Michigan Board of Nursing
Changes Its Requirements of CGFNS Certification Program for
Internationally Educated Nurses
Michigan Board of Nursing does not require the CGFNS Certification Program Certificate for initial licensure for internationally educated Registered Nurses (RNs) in Michigan.
Michigan Board now requires the CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) Full Education Course-by-Course Report for internationally educated nurses.
Although the CGFNS Certification Program is no longer the requirement for RNs, the Michigan Board will continue to accept CGFNS Certificate as an alternative to the CES.
Michigan also requires English language proficiency for applicants who graduated from a nursing program that was taught in a language other than English. The CGFNS CES Report prepared for internationally educated RNs must be accompanied by the CGFNS English Language Proficiency Report.
For those nurses who are required to complete the English exams, Michigan will accept the same examinations and minimum passing scores as that for the Visa Screen.
NCLEX-RN EXAMINATIONS - INTERNATIONAL TESTING SITES
February 09, 2006. The national Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), www.ncsbn.org will begin NCLEX-RN testing at the newly selected international Pearson Professional centers on April 01, 2006. Appointments for testing will begin on February 15, 2006.
The new centers will be located in Sydney, Australia; Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, Canada; Frankfurt, Germany; Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai, India; Mexico City, Mexico; Chiyoda-ku, and Yokohoma, Japan; and Taipei, Taiwan. These sites are in addition to centers in London, England; Seoul, South Korea; and Hong Kong, which have been operational since January 2005.
Administration of the NCLEX-RN examination overseas does not contradict or circumvent any current board of nursing process or requirement. All international candidates are required to apply to the board of nursing in the state or territory where they wish to be licensed before registering for the NCLEX-RN examination. Candidates who elect to take the NCLEX-RN exam at an international site will pay an extra US$150.00 when scheduling the exam, in addition to the NCLEX-RN exam fee of US$200.00.
US Nurse Licensing Exam, NCLEX-RN Offerred in New International Locations.
January 24, 2006. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), www.ncsbn.org announced that it would expand international sites that offer the NCLEX-RN examinations to include countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan.
The exact test locations within each country, nor an implementation date have been announced.
In January 2005, NCSBN began offering NCLEX exam internationally, in London, England; Seoul, South Korea; and Hong Kong.
The End of Retrogression for Nurses and Physical Therapists
Agreement has been reached by the United States Congress to pick up the pace of the immigration for nurses and physical therapists to help alleviate the critical nursing and therapists shortage in the US hospitals and other health care facilities.
The law creates a special EB3 immigrant class for registered nurses and physical therapists. The special class exempts 50,000 immigrant visas from the general EB3 category and effectively ends retrogression for nurse and physical therapist for at least the next two or three years.
Registered nurses and physical therapists are the only shortage occupations designated by the U.S. Department of Labor. It is estimated that the number of vacancies for RNs in the U.S. could grow from the present shortage of over 100,000 to over 600,000 by 2020.
The Background: It takes years for U.S. health care providers to hire foreign-trained nurses. First, there is the long wait for Service Centers to approve the employer visa petitions, then another long wait at the National Visa Center. Foreign nurses must pass a licensing exam, NCLEX-RN, which was administered only in the US until recently. Starting 2005, these exams are also given in select centers in London, Hong Kong and Seoul. To qualify to take the RN exam, most foreign-trained nurses must also take a CGFNS qualifying examination, pass exams for English proficiency, and obtain a VisaScreen Certificate. Finally, the nurses must meet all the US Visa requirements such as medical exams, police and security clearances, and a personal interview by the US Embassy or Consulate abroad. In January 1, 2005, the waiting time for the employment-based third preference category (EB-3) backlogged three years for RNs born in the Philippines, India and China.
The three plus years of waiting to prompted hospitals, and other health care providers to pursue Congress for an immediate remedy. Congress passed a law to "recapture" 50,000 green cards that were not issued before and allocate them to registered nurses, physical therapists and their spouses and unmarried minor children. President Bush is expected to sign this bill (H.R.1268) into law within the next few days.
The effect of this new law is that the 50,000 new green cards should insure a steady supply of RNs and PTs for the next three to four years. It may take the Departments of State and Homeland Security several weeks to apply the law. It is anticipated that the retrogression will be effectively lifted for EB3 Schedule A occupations by July of 2005.
Senate Passess Amendment to Address Nurse Visa Problem.
April 19, 2005In a move designed to help address the nation’s nursing shortages, the Senate today agreed to allow more Filipino, Indian, and Chinese registered nurses to work in the U.S. The Senate adopted an amendment to a Department of Defense supplemental appropriations bill that lets the government reclaim half of the assigned visas left unfilled from other countries during the past four years and reassign them to the Philippines, India, and China, which have exceeded their annual quotas. The amendment was sponsored by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Ted Kennedy, D-MA. Reassigning “50% of the unused [employment-based] visas can help resolve our serious nursing shortage,” Hutchison said. The Senate is expected to complete action on the bill tomorrow, setting up a conference for as soon as next week with the House on the supplemental funding bill. The House version does not include the overseas RN visa provision.
US Nursing Shortage
With the U.S. facing a projected shortage of 600,000 nurses by 2020 a cutback in the supply of Filipino and Indian RNs takes on added significance. And the cutback in visas follows a recent report by prominent health care researcher Peter Buerhaus that shows American hospitals increasingly rely on foreign-born RNs. The number of foreign RNs working in the U.S. rose by 12.5% during the past two, accounting for nearly one-third of the total growth of RN employment in the U.S. nurse labor market.
