Advice on volunteering abroad as new grad

[M0808]

Hey everyone! I have been reading posts on here since starting nursing school, and I have a question I would love to get advice on from other nurses.

I graduate with my BSN in May, my plan is to gain experience for a year or two and then continue on in school for a Nurse Practitioner degree.

This past summer I volunteered in a clinic in Bolivia to help develop my Spanish skills and I enjoyed it so much I am thinking about going back as a clinic coordinator for 9 months.

I would love to have this experience while I'm young and I can, and would be able to come out completely fluent in Spanish which is a huge goal of mine.

My question is what would be the best time to fit this in? Right when I graduate, or after I have been working for a year? Would it hurt my chances of getting a nursing job when I come back (due to not recently being in a real hospital setting)?

Any input is welcome!

Thank you in advance.

[MamaBeaRN]

Following your thread... I'm interested in hearing responses.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Most orgs that take volunteers as nurses (not non-nurses), like MSF, the Red Cross, and most nonprofit or religious relief agencies, want people who can hit the ground running with nursing skills already in place, since there's no time to teach them. You won't have those as a new grad. Check carefully. If you will be working as a clinic coordinator with no nursing skills required, it might be hard to come back to this country fluent in Spanish but with no real nursing experience. So get a few years of good experience in the area you think they need the most (pedi? OB? outpatient surgery? sanitation/public health?) before you go, and then come back for more work here.

Or maybe you'll fall in love c the place and stay, and end up the head of the Bolivian national health service in twenty years. :)

[M0808]

Thanks for the response! I'm sorry, I should have given more details in my post. I am familiar with this particular clinic--it was set up by doctors from my school. I know they accept new grads to volunteers, and the duties include nursing and clinic administration duties. For nursing, mainly checking patients in, drawing blood/giving medications, occasionally IVs, education, vaccinations, etc. It involves working with local doctors and nurses as well, who are all Spanish speaking only.

does this effect your answer at all?

thanks again

best, Maria

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If they'll take you, it could be a great experience. I have no opinion one way or the other on whether it would make you more generally marketable in the US when you return, unless you're looking at a similar clinic in an area that serves a largely Spanish-speaking clientele, in which case it would be a great selling point.