Top US Hospitals Offering Visa Sponsorship for International Nurses: Starting a Life-Saving Career With International Travel Opportunities

For many skilled international nurses, the United States offers incredible professional career advancement opportunities for graduate level trained nurses. One of the most difficult steps in this process is finding a US hospital that is willing to employ you, after they consider multiple qualified candidates and is willing to sponsor your visa. Additionally, it is important to know that for nursing practice in the United States, you are legally required to possess a certification in the most basic of life-saving skills: CPR. This article reviews the most prominent medical centers in the US that are known to sponsor international nurses and offers reasons that CPR certification is the minimum credential necessary for professional practice.

Part I: Ways to Opportunity: US Hospital Systems With Visa Sponsorship

While American hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities are incredibly busy and opportunities are constantly becoming available, the largest US healthcare systems are known to intentionally provide recruitment efforts. Sponsorship is available for international nurses through obtaining specialty work visas, such as the H-1B visa, and green cards in the employment based (EB-3) categories. These hospitals often have personnel in international recruitment, assisting and advocating for you in the complex immigration process.

• Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN; Phoenix, AZ; Jacksonville, FL)

Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world. It has been around for a long time and has a rich history in attracting talent from all over the globe. Mayo sponsors international nurses for certain specialized units. Relocation and assimilation programs offered by the Clinic assist nurses in adapting to their new jobs and American life. Nurse assistance is offered for the licensing (NCLEX-RN and state boards) and the visa processes.

• Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH; National & International Locations)

Cleveland Clinic is a top-tier academic medical center and has a strong international recruitment program. They are one of the few clinics that sponsor nurses for Green Cards, which is very beneficial in helping nurses obtain permanent residency in the states. The Clinic is known for its innovative models of caring for patients. They are also a great place to work for nurses because they provide ample nursing orientation, continuing education, and training programs.

• HCA Healthcare (Nashville, TN; Facilities Nationwide) HCA Healthcare employs over 40,000 people, and they operate over 180 hospitals. They recruit and sponsor more international nurses than any other employers in their field. They have the needed resources to sponsor international nurses and have various facilities, ranging in size and scope, from major metropolitan trauma hospitals to small rural hospitals. HCA Healthcare has dedicated international recruitment partners and has developed credentialing and immigration programs. 4. Veterans Health Administration (Nationwide)

As the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, the Veterans Administration (VA) has international nurse sponsorship availability for specific in-demand specialty roles. While working for the federal government, employees receive job stability, competitive pay and benefits, and a strong focus on serving the VA mission. The sponsorship process is methodical, and it can take a while to be completed. 5. Academic Medical Centers & State University Hospitals

Large state-funded university hospital systems like University of California hospitals, University of Texas hospitals, and University of Michigan hospitals, are also active sponsors for internationally educated nurses. These hospitals are the teaching hospitals for their universities, and the focus on research, education, and advanced level care is a hallmark of a tertiary care hospital. The need to sponsor nurses is often to fill critical care and specialty areas like ICU, oncology, and cardiology.

The Sponsorship Journey: Part One: Sponsorship Steps for International Nurses

The sponsorship process is competitive, and candidates must:

Have their RN license from their country and qualifications that equate to the education required for the U.S.
Complete the NCLEX-RN, and obtain a license for a specific state.
If the applicant is from a country that does not speak English, they must score high on a language proficiency test, which could be the IELTS or TOEFL.
Obtain a foreign nursing school diploma and Visa screen certificate from the CGFNS.
Obtain a confirmed job offer from a U.S. employer willing to initiate and pay for a visa sponsorship.

Part Two: The Foundation Non Negotiables – Why Every Nurse Needs First Aid And CPR Training

Among the licenses and the visa, the most urgent and universal for every nurse working in the U.S., whether foreign or domestic, is proof of certification in Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (CPR included). This is not a formality; it is the most fundamental beginning of clinical practice for three reasons.

• The First Responder Mandate: You Are Always the First Link

Nurses see patients breathe, talk, and move, and patients who breathe, talk, and move (or who seem to without issues) present no immediate concerns. If, however, a patient suddenly goes beserk or appears to have a respiratory or cardio arrest (i.e. stops communicating, collapses, stops breathing, etc), this is where things change. Per the AHA’s Chain of Survival, BLS trained nurses are the nearest and first responders. If an emergency response system (aka hospital’s emergency) “code team” is able to ride the elevator to the patient’s bedside within 3 – 5 minutes and the patient is not breathing or there is cardio arrest (and thus cannot respond), there is a significant risk of losing brain function and ultimately the patient. The bedside nurse is the first to provide compressions and ventilations to a patient. Your actions (or lack of) during the initial minutes of a crisis directly determine what the outcome will be. Unlike a layperson’s CPR course, First Aid CPR Saskatoon, BLS for Healthcare Providers trains nurses to work fluidly as a team, employ compression and breath devices, and perform high – performance CPR.

• Universal Employment and Licensing Policies

Getting hired at any US hospital, clinic, and care facility requires every nurse to have a valid BLS/CPR certifications which are non-waivable. This is also needed to obtain clinical privileges and is frequently a requirement for both initial and continued licensure by state nursing boards. For foreign nurse, providing this certification is as easy as providing one\’s nursing diploma. No employer will employ a nurse without it. Importantly, the U.S. standard is specifically the American Heart Association (AHA) BLS or another similar program such as American Red Cross BLS for Healthcare. Certifications from other countries are accepted, which makes a U.S.-based AHA BLS course one of the very first and most important things an international nurse must complete upon arrival.

3: Self-Assurance and Clinical Awareness

Apart from simply meeting the requirements, CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS) training helps build self-assurance. Training helps ease the transition from theoretical understanding to practical application through the development of muscle memory and the practiced methods on the training manikins. In such circumstances, they prepare the nurses to act with practiced precision while controlling the panic and adrenaline. In addition, clinical observation is improved. Training involves teaching nurses to look for the arrest warning signs and act immediately, such as signs of irregular or slow breathing, fluctuations in levels of consciousness, or vitals that fall well outside the normal range. Such early recognition can lead to action that may even avert an arrest at all. Instilling that core, universally accepted ability is the system confidence that an overseas nurse adjusting to a new clinical system can rely on the most. 

Final Comments: Merging Concepts to Practice

For overseas nurses, moving to the bedside in the US involves a two-way street. One part is the administrative and competitive side of things: excelling in the exams, obtaining a sponsorship offer from a preferred high-ranking hospital, like the Mayo Clinic or HCA Healthcare, and managing the immigration procedures. While the other is the clinical and non-negotiable side: acquiring the life-saving procedural knowledge of CPR/BLS as practiced in the USA.

These paths come together at the hospital and take the heart of the profession which is to be life savers. Responders like you are sponsored by the hospital for your skills and commitment and CPR/BLS certifications is the least of what’s needed to prove your commitment to this mandate. Before you worry about the minor details of hospital protocols and electronic workflows, the international nurse should know how to do chest compressions and use a defibrillator without a getting a single instruction. You are prepared to be a frontline healthcare worker on day one and must be the one to step in when a life is at stake. Because of this, pursuing hospital sponsorship in the US should be done simultaneously with obtaining a Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the American Heart Association. It is the key to your employment as well as to answering the call of being a nurse.