Travel Nursing and Live in Mexico

[GaCaneFan, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

I want to start living in Mexico. My plan is to do a 3 month travel assignment followed by 6 months off (live in Mexico), rinse and repeat. I'm not close to retirement so I still want to work and keep my license active. I almost have my California license although that's been a mission in and of itself. I also have a compact license based out of Georgia. I saw one thread about someone wanting to do this but it was from 2004 and it was closed. My dad retired to Guadalajara 2 years ago and is living solely off of his social security and he lives really well. He has none of the struggles seniors here living solely off their SS have. I have visited him multiple times since he moved and have fallen in love with the city and am planning to buy a place before I make the jump. I have some advantages, Im a dual citizen (am in process of obtaining my Mexican passport), I speak fluent Spanish, and in helping him get set up I've become very familiar with the cost of living and its so doable it feels like a life "cheat code". In fact, I could live 12 months comfortably from 3 months of work as a travel nurse but 12 months is a long time to be "out of nursing" so in that regard I don't want to do that. The 3 on 6 off is a much more attractive option for me. 

Most of my experience is in OccHealth/Employee Health and Outpatient/Urgent Care, I get calls and emails all the time offering assignments in this so I'm not worried about there being a lack of work. I'm also an NP so I could take a travel assignment as an RN or NP but honestly I probably rather do this as an RN cause the RN license is more portable than the NP license so my options would be greater. Also, it's a pain in the *** to get an NP license in other states, although I might end up adding my NP license in Cali once my RN license drops. I guess I am wondering if anyone has recent experience with this cause although I feel pretty confident I have my bases covered I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

[NedRN]

One thing you may be missing is that your compact license status is predicated on you being a resident of Georgia. If you plan to reside in Mexico, you can maintain your Georgia license as a single state only, and will have to get single state licenses in every state you plan to work in, or in which you have an offer. Attempts to work around this requirement (by using a mailing address in Georgia) could result in sanctions on every nursing license held. Not worth it, but also easy enough to obtain licenses in work states. 

As a side note, non-compact states such as California generally have better pay rates than compact states, offering payback on the hassles of getting single state licenses.

[GaCaneFan, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

2 hours ago, NedRN said:

One thing you may be missing is that your compact license status is predicated on you being a resident of Georgia. If you plan to reside in Mexico, you can maintain your Georgia license as a single state only, and will have to get single state licenses in every state you plan to work in, or in which you have an offer. Attempts to work around this requirement (by using a mailing address in Georgia) could result in sanctions on every nursing license held. Not worth it, but also easy enough to obtain licenses in work states. 

As a side note, non-compact states such as California generally have better pay rates than compact states, offering payback on the hassles of getting single state licenses.

Thanks for heads up! ?? I figured I’d be better off picking up contracts in Cali so that’s why I made the expense myself of getting it. Based on searches over the past year it doesn’t appear I’ll have any trouble finding contracts in Cali. But if getting single state licenses is what I have to do then so be it ??

[NedRN]

California’s unique nursing staffing ratio law initiated and supported by strong nursing unions have made for copious traveler requirements for a long time now. That is not going away. 

[Gabrielle33]

I too have been thinking of doing this for years . I know of a nurse in our hospital who moved to the Baja peninsula - he works per diem though and bunches his shifts together in SF. The flight is short and per diem pay in SF is excellent , it works out pretty well for him .

May I ask though , what are your plans for health insurance when you are not working ? 

[GaCaneFan, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

On 6/1/2022 at 12:21 AM, Gabrielle33 said:

I too have been thinking of doing this for years . I know of a nurse in our hospital who moved to the Baja peninsula - he works per diem though and bunches his shifts together in SF. The flight is short and per diem pay in SF is excellent , it works out pretty well for him .

May I ask though , what are your plans for health insurance when you are not working ? 

Good question. As far as healthcare goes I don’t have any issues getting care in Mexico sin ce that’s where I’ll be when I’m off. There are affordable high quality options, especially in a big city like Guadalajara. Also I don’t have any chronic conditions that require ongoing care, and usually those can be mitigated quite effectively thru lifestyle choices. For emergency care I’ve seen heard of expats in Mexico get an emergency plan that covers them anywhere around the world. But to be honest I haven’t researched that bit a lot cause I’m not there yet, but I will once I’m ready cause that would be a necessity since accidents can happen at any time to anyone. On Youtube I’ve seen prices thrown around from $25 per month to as high as $100 per month but I have no idea what would cause the difference in price so I can’t speak on that too much.