Using a Nursing Job Overseas to Fund Your Overseas Experience

Working as a nurse overseas is an economical and sustainable way to fund your overseas experience

Nursing is a transferable skill, especially if you are a fluent English speaker because Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the USA are all experiencing an acute shortage of qualified nurses. This has resulted in an immediate opportunity for English speaking nurses to travel and nurse overseas.

Securing yourself a nursing job overseas will allow you to base yourself in a different region of the world and travel abroad from there. If you get a nursing job in the UK you will be able to easily explore Europe using the network of budget airlines that fly between the major European cities. If you base yourself nursing in Australia you can easily explore the South Pacific and Asia. I have done this successfully in the UK and am now based in Asia.

Working while you travel enables you to spend an extended time away from home and gives you a way to replenish your funds when you are running short.

There are three visa options for nurses who want to work in the US.

The USA is experiencing an acute shortage of nurses, which, while not so good for them, is great news for foreign nurses who would like to get a nursing job overseas in the United States. Here are the 4 criteria that you must meet in order to qualify to register as a nurse in America...

Firstly you can apply for the much coveted Green Card. In order to qualify for a Green Card, you must meet all the criteria above, and sit and pass the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) examination. To get this visa takes the longest of the three options, but it is the better option for you if you want to make a long term move to the US. It is possible, with a Green Card, to move your nursing career to the US permanently.

Secondly, you can apply for an H-1B visa. To qualify for an H-1B visa you need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. If you have a vocational nursing qualification you will not be granted this visa.

The last visa option for nurses is the H-1C visa. The US government issues 500 of these visas to healthcare workers each year.

If you thought that getting a nursing job in the USA was an impossible dream, you were mistaken. You need to get started on your applications right away because medical recruiters in the US are desperate to employ you right now!