Irish citizens in nine healthcare professions can work in the United States by applying to Ireland’s Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, which has a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This Irish organization says it is the leading group for credentials evaluation for Irish nurses and other healthcare professionals seeking occupational visas to work in the U.S.
In addition to registered nurses, the other eight professions are licensed practical nurses or LPNs, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physician assistants, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, clinical laboratory technicians, and clinical laboratory scientists.
Nurses trained in Ireland applying to positions in the United States do not have to sit for an English proficiency exam if their nursing program is taught in English.
By way of guidance, the commission points out to applicants that states with large Irish communities are New York, Massachusetts, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois.
However, the United States ranked third as a foreign destination emigration destination in an October 2016 story in the Irish Times that used data from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The United States had only 98 applicants through October of that year, well below the 420 for Australia and 385 for the United Kingdom.
Just below the United States were 96 applications for the United Arab Emirates, followed by only 40 for Canada and 17 for New Zealand.
Looking at the other side of the equation, people in Ireland lead longer and healthier lives than most other Europeans.
The International Trade Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce reported last month that life expectancy for Ireland in 2022 was 82.66 years, a 0.18% increase from 2021. Health care quality is generally good, but costs and waiting times constrain access to services.
Dublin came up with “Sláintecare”, from the Irish word for “health”. The plan, first unveiled in 2017 and expected to be implemented by 2030, is to create a universal healthcare system free at the point of delivery for all patients.
The plan is to remove private healthcare from public hospitals and abolish the country’s two-tier health system, replacing it with a universal healthcare model similar to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
Many of Ireland’s physicians and consultant specialists have trained at leading U.S. healthcare facilities. Strong relationships also exist between American and Irish universities and hospitals.
