursing Degree program, it is important to understand that having experience as a Registered Nurse will ultimately improve your successful transition and career as a USRN when you do arrive in the USA.
When considering what type of experience will provide the most opportunities for USRN employment, I always recommend seeking experience in a high acuity or critical care setting. For example, experience in adult ICU, step-down, medical-surgical, telemetry, etc., in a large hospital (100+ beds), will provide you with exposure to learn more skills, see a variety of clinical patients, administer different types of medications, and develop strong critical thinking skills. This approach will better allow you to fill a greater number of USRN positions than having experience in a non-bedside role for example, given that the high majority of USRN positions are in fact bedside acute care roles.
While the immigration process can take as little as 9-18 months from the time you apply to arriving in the USA depending on the country of citizenship for the applicant, working as a Registered Nurse during this time will allow you to continue to develop important skills, expand on existing knowledge, and allow you to continue to gain experience as a Registered Nurse.
To ensure that Medliant sets both you and the hospitals that our Registered Nurses work at up for success, we require 12 months of experience in an acute care bedside role or in a dialysis setting, to apply. When you have close to 12 months of experience as a Registered Nurse you may apply to Medliant by emailing your resume to nursebrennan@medliant.com to begin your application. Following a successful interview, Medliant will then begin the process of assisting you in meeting all of the immigration requirements that are necessary, including offering NCLEX Sponsorship to pay for your NCLEX review and NCLEX exam.
