US makes room for Indian nurses

Date: Monday, April 14, 2003 3:16 PM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

This IndiaTimes article has some good news for foreign nurses that
don't know how to speak very good English. There are now more tests
they can take so passing is easier than ever!

For a nurse to get an H-1B visa, they must be an RN, or have equivalent
experience (whatever that means). A new bill is in Congress called the
"Rural and Urban Health Care Act of 2003: H.R. 87, or H-1C for short.
That bill will allow foreign nurses to practice in the US and all they
have to do is pass an English proficiency test before they are allowed
to get a visa. It's not clear if this article is referring to H-1C but
it's reasonable to assume that.

The House of Tutors at http://www.houseoftutors.com/nurse.html say they
are authorized by the US INS to to prepare nursing exams in order to
work in the USA. They also train foreign nurses in English. Here is a
list of skills that they feel are important for nurses to learn before
they get their visa:

* Accent Reduction
* American Corporate Culture
* Presentation Skills
* American Medical Culture
* Standard Written English
* Gestures and Body Language

That last item is especially important. Gestures and body language are
very important for nurses!

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=40898885

The Economic Times Online

US makes room for more Indian nurses

URMI A GOSWAMI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2003 02:40:24 AM ]

NEW DELHI: The US, facing a severe shortage of nurses, has taken
measures to make it easier for a larger number of Indian and foreign
nurses to work in the country.

In its most recent effort, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign

Nursing Schools (CGFNS) has increased the English testing options for
foreign workers. For foreign nurses to work in the US they are
required by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) to establish proficiency in the English language.
Without passing the test for proficiency in English, foreign healthcare
workers cannot apply for the CGFNS certification programme or for a
visa credential assessment programme. In response to the mounting
shortage of trained nurses, CGFNS begun an attempt to identify other
nationally recognised, commercially available standardised assessments
of English language skills.

Till March 3, 03, there was only one organisation, the Educational
Testing Service (ETS), who could meet this requirement. ETS administers
the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Test of Written
English (TWE) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE).

To ensure that greater numbers of foreign nationals can apply to work
in the US, the CGFN has increased the number of approved tests. These
include the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC),
administered by the Chauncey Group, USA; and the International English
Language Testing System (IELTS), administered by Cambridge ESOL
Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education Australia.

It is believed that expanding the choice of English testing options
would not merely increase access and availability to English
proficiency tests for foreign healthcare workers, but also expedite
certification and screening for the successful candidates.

This would ensure that the severe nurses shortage the US is facing
is filled quicker than it would have been otherwise.

Over the last few months, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
Services, BCIS, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization
Services, has taken several steps to ease the entry of foreign nurses.

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