US Nurses Wishing to Work Overseas

[suzanne4]

I am starting this thread as a sticky at the request of one of our members, for a place for those that wish to emigrate from the US to work as an RN.

Please feel free to post your concerns and questions about working overseas here.

[suzanne4, RN]

Have you done any volunteer teaching any place? But I big issue down there is that you are not fluent in Spanish. Many times you will be required to get their nursing license, and that requires that you have proven fluency in Spanish; as well as pass their nursing licensure exam.

This is what happens even if you wish to work anywhere in Europe, even if an English speaking hospital in France, or Spain. They do not care, you have to go thru the same steps as a foreign nurse does to work in the US.

Can you set up your own training program there? Then you should be able to get your work visa, and not necessarily need the license from there. You may want to approach it from that angle. That is what I have done in the past, and it has worked.

The hospital that you have mentioned cannot hire you without you having a local license there.

I understand that things work quite differently in third world countries, have been thru it several times myself. Try talking to their Ministry of Education, you may find them more on your side. Schools come under a completely different set of rules than the Dept of Health.

[ksanda1]

I followed my husband to his new assignment in Japan 3 weeks ago and will be here for the next two years. The two kids are attending elementary school. The problem is I just graduated in May and passed the nclex. I have no experience. I turned down some offers before I left. So far I have signed up to do some CEUs online. Japanese gov't requires one to know their language and take a similar exam. That option is out of the question. Would I still be able to find a job in nursing when I return? How do I fill in the gaps in my resume?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Bored!

[lauritasol]

ksanda1 said:

I followed my husband to his new assignment in Japan 3 weeks ago and will be here for the next two years. The two kids are attending elementary school. The problem is I just graduated in May and passed the nclex. I have no experience. I turned down some offers before I left. So far I have signed up to do some CEUs online. Japanese gov't requires one to know their language and take a similar exam. That option is out of the question. Would I still be able to find a job in nursing when I return? How do I fill in the gaps in my resume?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Bored!

I'm in the same boat in Germany and am bored out of my mind! However, I'm applying to work in the UK as that is the closest English speaking country near Germany.

Are you at Okinawa? There is a US military hospital there. If not at Okinawa, would it be possible to travel there? You can find jobs for military hospitals at http://www.usajobs.com.

Is there any other US military installation nearby that has a large hospital? I would look into that first, and then look at traveling either to another English speaking country or back to the US, if you really want to work. The only catch is that most places require you to have worked for at least a year. Maybe in this time you could get your Master's and that would explain your gap in employment??

You might also want to call some hospitals back in the States and ask as it might be a little difficult for an experienced RN to come back after a 3 year break, but then without orientation or that 1 year experience as a new nurse - that might be a little harder to start anew with that large of break between schooling and your first job.

Hope that helps some. Maybe others have been in your same boat??? I graduated a year and a half ago, so I was able to work a full year before we came here. That was my only saving grace! Otherwise I would have been here for 3 years doing nothing and hating every minute of it!

[suzanne4, RN]

ksanda1 said:

I followed my husband to his new assignment in Japan 3 weeks ago and will be here for the next two years. The two kids are attending elementary school. The problem is I just graduated in May and passed the nclex. I have no experience. I turned down some offers before I left. So far I have signed up to do some CEUs online. Japanese gov't requires one to know their language and take a similar exam. That option is out of the question. Would I still be able to find a job in nursing when I return? How do I fill in the gaps in my resume?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Bored!

The Japanese government will not even let Japanese nationals that trained in foreign countries and wish to go back to Japan to work to get their license there.

Do you actually have a visa that will permit you to work there? If so, there are many options open for you. And not an issue to find a job in the US when you return, you were out of the country with your family, and you list what you did during that time. There are nurses that trained years ago and never worked in nursing that have no problems finding a job when they are ready.

Key thing is if you have a visa then I can make some suggestions to you.

[suzanne4, RN]

lauritasol said:

I'm in the same boat in Germany and am bored out of my mind! However, I'm applying to work in the UK as that is the closest English speaking country near Germany.

Are you at Okinawa? There is a US military hospital there. If not at Okinawa, would it be possible to travel there? You can find jobs for military hospitals at www.usajobs.com.

Is there any other US military installation nearby that has a large hospital? I would look into that first, and then look at traveling either to another English speaking country or back to the US, if you really want to work. The only catch is that most places require you to have worked for at least a year. Maybe in this time you could get your Master's and that would explain your gap in employment??

You might also want to call some hospitals back in the States and ask as it might be a little difficult for an experienced RN to come back after a 3 year break, but then without orientation or that 1 year experience as a new nurse - that might be a little harder to start anew with that large of break between schooling and your first job.

Hope that helps some. Maybe others have been in your same boat??? I graduated a year and a half ago, so I was able to work a full year before we came here. That was my only saving grace! Otherwise I would have been here for 3 years doing nothing and hating every minute of it!

Be aware that the UK has hiring restrictions in place, and it may be quite hard for you to be able to work there. They have had many lay-offs and if you do not have a special skill that they have a shortage of, it will even be difficult to get a license there. Let alone a visa to work there. Much harder than you think. You have to go thru their licensing process first, and the NMC is notorious for being slow, then the immigration processing to get a visa to work there. If you are a EU citizen, then no problem, but as an American, quite difficult at this time. Any jobs first are offered to those from the UK, then from the EU. US follows that.

There is no issue with a gap in your resume, you just need to put what you did when you were out of the country. Many have babies and take off a year or two, or even five, and then jump right back in without any problems.

And do you have a visa that will permit you to work in Germany? If so, then there are also many avenues open to you, but you must have that visa first. Not just one as a dependent to your husband, but will permit you to actually work and get a paycheck.

[lauritasol]

Suzanne -

I'm not sure where you've gathered your information from, but I think it is either outdated or applicable to those living overseas not associated with the military.

As far as the UK goes, I'm already on my last step of my application process which typically takes 2 months to verify license and course work. So far I've completed 3 of their 5 steps and it has gone very fast. They estimated it would take a total of 6 months which would have put me at getting my license in November/December, but since things have gone so fast, it looks like I'll receive my license in September/October time frame. I'm working with a travel agency that will place me as soon as my license is valid. They have many positions available across the UK and have no problem finding positions for RNs from the US as they are in high demand in the UK.

The bit about the Visa is not true as far as dependents are concerned. I am not required to get a visa because I have a separate passport that allows me to live, work and travel freely in the EU. The NMC and travel agency said this was all that was needed to work here - something that allowed you to stay in the EU (not a traveler's passport).

As far as working in Germany, it is not as easy as getting a Visa. I live on the German/Netherland border and have been in contact with both nursing boards in the Netherlands AND Germany. Both state you have to pass the language test first before you can even apply for your license. I cannot pass either test, so I cannot work here. Furthermore, Germany is even more strict about hiring foreigners. They only hire if there are no other Germans that want the job or are qualified to do the job. They have a 30% unemployment rate and so are not keen on hiring foreigners, especially those who do not even speak German! It's a definite no to RNs from anywhere that do not speak German. Additionally, the RNs in Germany have a far different role than RNs in America, so I think even if you could speak German, you might not want to do nursing here as it is more like a doctor's assistant than an autonomous RN.

Ksanda1 - I'm not sure about your situation in Japan and whether you need a visa, but for us here, we DO NOT need a visa to work on any military installation, to work in any US government position, e.g., DOD, or to work in the UK as a RN.

Hope that helps!

[lauritasol]

PS - I can also work for the NATO/international governement positions here at GK (the NATEX - Canadian run, German positions at GK, etc.) since the official language of NATO is English. I also do not need a Visa for these positions, but none are positions for RNs. Not sure where you're stationed, but even if it is not a military installation (ours isn't) you can still work there without a Visa if you are command sponsored by your husband - which since you are there with him, you probably are! HTH!

[suzanne4, RN]

lauritasol said:

Suzanne -

I'm not sure where you've gathered your information from, but I think it is either outdated or applicable to those living overseas not associated with the military.

As far as the UK goes, I'm already on my last step of my application process which typically takes 2 months to verify license and course work. So far I've completed 3 of their 5 steps and it has gone very fast. They estimated it would take a total of 6 months which would have put me at getting my license in November/December, but since things have gone so fast, it looks like I'll receive my license in September/October time frame. I'm working with a travel agency that will place me as soon as my license is valid. They have many positions available across the UK and have no problem finding positions for RNs from the US as they are in high demand in the UK.

The bit about the Visa is not true as far as dependents are concerned. I am not required to get a visa because I have a separate passport that allows me to live, work and travel freely in the EU. The NMC and travel agency said this was all that was needed to work here - something that allowed you to stay in the EU (not a traveler's passport).

As far as working in Germany, it is not as easy as getting a Visa. I live on the German/Netherland border and have been in contact with both nursing boards in the Netherlands AND Germany. Both state you have to pass the language test first before you can even apply for your license. I cannot pass either test, so I cannot work here. Furthermore, Germany is even more strict about hiring foreigners. They only hire if there are no other Germans that want the job or are qualified to do the job. They have a 30% unemployment rate and so are not keen on hiring foreigners, especially those who do not even speak German! It's a definite no to RNs from anywhere that do not speak German. Additionally, the RNs in Germany have a far different role than RNs in America, so I think even if you could speak German, you might not want to do nursing here as it is more like a doctor's assistant than an autonomous RN.

Ksanda1 - I'm not sure about your situation in Japan and whether you need a visa, but for us here, we DO NOT need a visa to work on any military installation, to work in any US government position, e.g., DOD, or to work in the UK as a RN.

Hope that helps!

Sorry, but you only mentioned that you were in Europe with your husband, and not that you were military. That makes a big difference in things. And I do not assume anything here. And it has been hard for Americans to actually get a job there. Even the contracts that the travel companies have there are not as they used to be, and we are seeing people promised things there that do not materialize.

And then you do have a visa that will permit you to work and travel in the EU. But you did not mention that. And for the nurse whose husband is not in the military they do not get a visa that will permit them to work necessarily, just like when a couple comes to the US, and the husband is on the H1-B visa, the wife can be here, and travel all over and even attend school, but she cannot legally work and does not get a SSN# issued to her. And then the same goes for the American wishing to work in EU. Not automatically granted a permit to work. And then licensure also becomes much harder to get.

I am very aware of all of the requirements for working overseas, have been the Super Moderator on this forum for several years. But if you are not specific then it is hard to give you an answer.

And if you take the time to check out the UK Forum here, you will find out more about what is happening there and the lay-offs. And I have worked in the travel nursing field for years, what is stated by an agency when they are trying to recruit you is not necessarily what will be when you get thru the licensing process. I have also been an RN for too many years to count, and have seen all of the promises made that are no longer valid.

And if you do check out some of the posts there, you will find that many that tried to do travel assignments in the UK are no longer working there, they have gone over to Ireland, or Scotland. And the travel assignments in the UK are not the same as we have in the US. Very different actually. And the companies that are doing that are fairly new in that arena with minimal experience at it. None of them have any type of significant track record there in the field.

[suzanne4, RN]

And the other poster never mentioned military either in her posting. There are many that work in other countries that are not military. Just as I did.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Agencies can tell you what they want but not sure how they can guarentee work when hospitals are not using staff. I also know a lot of hosptials are using Trust professionals as their agency. I can definately say without a doubt that things are really hard for nurses currently with layoffs and newly qualified nurses finding it very hard to find work. Are you willing to relocate to the UK as I find it hard to believe that a hospital even through agency will be willing to employ a nurse who will be commuting countries to work. Hospitals are using less and less agency nurses and as far as I am aware even if you have a work permit unless you have outstanding experience you will find that work will be offered to nurses from the UK first. I take it you have completed your 20 days ONP, and if you have you have done well to find a place as I know the waiting lists are long.

I would really check out the UK forum and you will see lots of posts on the struggle nurses are having at the moment in the UK

Agency in the UK also tends to be all over the place very rarely will you be offered a set place in a set area for a set period of time and I have even know shifts get cancelled at the last minute so you don't get paid

[lauritasol]

suzanne4 said:

Sorry, but you only mentioned that you were in Europe with your husband, and not that you were military. That makes a big difference in things. And I do not assume anything here. And it has been hard for Americans to actually get a job there. Even the contracts that the travel companies have there are not as they used to be, and we are seeing people promised things there that do not materialize.

And then you do have a visa that will permit you to work and travel in the EU. But you did not mention that. And for the nurse whose husband is not in the military they do not get a visa that will permit them to work necessarily, just like when a couple comes to the US, and the husband is on the H1-B visa, the wife can be here, and travel all over and even attend school, but she cannot legally work and does not get a SSN# issued to her. And then the same goes for the American wishing to work in EU. Not automatically granted a permit to work. And then licensure also becomes much harder to get.

I am very aware of all of the requirements for working overseas, have been the Super Moderator on this forum for several years. But if you are not specific then it is hard to give you an answer.

And if you take the time to check out the UK Forum here, you will find out more about what is happening there and the lay-offs. And I have worked in the travel nursing field for years, what is stated by an agency when they are trying to recruit you is not necessarily what will be when you get thru the licensing process. I have also been an RN for too many years to count, and have seen all of the promises made that are no longer valid.

And if you do check out some of the posts there, you will find that many that tried to do travel assignments in the UK are no longer working there, they have gone over to Ireland, or Scotland. And the travel assignments in the UK are not the same as we have in the US. Very different actually. And the companies that are doing that are fairly new in that arena with minimal experience at it. None of them have any type of significant track record there in the field.

Well, when I replied to Ksanda1, I was writing her as a military spouse to military spouse answering her question. I have no idea what it's like for others living overseas, just about spouses of military members living overseas as that is what I'm going through at present.

I know that my travel agency employs in England, Wales, Scottland and Ireland. I'm okay with working anywhere - I just want to work! I, like the other poster, am bored out of my mind and am just ready to work! I know their system is VERY different, BUT it is in English and I think will be fun to learn, something to do to occupy my time, and a great resume booster. I'm looking forward to it!

I've gone on the UK boards and chatted with others about their experience. That is how I found the travel agency I'm going through. They seem to be placing many ppl off this board that I have chatted with, so they seem to be having openings. I'm not saying it's a done deal, but am hoping everything goes to plan. My rep is saying I'll have a job the day after I get my license, so here's to hoping I will!!

[lauritasol]

suzanne4 said:

And the other poster never mentioned military either in her posting. There are many that work in other countries that are not military. Just as I did.

Ha ha! I went back and looked at the post and you are right - she never said military! I guess I just assumed since she said "assignment" and 2 years. That is why I asked her if she was at Okinawa (a military base) or some other location. I know so many ppl being stationed in Japan, I just assumed - so Ksanda1 - sorry if my post didn't even apply to you!