In my last article with TGN, I explained the general process of getting licensed in the UK to work as an international nurse. In this article, I’d like to elaborate a bit more on the paperwork side of things. This might sound boring and tedious (it is), but it is important and is a huge part of the process for getting licensed.
Becoming an International Nurse in the UK- Licensing
The NMC website:
Everything you will need to do is on your application page on the NMC website. The problem is, not all of it is as straightforward as it could be. At this point, you should have at least started an application so you can see all your empty checkmarks – these will turn green as you submit your tasks.
First word of warning, just because the box gets a green check mark doesn’t mean it will stay green. The NMC has to review all of your submitted paperwork, and if anything is not up to par or not what they want, they will change the checkmark back to an empty box. Usually, they will email you with an explanation for this and ask you to resubmit. You can see how mine looked right before getting my nursing PIN in the photo below.
Hypothetically, let’s say you’ve started your application and are figuring out what you need to submit first. In order to continue on and take your CBT, there are some things that have to be done first. If you don’t know what the CBT is, I recommend reading this article to get a better understanding of things before you continue reading here.
The next step will be getting verified by a third party. This basically proves to the NMC that you do, in fact, have a license to practice as a nurse in the US. This is a tricky one, I won’t lie. I emailed the Iowa Board of Nursing (my initial licensing state) and waited to get in touch with the right person. It took weeks to figure out what I could do to make it work. So, in the interest of saving you time and energy (and maybe a few gray hairs!), here’s what ended up working for me in the end.
Go to the Nursys website, and fill in the information to get a report of your license verification. Save it as a PDF and send it via email to the NMC, including your full name, date of birth, and PRN. This is your temporary PIN for your nursing license, which is located at the top of the NMC application page. The email you can send this to is overseas.enquiries@nmc-uk.org. Also, explain that this form is your third-party verification.
Warning number 2: The NMC is notorious for taking 10-14 business days or longer to respond to emails and get through certain information. This is one of the worst parts of the licensing process, and it’s completely out of your hands. Hang in there!
School Details
They will also ask you to give your school details, where you got your degree, and the timing of starting and finishing your degree. This requires you to contact the school to let them know that you are trying to get your registration in another country. Although above I said you don’t need to contact your board of nursing for third-party verification, it is a good idea to email them about your plans to get registration in the UK as well.
So, a week or two after sending that PDF, I got an email to sign up for the CBT at a Pearson testing center. You can take this exam at any testing center you want. Once you sign up for, study, take, and pass that exam, you’re ready for the OSCE! The CBT results are good for 2 years. After that, you have to retake the exam, so make sure you’re on track to get to the UK before that point.
Once you have the green tick for your CBT (meaning you uploaded the paperwork showing you passed), you can start doing the other things. Yes, it’s more paperwork! The first thing I’d recommend doing is submitting the second payment to the NMC of £153. That’s what it cost when I paid it – I can’t guarantee that is still correct. Underneath the payment, you’ll see a few more empty tick boxes. I’m going to get into those a lot in my next article in an effort not to overwhelm you in this one post.
Watch for Part 3 of Becoming an International Nurse in the UK!
Tune in next month to get the rest of the scoop on the paperwork side of getting your nursing license in the UK. It’s the last push towards officially being a real international nurse! In the meantime, if you have any pressing questions or need clarifications, please contact me via instagram or email: @thetravelingsopha or thetravelingsopha@gmail.com. In the meantime, I hope this article helps guide you on your journey to becoming an international nurse!
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