Several things nurses migrating to the USA from the Caribbean need to know, written by an immigrant nurse from Santa Lucia

 

Firstly, you could get very lonely. While there is a difference between being alone and being lonely, many nurses from the Caribbean report feeling lonely after migrating to the USA. I do not think that this applies only to single people or those without family in America. I believe it is because people in the US and US culture are so vastly different from people and cultures in the Caribbean. 

 

Fortunately, nursing is nursing everywhere but, even though nursing does have some universal aspects there are even more aspects of nursing that are heavily influenced by location and culture. No matter where you go in our world you always take a picture of vitals for certain disease processes, but the details are often quite different. 

      

In the beginning, things are going to be rough. It is not like a fairy tale, so it is going to be hard and tough. So, take care of yourself, save your money, and invest properly. Consult widely before making any investments in order not to lose your money.​ Make use of the opportunities, be smart about the choices because America is like a shiny bubble but on better scrutiny, it has more than meets the eye. The opportunities in the USA are endless. 

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US Nursing Vs. Caribbean Nursing | What to expect working in the US

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The very first change to get used to is the fact that you only get 30 minutes for a break on a 12-hour shift. In Saint Lucia, nurses are entitled to two hours of rest on a 12-hour shift compared to 30 minutes of break in the U.S so this was quite a shock and required adjustment.

 

Another difference was the uniform. In the Caribbean, muftis are worn, which is regular clothing, while going to work before changing to the nursing uniform. However, here in the USA, you go to work with your scrubs on. Our uniform for the pediatric hospital where I work is t-shirts as we are children friendly. So, there are a lot of people wearing shirts with cartoon characters which children love, thus making the environment increasingly child friendly. This was an adjustment because nurses, especially in the Caribbean, always wear white.

 

The system for clocking in was also different. The clocking in system in Saint Lucia was pen and paper, so you manually wrote the time you got to work and when you left. Here, the process is automated. Other differences that were really a breath of fresh air include the nurse-to-patient ratio which s quite low. Also, drug administration is done via barcode to reduce mistakes drastically. Patient documentation is easy to manage because everything in the US is computerized so there are fewer mix ups.