Becoming a nurse abroad

[denver1994]

Hello all

I am beginning my nursing degree next year in the UK and am hoping that once I have qualified I will be able to move away from the uk to become a nurse over seas.

I have looked into this a little myself and am finding it very hard to get some clear and concise points about this.

I am hoping to move to Europe to become a nurse.

If anyone has any pointers that would be great.

Thanks

[NedRN]

First Google hit should be helpful: Nursing in Europe

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General

In theory there is freedom to travel and seek work between all EU countries.

The UK belongs to the

European Union (EU)

, and the other member countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

A number of European directives mean your nursing qualification can be recognised in other European countries enabling you to practise there. These European directives offer opportunities to gain valuable experience in other countries. There are however certain administrative procedures and language skills which must be acquired.

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Procedure

The main obstacle to employment as a qualified nurse or midwife in another European country is the language. Prospects of employment are generally poor if you do not have a good knowledge or qualification (around

level standard) of the language of the country. Some

'

British' and

'

American

' hospitals in Europe will welcome applications for employment from UK-trained nurses and midwives but the working language of these hospitals is the language of the country, except in the case of British Military hospitals, which have their own nursing staff.

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Getting a job

Advertisements for nursing posts in European countries appear only rarely in UK nursing magazines and journals such as

Nursing Times

and

Nursing Standard

. This is mainly due to employers seeking staff from their own country in many cases. Again a fluent command of the country's language will give you a much better chance of gaining employment.

Obvious exceptions to this are the Republic or Ireland, which is now recruiting more nurses from the UK than ever before. Germany will also offer employment opportunities

which may include a language tuition course.

Jobcentres in the UK have access to European vacancies held on the National Vacancy System (NATVACS) and the

Oracle Jobfinder Service

. There is also the

EURopean Employment Services (EURES)

system for finding work in EU countries. Your local Jobcentre will have advisors to help you search these networks.

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