Career Change Nurse Overseas

If you are looking for a career change in nursing then you should consider nursing overseas. Countries around the world are experiencing an acute nursing shortage which has created opportunities for nurses to refresh their nursing careers by going abroad to fill vacancies in other countries either short term or long term.

Moving your nursing career overseas can restore your enthusiasm for the profession.

Are you disenchanted with management? Working too many shifts and never having any time for fun? Can’t remember the last time you worked with a full shift of nurses? Are you ready to give up on nursing but do not really want to...

Why not make a change? Consider a career change and nurse abroad.

Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the USA are all actively recruiting internationally educated nurses.

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.

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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Nursing Employment Opportunities Resulting from the Global Nurse Shortage

Many hospitals and other health care facilities struggle to find suitably qualified and experience nurses to staff their wards. This is creating increased competition between medical employers for the small pool of nurses available. This is creating an employment environment for nurses where they are sought after and head-hunted.

Because of this nursing shortage many countries are experiencing, and which is predicted to worsen to crisis proportion in the next decade, governments in developing countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the USA are making it easier and less complicated for internationally educated nurses to enter these countries and work legally, both short term and permanently. Without these countries taking immediate measures to counteract the shortage of nurses in their own country the quality of healthcare being provided will fall considerably.

In order to take advantage of these nursing employment opportunities you may need to move away from the area or country where you currently live as the nursing shortage is global and this is creating a strong demand for qualified nurses worldwide. Most developing countries now have several visa options that are suitable for nurses who want to nurse overseas. The USA, for example, have 4 visa options for nurses to choose from depending on how long you wish to stay in the US.

More and more healthcare facilities are looking to nurses abroad to solve their recruitment crisis and this situation is only going to continue over the next decade or so. The time for nurses to move their nursing career abroad is right now, while there are so many recruiters who are desperate for nurses to fill their vacancies.

Nursing Employment Opportunities

There has been a dramatic increase in nursing employment opportunities around the world in recent years, which is great news for qualified and experienced nurses worldwide. Once you understand the reason for the increase in nursing vacancies you will understand that this is a long term opportunity that nurses can take advantage of to boost their careers and life experiences.

There are a number of factors that are contributing to the increase in available nursing jobs…

Firstly, the population in the developed world is aging which means that there is a higher demand for medical care. An unfortunate side effect of an aging population is that there are more people who suffer from age related illnesses.

A second, and related, contributing factor is that many qualified, experienced nurses are reaching retirement age and leaving the nursing profession. A large number of nurses in the developed world are quickly approaching retirement age, which means that these countries are losing a valuable human resource on top of the number of nurses required to staff the medical facilities.

Thirdly, there are not enough new nurses graduating every year to replace the number of nurses leaving the profession. For some reason many developed countries are struggling to attract the numbers of student nurses they need to replace the nursing staff that are leaving, or they simply do not have the number of places in nursing education programs to train the necessary number of replacement nurses.

All of these factors are combining to create a situation where internationally educated nurses are greatly in demand!

Choosing an Honest Nursing Employment Agency

I have had a number of nurses write to me with stories of dishonest nursing employment agencies that have taken their money and done nothing for them. This can really shake your faith in people and leave you with a sour taste in your mouth... but do not let these dishonest people rob you of your dream of moving your nursing career abroad!

Here are some tips on judging the quality of nursing recruiters that will help you kick start your job hunt.

Does the nursing employment agency have a website?

Most companies that are involved in recruiting internationally educated nurses have a website. There are a few things you need to look for on the website that will help you judge the quality of the agency and the recruiters working for them.

1. Are they affiliated with any professional recruiting membership organisation? Just like lawyers, teachers and travel agents have membership organisations, so do recruiting services. These membership organisations offer you; the client, protection from illegal fraudulent practices. Check the nursing agency’s website to see if they belong to a membership organisation. If they do not advertise it, you can email them and ask for this information.

2. How long has the nursing agency been operating? Nursing recruiting agencies that have been operating for a while are more likely to operate legally and consider your best interests because they have a reputation to maintain. One of the worst things a business can experience is poor recommendations passed around by word-of-mouth.

Choosing an Honest Nursing Employment Agency