Need Some Help Here

Anisettes, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2009

It depends on whether or not you want to work for the USA or the Dutch or Germans, etc.... I know there are quite a few US military/NATO installations in Europe/Japan/Korea/England that hire civilian nurses (I'm one of them). I've worked for the last 2.5 years for the US Army in Landstuhl, Germany. There are multiple US bases (AF and Army) throughout Germany, AF in England, Netherlands, and Belgium; Canada in Belgium and the Netherlands and maybe a few in Germany as well - though I believe their hiring preferences are for fellow Canadians.

If you want to go US military civilian route, you can search for jobs in specific agencies and countries, post your resume and submit applications via the internet at

For US Army specific civilian jobs you can go to

For US military civilian jobs, you only need to be RN with valid RN Licensure from ANY US state, be fluent in English, and be a citizen or have legal US immigrant status. One thing to remember when you apply - follow ALL instructions for the application EXACTLY or your application will get kicked out.

Just be aware that pay grades are not the same as the stateside civilians get (it's less), BUT you (usually) get a housing/utility allowance and cost of living adjustment and (usually/not always - read ALL information) cost of moving expenses are paid (your household goods up to a certain weight (usually between 10,000-15,000 pounds) and 1 vehicle). Again, READ ALL FINE PRINT and ask questions during your interview before you sign a contract. Interviews are usually via conference call (not always).

Now for host nation jobs, I don't have a clue - you'd have to check with the specific country's nursing licensing agency (called different things in different countries) about their requirements RE: education, work visas, etc... and I'm pretty sure you'd have to be basically fluent in the host nations native language even though most (if not all) Europeans learn English in school - not all of them remember more than a few words of a language they learned 30 years ago and never spoke since, so you can't assume ANY of them are fluent in English, though a lot of them are (but by no means as many as you think - think about it - what do you really remember of those 2 or 3 semesters of French or Spanish you leaned when you were 13, 14 years old? Not much unless you used it all the time since then). But if you work for the US military you only need to know English because all of your patients will be American soldiers and their dependants.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope this helps, good luck to you!