Why Choose Nursing Abroad as a Career #3

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.

Why Choose Nursing Abroad as a Career#1

Why Choose Nursing Abroad as a Career #2

Why Choose a Nursing Career Abroad #2

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.

Earn a Higher Salary
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.

Why Choose a Nursing Career Abroad #1

Why Choose a Nursing Career Abroad #3

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.

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.