Future US student searching for a way to practice nursing overseas. Is it possible?

[Heresausername]

Which countries make this possible? I'd love to get a degree here and then practice overseas. If I have to, Ill get a degree in another country then practice there. I've done some research but I'm getting mixed results. Any experienced nurses know the answer?

[Daking0825]

It really depends on your degree (ADN vs BSN) and the country you are trying to go to. I know that for me, I would love to go to Italy and have researched it extensively. My wife is Italian and I have considered obtaining my dual citizenship and being a nurse over there. They would recognize my license (you have to jump through some hoops to have it validated) but then I would have to take a language proficiency exam. Luckily, I speak Italian (my wife doesn't speak English). The problem there is (as with many other European countries I would assume) is that it is socialized medicine and therefore the pay is not very competitive with pay here in the States. Also, there just aren't as many jobs there. So unfortunately it looks like we will be staying here for a while. So long story short, it is possible, but it depends on where you are going and where you got your degree. Good luck!

[US RN in Oz]

I agree, it really depends on your credentials. As far as RN/BSN goes. US, CA, UK, IR, AU, and NZ have reciprocity.

Are you fluent in any other languages?

The pay and opportunities in nurses falls short in each of those countries when compared to the US.

Also, as a healthcare consumer; despite the shortcommings of the system in America, the care received is second to none.

Socialized medicine is horribly slow and, at least in Oz, dangerously inefficient. I would have concerns having any sort of major treatment over here.

Also, some of my meds that work incredibly well are not covered by the PBS. Some of my med went from a 10 dollar copay to hundreds of dollars a month because legislation says so. Some I was able to substitute with other meds. For one, nothing else seems to work, so I pay out the nose for that one.

It was also weird to realize, if you are proactive in sone cases and try to take care of something before it becomes an issue, you most likely paying for it out of pocket. If you end up event going to the ED... it's covered.

Good luck.