NP practice in MEXICO?

zacarias, ASN, RN · Mar 16, 2006

No it not a recognized "position? in Mexico. Now you could go with a volunteer work with a group like Doctors without Borders and work as an NP with that organization depending on what you're going to do. But you can't just go to Mexico and get an NP job.

Even the places like Ajijic, Lake Chapala, San Miguel de Allende, you would speak fluent Spanish.

brownrice · Mar 16, 2006

I would wonder why an English speaking healthcare provider would not be needed in San Miguel De Allende? I have been there many times, but never checked out the healthcare scene.

zacarias, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2006

An English-speaking healthcare worker may be needed in San Miguel, but not as a paid NP. If someone spoke fluent Spanish and drastically wanted to live a different occupational life, they could work as a nurse in Mexico.

Someone even offered me to that in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

texas-rn-fnp · Mar 17, 2006

Mexico is not on the same health care system as the United States. Four countries, USA, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, are pretty much similar. It would be difficult to practice nursing at the same level anywhere else.

In Mexico, all nurses are pretty much equivilent to what we would consider nurses aides. If you need an IV, a doctor puts it in. If you need a foley, the doctor does it all.

Being a nurse in Mexico is lower than being a secretary. You would be about the same social status as the garbage collector. It is quite the opposite of the USA. So don't get your hopes up on working in Mexico anytime soon. The good news is that due to the low cost of living, you can retire to Mexico on your US retirement and not have to work. You could have a housekeeper, cook, and driver for only about $10 each per day.

brownrice · Mar 17, 2006

Yes, retirement there sounds nice! Work hard in the US, then go down there. Thanks for the info. Have you traveled to Mexico much since you're in Tejas?

texas-rn-fnp · Mar 17, 2006

My wife is from Mexico and has traveled to just about everywhere there. I have been from Laredo to Puerta Vallarta. I am in California for 2 years with the Air Force, but yes I will be heading back to San Antonio for good after that. Then I will be looking for a summer house on the Caribbean.

zacarias, ASN, RN · Mar 18, 2006

texas fnp,

I'm not discrediting your experience. But in my experience, nurses do not have the same status as a garbage collector. My familiarity with Mexican nurses though is mostly in large university and private facilities.

bancho · Mar 18, 2006

I agree with Zacarias, it is not true that nurses have the same status as a garbage collectors in Mexico because there is a well structured Nursing education. I got my first degree in a Mexican university, a bachelors in medical technology, and this university offered a bachelors in Nursing at the time I was going to school. However, since there is a total lack of regulation of professions in Mexico, anyone can claim he/she is a nurse because there is no enforced licensure in place. Thus, private hospitals and clinics train their own "nurses", which contributes to the belittlement of nursing as a profession. Furthermore, in the large government hospitals, there are only a few nurses who supervise personnel trained on the job with no formal education.

The NP role doesn’t exist in Mexico. I have some friends in Mexico with MSN degrees and most of them are in the field of hospital administration. I believe that the only countries with NP’s are USA, UK, Canada, New zealand and Australia.

zenman · Mar 18, 2006

I believe that the only countries with NP's are USA, UK, Canada, New zealand and Australia.

Add Thailand and Africa to that list.

texas-rn-fnp · Mar 18, 2006

I did not mean to offend anyone but this is the impression I have gotten from information obtained from my family and friends in Mexico, in addition to first hand interaction in the US of people that have identified themselves as being a nurse in Mexico. Overall, my impression is that they are nowhere close to the level that nurses are in the USA. I am proud of the extremely high level that our nurses have obtained in the USA.

bancho · Mar 20, 2006

No offense taken. However, you have to realize that the status of a profession is only a reflection of a society as a whole. Thus, I don't think is fair to compare third world countries' level of Nursing technology development with our own. In this respect, we should compare ourselves with countries with a similar development such as the UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, etc. Perhaps many of the Mexican nurses you have run into in the USA are not really nurses. I know many Mexican CNA's in this country who routinely claim to be nurses in Mexico.