I am a Registered Nurse with an Emergency Nursing and Public Health background. Recently I had a baby and shortly thereafter left my family, friends and a job that I loved to move to overseas for my husband's career. Now I am a full time stay-at-home mom and am writing graduate thesis. I never planned on completely leaving the field of nursing to be at home full-time but there are no professional opportunities here for nurses with US licenses. Though I cherish the wonderful time with my daughter, I miss having the best of both worlds as I did with my PRN work and I also miss feeling professionally engaged and growing as a nurse.
I have been in contact with my board of nursing and understand what I need to do to maintain an active license and am not certain I will be able to get enough clinical hours. The only place where I can legally practice here under my license is within the US embassy and there are currently no positions available. I am in the process of starting my own business and am awaiting approval to do so.
I would appreciate any advice, shared experiences or referrals to resources that might be helpful for a US nurse living overseas for an extended period of time.
As has already been stated, a lot will depend on what country you are currently residing in. If you have no luck with military bases, I would suggest you consider private medical evacuation companies. There are several and they do like to hire experienced medical professionals from the US who are residing overseas. You should realize that these positions can take you away for several days at a time on short notice which can be a problem if you have children.
CC
This is a possibility. I work for such a company. We provide EMS, primary care, and international medical evacuations. They hired me for my nursing experience; however, my official title is medic. My country of operations has the official title of "doctor's assistant" on my work visa. This gets around the licensing requirements. Of course, properly licensed nurses and paramedics do not really exist by US standards in the country where I work.
I've been in your shoes. When we lived overseas, I still maintained my license in my home of record, Florida. I kept my license active just by paying the fees and keeping up with my CEU's. If your state actually requires clinical hours, could you perhaps look into a travel job and make your next trip back to the States a "working vacation?" Or acquire an active license in another state with fewer restrictions? I know for me working overseas was just not an option. There weren't any jobs at the military base and there was definitely a huge language barrier (and probably other red tape) to make working on the economy not a viable option.
I hope you find a solution that works for you. In the meantime, enjoy your experience. Being a SAHM and experiencing a new culture all at the same time is a real blessing!
I don't know where you are but when I lived in Holland there were international schools, American schools as well as the nearby military bases. Also, Nike was over there and they are everywhere and I thought they had nurses on staff, but I'm not sure.
Specializes in Ortho/Uro/Peds/Research/PH/Insur/Travel.
The Peace Corps is often looking for medical officers, but I think you need to be a nurse practitioner. Good luck! Oh, check out the WHO website. They hire for both abroad and in Geneva. Again, good luck!
I was just going to suggest American Schools since I work in one. If you tell me your location, I'll let you know which ones are nearby.
British military schools as well, I worked for one although not as a nurse. They wanted someone to work with children that had learning disabilities. Sometimes you have to think outside the box.
There are no military bases here unfortunately. But good suggestion. Thank you. As far as getting licensed in another state. Have any of you done that before? And do you need a rationale for doing so, such as starting a new job in that state, or can you simply apply? Thanks again for all these suggestions. It makes me feel more hopeful.
There are no military bases here unfortunately. But good suggestion. Thank you. As far as getting licensed in another state. Have any of you done that before? And do you need a rationale for doing so, such as starting a new job in that state, or can you simply apply? Thanks again for all these suggestions. It makes me feel more hopeful.
Well, I live in NY, close to the VT border. When I took a job in VT I drove over to Montpelier, applied, and had a temp license that day. They didn't ask me, I don't think, about where I'd be working.
This site has a list of BON's. You might want to explore them and see if there's any info as to which would be easiest to endorse your license to.
GilaRRT
1,905 Posts
This is a possibility. I work for such a company. We provide EMS, primary care, and international medical evacuations. They hired me for my nursing experience; however, my official title is medic. My country of operations has the official title of "doctor's assistant" on my work visa. This gets around the licensing requirements. Of course, properly licensed nurses and paramedics do not really exist by US standards in the country where I work.