Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of the experience of Korean immigrant nurses working inUS hospitals. Methods:　Purposive sampling yielded 15 Korean immigrant nurses who had more than one year of clinical experiencein US hospitals. Data were collected from March to August 2012 through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis was conductedusing van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Results: The findings were classified into eight themes: ‘strugglingfrom staff at workplace being territorial to outsiders’, ‘feeling oppressed due to language barrier’, ‘accepting rational and horizontalrelationships at work’, ‘staying alert in the environment where lawsuits are rife’, ‘feeling a sense of stability from the social systemthat values human dignity’, ‘maintaining self-confidence from prominent nursing practices and senior Korean nurses’ professionalreputation’, ‘performing essential comprehensive nursing care’, ‘promoting self-development to be equipped with professionalism.’Conclusion: The findings indicate that the Korean immigrant nurses were able to excel in their workplace when their clinical experienceat US hospitals was combined with the lived space in US politics and environment, lived time of patience, lived body to bealert, and lived others with multi cultural characteristics.