Jumbo All! (My new Swahili term I've picked up while away)
It has been a wonderful 6 weeks away but now I have returned to London with a filled passport and a lot less money. Summiting Kilimanjaro and adventuring through Africa was well worth it though.
Two weeks before returning, my agency offered me the same job I had on Beach ward before I left so I am back in action with all of my old work mates. Good thing is, my next big adventure isn't until December and my passport has officially been collected by the USA embassy in order to get an early renewal. So it looks like I will not be leaving the UK for a few weeks!
I have to say it is good to be back in London. For some reason this city keeps pulling me back in. I will be coming back to the states for a month over Christmas and I am not sure how I will handle this. On one hand it'll be good to see the family, and on the other Louisiana feels like it suffocates me. I know some of you feel the same way or you wouldn't consider moving to the UK in the first place!
One of the questions from the blog was about male nurses and how they are treated. Surprisingly on my ward there are no male nurses. I am not sure if it is the area but on my last pediatric ward in the states I only had one male nurse that I worked with. Don't worry though, they are here. Mostly in ER, ICU, and I've seen quite a few on the general surgical wards. Since I don't work with any, I am not sure exactly how they are treated or how they find it. What I can do is ask one of the guys from the agency how he finds nursing here. From an outward glance they blend right in as nurses who are getting on with their job, but I know there is no way to tell for sure until you ask.
Since I have lots more time to post (now that I'm passportless) I promise to be much better about answering any questions you have! Please ask away and I'll post back in a timely manner!
Asanti Sana! (sorry, I'm getting carried away with the Swahili)
Hi Anne! Just wanted to say how much i LOVE your blog. I'm a nursing student in California and have been looking into nursing abroad. (I caught the travel bug young, actually just got back from Kenya a couple months ago, so I'm loving your Swahili!) I've been looking into moving to London at some point, I have a lot of family there, but I've always been told London was too expensive to live in, especially since nurses tend to make less in the UK. But from your blog it seems like you've still been able to do quite a bit of traveling and have some AMAZING adventures! Do you think your current salary is enough to keep you going as well as saving for those trips? I actually have quite a few questions about your journey, so if you ever get the chance (or time), I'd love to send you an e-mail! Mine is bethanmaygeorge@yahoo.com and again, thank you so much for your blog! It's already given me some great information!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bethan! It is absolutely possible to make it work! I will post a blog with how my friends and I are making it happen! Loads of my friends ask me this exact question.
DeleteI am such a huge fan of this blog, and am so glad you have had a chance to update! I'm into my senior year of my BSN program and have already gotten in touch with Continental Travel; considering my still just a student, they were incredibly helpful in answering the questions I have. I realize it will still be a few years before I can make my dream move to England happen, but all of this planning in advance will be well worth it! Feel free to drop me an email any time; nursepaige2014@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you! Happy travels!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelsie! Keep at it. The process is long and can be difficult but it is worth every second.
DeleteIam a big fan of your blog,sounds like your having a blast in the UK! Ive started the process november 2012, did the english exam, the applications and all the additional documentation the NMC required. I currently reside in the UK (came over for my husbands work)
ReplyDeleteThis week i received a decision letter from the NMC......they rejected my application based on shortage of hours!!! Aaaaaahhhhh im about to loose it... after all the time and effort, not to mention waiting around for a full year i am no closer to getting registered in the UK.
I got my BSN in Houston Texas and have over a year work experience on a leukemia ward. Yet they came back and said that i had a shortage in hours both in theory and clinical area, how is this possible?
You got your nursing degree in Texas as well right? How were your university credits converted to hours? What formula did your university use to convert credits to hours? When my BSN was converted to hrs my university came up with a total of 637 didactic hrs and 877 clinical hrs. Iam so upset and its starting to look like our stay in the UK will be short lived. Iam so eager to start work again,iam qualified and there is a big shortage of nurses in the UK so i just dont get it.
Not sure what to do next..........any advice is greatly appreciated
Dee, this is actually a very common thing that happens with the NMC. IT is incredibly frustrating since our BSN training far outweighs the England training. I got my BSN in Louisiana but a BSN would have the same number of hours or similar.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did was convert all of my hours myself, starting from freshman year. It was painstaking and exhausting but I counted up hours I spent in class + clinical week by week and had a total for each semester under each one. I even estimated time spent in the lab and working on projects. I was actually still short on hours according to the NMC but Continental challenged them and they ended up accepting.
Are you going through a nursing agency to help with your licensure?
Hi! Love the blog! When you say you started from freshman year, did you count all of the pre requisites that led up to nursing school as well? Did you have to get it approved from your school?
ReplyDelete