Good INTERNATIONAL Travel Agencies to work in the UK from the US??

NedRN · Aug 20, 2021

Two years is the minimum experience required in the US to have a shot at being minimally qualified to work as a traveler here. As alien to each other as two domestic hospitals can be here, it will be even more of a jolt to work in the UK with less experience.

Yes, go ahead and apply to the UK now if they will accept your application without experience. After that, you are best off working with UK agencies. I think it will be hard to find a US agency sending US nurses to the UK. Mind you, I did get help from Cross Country about 23 years ago but even they handed me off to a UK associate and then I became a normal National Health Service employee (with benefits) - albeit one with a contract end date. Agencies in London are probably the best, and perhaps the only choice - with most contract workers placed there. But pick wisely, as the work permit will only name one employer. Agency work in London is similar to per diem work here, but I assume you can get block booking. In my case, that was the NHS.

I can tell you it was the worst travel assignment I've done in 25 years of travel from the workplace perspective (kind of unique circumstances), but I certainly enjoyed my eight months there (6 month contract, but with work permit delays and paid holidays...). At the time, 1998, most US nurses I heard about only lasted weeks on their job. That was the case for the one other nurse with CC helped similarly that went about the same time as me.

So international travel has all the drawbacks and advantages to regular travel - just on steroids. It can be tough. So be sure you know your clinical stuff before going. I'd recommend at least one year travel here first after you do your two years as staff. That will get you acclimated to the vast melting pot cultural and practice environments here first as a warmup.