How New Graduate Registered Nurses Can Prepare To Become A Medliant USRN!
First off, congratulations on graduating with your Bachelor of Nursing Degree, which is a requirement for US immigration as an international Registered Nurse! You have already completed the most challenging step in your journey to become a USRN and you should be very proud of this accomplishment! As a new graduate Registered Nurse aspiring to immigrate to the USA, there are a few important things that you can do that will help you become a USRN as quickly as possible! Here are my 5 Tips to help new graduate Registered Nurses prepare to become a Medliant USRN:
Tip #1: Get 12 Months of Full-Time Acute Care Bedside Experience in a Hospital with 100+ Beds
As a new graduate Registered Nurse, the learning never stops as you will quickly learn in the clinical setting! I often have nurses ask me, what type of experience should I get? The answer is simply “get as acute of nursing care experience as possible in the largest hospital possible.” The reason for needing to get experience in an acute care setting (preferably adult ICU, which is the best experience that you can get), is that it allows you to develop strong clinical skills, master critical thinking, discover how to care for trauma and critically ill patients, and build strong assessment skills that will make you a valuable and attractive employee to hospitals across the USA! As for getting experience in a large hospital with at least 100+ beds, we know that the larger the hospital the more diverse the patient populations and learning experiences typically are. Thus nurses who tend to work in larger hospitals will often be exposed to a wider range of patient diagnoses, as well as learning and clinical opportunities.
Tip #2: Acquire Your ATT and Take the NCLEX-RN Exam
To acquire your ATT or Authorization to Take the Test (NCLEX-RN Exam), you will need to request this from the BON or regulatory body of nursing that you are initially licensed in. Once you are granted ATT you can go to the Pearson Vue website, register and pay for the exam, and schedule the exam at any Pearson Vue Testing Centre across the world.
My advice is that when you plan to take the NCLEX-RN exam, that you do so by applying for a "Licensure through Examination" in a US State, so that once you successfully pass the NCLEX-RN Exam you will be granted a US State nursing license! In regards to which US State to apply for, Medliant often places a high number of Registered Nurses in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New York, California, Illinois, Louisiana, and Tennessee, among others, therefore I would recommend any of those! The NCLEX-RN Exam does not expire, thus you will not need to take it again once you have passed it once!
Tip #3: Take Your Academic IELTS or TOEFL English Assessment
I recommend taking your English Assessment AFTER you pass the NCLEX-RN Exam and the reason for this, is that the Academic IELTS expires after 2 years and the NCLEX-RN exam does not expire. If for whatever reason, your NCLEX-RN exam is delayed or you need to retake it, you won't need to worry about having to retake the English Assessment due to it expiring. You should however, prepare for the English Assessment and can find many free resources online (we have featured some of these resources in a previous Medliant Blog Post). The most common and widely accepted English Assessment is the Academic IELTS, which is what Medliant recommends taking. TOEFL is also accepted. General IELTS or OET is not accepted by CGFNS for the US VisaScreen Certificate, regardless if certain US States will accept it for a nursing license. To get your US CGFNS VisaScreen Certificate you will need to pass either the Academic IELTS or the TOEFL English Assessment.
Tip #4: Apply for Your US CGFNS VisaScreen Certificate
The US CGFNS VisaScreen Certificate is a mandatory document that is needed for all international Registered Nurses to immigrate to the USA to prove that your education, nursing license(s), English skills, and NCLEX-RN results are all completed and equivalent to the US standards for Registered Nurses who are educated in America. This document can take 3-6 months to acquire, which is why I recommend beginning this process while you get your first 12 months of experience as a full-time Registered Nurse.
Tip #5: Reach Out to Medliant International Healthcare Staffing Once You Have 12 Months of Full-Time Registered Nurse Employment Experience
Under US immigration requirements, international Registered Nurses must have full-time working experience prior to being able to immigrate to the USA. Once you have approximately 12 months of current full-time acute care bedside experience as a Registered Nurse in a hospital with 100+ beds, you can apply to Medliant International Healthcare Staffing! Once you complete your NCLEX-RN Exam and English Assessment Medliant will offer you Premium Visa Processing, which can expedite your Employment Based Green Card Visa, saving you 5-7+ months! Medliant is one of the ONLY agencies that offers Premium Visa Processing!
Ready to apply? If you are ready to begin your application to become a US Registered Nurse with Medliant International Healthcare Staffing please reach out to us on our Medliant Website, Facebook (Medliant International Healthcare Staffing), or Instagram (@medliant).
You can also email your resume to nursebrennan@medliant.com to start your application. Let Medliant help you begin making your American Dream come true today!
