International Nursing Careers

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Nursing Careers Overseas Frequently Asked Questions

Moving your nursing career overseas can seem like an impossible dream, but it's a very real option considering the number of countries facing a critical shortage of nurses. Find out how easy it is...

Regardless of your motivation for moving your nursing career overseas, you will have many of the same questions as others who want to nurse abroad. Here are the answers to three of the questions that I am asked most frequently...

Why Choose Nursing Abroad as a Career? 

Why choose nursing abroad as a career? Many reasons come to mind; you can advance your career, gain a variety of clinical experiences, make a higher salary and, fulfill your travel desires, to name a few.

Many countries are experiencing an acute shortage of qualified experienced nurses. This has resulted in a golden opportunity for internationally educated nurses to move overseas either temporarily for a year or two, or to immigrate permanently.

Where can I get a nursing job overseas? 

Most developing countries are suffering from an increasingly severe nursing shortage. They simply are not training enough nurses each year to replace the nurses that are reaching retirement age. This is an immediate problem for countries which also have an aging population who are putting more strain on the health systems in those countries.

Countries like the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand all have a significant number of internationally educated nurses already working in their health systems. And there are still many vacancies that nursing recruiters are unable to fill!

If you are already a registered nurse at home, moving your nursing career overseas to any English speaking country is only limited by your ability to speak the language well enough to pass the required English language test. Similarly, if you are a qualified nurse who is fluent in a language other than English, Arabic or Cantonese for example - there are many nursing vacancies abroad in the United Arab Emirates or Singapore.

Advancing your Nursing Career Abroad 

Because these countries are crying out for nurses to fill immediate vacancies at all levels it is easy for overseas nurses to springboard their way into senior nursing positions which may include supervisory or management roles.

Even if you are not keen on moving your nursing career abroad permanently, taking your nursing job overseas for a year or two to gain experience in a management role can launch you into management once you return home with a newly enhanced resume.

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Gain a Variety of Clinical Experience 

Nursing overseas can open up opportunities to encounter different clinical experiences because although you will probably initially be hired to nurse in the specialty in which you currently have experience, you will come across country and region specific experiences.

Nursing overseas will also allow you to gain experience in alternative techniques and approaches to nursing and healthcare.

How do I get a job nursing abroad? 

Each country has their own way of registering nurses. And nurses who want to nurse abroad in the United States, Australia or Canada face the added challenge of being required to register with the State Board of Nursing relevant to where they will be working as there is no nationwide system of nurse registration.

Generally speaking, you will have to:

* provide evidence of your nursing education

* provide evidence of your nursing license in the country you are currently working in

* provide evidence of your nursing experience, usually recommendation letters on official letterhead will be accepted

* provide evidence of your fluency in the official language of the country you are applying to register in.

In the UK you'll also have to take part in an Overseas Nursing Programme, and in the USA you'll have to take either the NCLEX-RN exam, or the CGFNS exam... or both.

Finding information on how to register as an overseas nurse can be a lengthy process as much of the information is buried deep inside websites that are not dedicated to providing information to foreign nurses. You can find detailed, step-by-step instructions to moving your nursing career abroad in the Nursing-Overseas Ultimate Job Hunting System.

Earn a Higher Salary Nursing Abroad 

Countries experiencing acute nursing shortages are desperate for nurses to fill the vacancies in their healthcare system. As a result they are often paying higher wages in an attempt to attract more nurses, both domestically and internationally. Many healthcare recruiters are also offering benefits and bonuses that can add to your bottom line.

I have had a number of colleagues who have worked abroad for a few years to save money then returned home with a healthy house deposit or paid off their student loans completely.

Job Hunting Resources for Nurses 

Health Professionals Abroad: A Directory of Worldwide Opportunities

Health Professionals Abroad: A Directory of Worldwide Opportunities

by: Tim Ryder

Amazon Price: $17.95 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Overseas Clinical Elective: A Survival Guide for Healthcare Workers

Overseas Clinical Elective: A Survival Guide for Healthcare Workers

Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Finding Work in Global Health

Finding Work in Global Health

by: Garth Osborn; Patricia Ohmans

Amazon Price: $17.55 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Nurses on the Move: Migration and the Global Health Care Economy

Nurses on the Move: Migration and the Global Health Care Economy

by: Mireille Kingma

Amazon Price: $49.95 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Travel and Explore the World 

Nursing abroad means you will make your home in a new region of the world. The opportunity this lends to explore new countries and cultures is priceless. If your dream is to explore the UK, the USA, Australia%u2026 then moving your nursing career abroad to one of these countries currently experiencing acute nursing shortages will give you the opportunity to fulfill your dream and fund it at the same time.

This is a technique I have used personally to explore the UK, Eastern Europe and South East Asia over the last 12 years.

Do I need special qualifications? 

Your nursing qualifications and any specialist training you have undertaken may not be the exact equivalent of what is required or offered of registered nurses in the country to which you are moving.

Most countries have a service you can use that will work out what your qualifications are equivalent to in their education system. For example, you can contact NARIC in the UK and they will check your qualifications against the UK standards and issue you a report.

Even if your qualifications do not transfer exactly, you will most likely be able to register as a general adult nurse. Once you are working in a nursing position overseas, you can explore whether you would like to upgrade your nursing qualifications by up-skilling in a new specialism.

Nursing is a transferrable occupation 

Moving your nursing career abroad is a realistic option for both experienced and newly registered nurses not only because there is a worldwide shortage of nurses, but also because there is a long history of nurses moving around the world to work.

The most you will be required to do in order to get a job in a new country is prove you are registered at home, have a suitable equivalent level of education and training and perhaps sit an exam. While different countries have vastly different rules which can be confusing to work around, it is easy to find a nursing job abroad with the right roadmap through the recruiting and registration process.

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Do you have a question about international nursing careers?? 

Lensmaster

amrel wrote

Hi, I'm a newly graduate nurse from the Philippines, Do i have a chance to work as a nurse at UK even if i have no working experience yet and be sponsored by the hospital ? But, I am willing to be trained to enhance my knowledge and skills as a nurse.here's my email: amrel_421@yahoo.com

Reply Posted February 05, 2009

Lensmaster

sam wrote

interested in oveseas nursing for maxinum benefits. registered nurse. extensive hospital experience. single. ready to go for the right situation.

Reply Posted January 09, 2009

Lensmaster

Karen Hargis wrote

Would like to travel overseas-not sure where I am interested and how to get started. I have been a nurse in the United States since 2001 and worked primarily in medical-surgical/telemetry units with less than a year in travel. Thanks.

Reply Posted October 25, 2008

Lensmaster

sandy wrote

Best info yet!

Reply Posted August 20, 2008

Lensmaster

Paul wrote

Hi,

I am planning on completing nursing education in the USA and then moving overseas to take local nursing boards and become an RN equivalent. Do I have an obligation to take local boards in the USA if I have been educated there or can I go overseas to become certified in the country I choose.

Thanks for the assistance.

Reply Posted July 06, 2008

 
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