timkru

While I worked as an RN for a while, my classmates that did not were significantly more nervous about starting their new advanced practice nurse role. Really, I think the most important aspect of working as an RN however is not the clinical experience, but rather knowing how to work with patients. In reality, that's what gives me an edge in working with patients over that of the MD's and DO's in my practice...is my ability to work with patients. If you don't get that experience as an RN, you have similar experience as the typical MD or DO student and struggle likewise with communication and general knowledge of what it takes to be a patient.

As mentioned by Claire above, the Peace Corps offers some significant benefits. Addtionally, there are also programs allowing an individual to obtain their masters degree (i.e. MPH) while serving in the Peace Corps. If you'd like to perform patient care however, you'd be better off seeking a practice degree like that of a nurse midwife or nurse practitioner. While the role is not translatable in much of the developed world, there are many places in the developing world that you can practice according to your education. While an MPH is beneficial, once obtaining an advanced practice nurse degree, you may not find it necessary unless you'd like to have more publication clout or if you'd desire to work with the CDC, USAID, or other organization that does more community based health rather than patient care.

In the off chance you're still looking at this subject, I wanted to encourage you there are opportunities to work among the commonwealth countries (i.e. UK, South Africa, Australia) as their Nurse Practitioner roles are similar to that of the states. As mentioned before, it is necessary to get a working visa in the country to allow that to happen, but in those countries, there is a shortage of primary care clinicians allowing an individual a possible expedited route. For the rest of Europe however, you have to see if they even have an advanced practice nurse role. Some places have developing roles (i.e. Netherlands and Sweden) while others have a surplus of doctors (i.e. Italy, France, and Greece) and often do not even have the need for nurses to develop a greater scope of practice.

Wow, sorry no one responded to this before! If I hadn't just have registered, I'm sure I would have been able to see this before. If you're still interested in looking at the various role differences, much of the Middle East does not recognize Nurse Practitioners or have a similar role. More of the developing Middle East (meaning excluding the UAE, Saudi, etc.) may allow individuals to practice according to their educated potential, but that will require an individual to work through the levels of the ministry of health for the country. On another note however, is your interest in midwifery. Many countries in the Middle East do not allow individuals to work across genders due to religious beliefs. As a result, many nurses perform the role of a midwife with even basic training. As a nurse midwife, you can rather offer this service with more in depth training and have greater versatility in the region you're looking at. As an FYI, India does not recognize nurse practitioners and at this time, the country does not seem to be leaning toward utilizing them in the near future.

While I would like to give you more information on the subject, there are various roles of advanced practice nurses throughout the world. I cannot give you the link to my blog (because Allnurses erases messages when personal blogs are referenced on this site), I can tell you there are various roles of nurse practitioners throughout the world outside of working in embassies! I want to applaud your desire to work internationally with those who need it the most! Good luck!

Honestly, I graduated with my FNP certification and got a job readily...along with all my classmates. I don't think any of them were seeking H1b visas however, but in the event you were pursuing working with a larger organization it would be more likely. Since you are pursuing gerentological nursing, it will be more limiting and you may find it a little more difficult to get a job. Meanwhile, you can still do the same care (just not have the specialization) with an FNP and increase your likelihood of getting a job readily that fits your needs.