Expert: Alex Woodruff RN, BSc - 2/8/2012

Question
Hi Alex,

Wonder if you could help me.

I am training to be a pediatric nurse in Scotland (only 16 months left!) I have wanted to move to America for so long and so has my boyfriend. So I started to look into requirements for moving to California as a nurse and was worried when I discovered that you have to be a RN(guessing this is a general RN?)to qualify.
The NCLEX Exam is not worrying me as i knew this was a requirement but the general RN is. Will I have to convert to adult nursing? I think i would struggle with this as i am very passionate about pediatrics.

Have you got any information or advice that would help me?

Danielle

Answer
Hello Danielle,

Thanks for addressing this question to me, I will answer it to the best of my ability.

Here in the US there is no single registration so the RN here is a general RN, on paper at least. As an RN you can work wherever you would like, so paedaitrics (or pediatrics as you will soon be spelling it) can still be your specialty.

However, in order to get a US license you must pass the NCLEX exam, which tests the nurse in all areas of nursing. You will need to learn these other areas to pass and gain a license. See this page for more info: https://www.ncsbn.org/nclex.htm

This general RN exam has an impact on the way that nurses are recruited in the UK. Most agencies will now ask for an adult license in order to process your paperwork. Is it absolutely necessary? No. Can you get around it? That very much depends on the relationship you build with your recruiter.

However, two things you need to be aware of - (i) the NCLEX covers much more than paediatrics and you have to be proficient in every area, and (ii) your training transcripts will be inspected to ensure that you have completed enough theory and practical hours in these other areas of nursing before you will be accepted for the NCLEX exam.

There are a couple of areas that you need to research, and a couple of questions that you need to address:

1) Do you have a specific hospital in mind that you want to work for? If so, it might be worth approaching the recruiters/HR dept at that hospital and see if they will sponsor you to work for them. If they will then they may accept your paediatric training as it stands. You will, of course, still have to complete the NCLEX, but may be able to avoid transferring off the paediatric course you are currently studying.

2) If you want an agency to facilitate your move across the pond then you may just need to do what is necessary to make your application successful - in this case switch to an adult course.
You could always move into paediatric nursing when you get to California, the RN license allows you to do that here. Here is something to keep in mind... not all agencies have contracts with every hospital - it may be worth investigating which hospitals your company has contracts with. Just prior to moving here I discovered that my company only had contracts with 2 hospitals in the whole of the US. Make sure you will actually be able to get to California before you sign anything.


Head over to www.allnurses.com and take a look through the forums. There is an international forum (http://allnurses.com/international-nursing/) - there is a lot of info that can be found here. Look out for the posts by madwife and suzanne4... they know what they are talking about.

If I can be of further help please do not hesitate to follow up with me.

Please give me some feedback using the allexperts.com feedback page so that I know where to improve my responses.

Thank you.