Interested in nursing abroad but worried about being so far away?

Nursing abroad is a fantastic opportunity to explore the world, expand your clinical experience and earn a generous and often tax-free salary. But it is not all a bed of roses, there are some drawbacks. One major drawback is being so far away from family if something goes wrong. However, this concern should not stop you from moving your nursing career abroad. There are some steps you can take to manage the distance.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, you can manage the distance by choosing where to work. By this, I mean you should look into cities where you can get to and from on direct flights that are scheduled at least several days each week. You can use any internet travel website to find this information, I usually use Expedia.com. With direct flights you will get home more quickly and not have to worry about making connecting flights. If you cannot get a direct flight to the city/town where your family is located, make sure you can get a direct flight to a city in your home country that has regular connecting flights to your hometown or ultimate destination.

With so many planes flying every day to destinations all over the world, moving your nursing career abroad should not cause you anymore concern than moving your nursing career across the country. You can get back home in a matter of hours, depending on where you choose to work.

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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… 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.

Nursing is a Transferrable Occupation
Moving your nursing career overseas 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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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.

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

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.