I am seriously considering moving to Europe within the next month or so, for personal reasons. I have been an RN for 6 years now and would love to continue my nursing career wherever I end up (either London or Lisbon, where I have family). However, I hear these horror stories of how underdeveloped the healthcare system is throughout Europe, compared to the States. I was told that nurses are not as respected, and their skills/duties are very much limited to basic patient care. The work schedules are completely different; one has to work all different shifts within the week. I realize there must be some truths, as well as exagerations to these stories.
If anyone has any words of advice or personal experiences to share, I would truly appreciate it.
Another issue, does anyone have any idea how I go about transferring my nursing license to be able to work there? Is it complicated?
You will need to check with the equivalent of the BON where you wish to work in Europe. In the past, you needed a regular program to meet the requirements, even for Canada at this time, at least for most of the provinces, unless that have made a recent change that I am not aware of.
I doubt that the MSN will cover the requirements, as you usually do not do much clinical time in the MSN program, and if you do, it is strictly in your specialized area.
If you are definite about working over there, I highly recommend that you contact them directly, as they are the ones that have final say in everything. Plus they are frequently changing their rulings over there right now.
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
You will need to check with the equivalent of the BON where you wish to work in Europe. In the past, you needed a regular program to meet the requirements, even for Canada at this time, at least for most of the provinces, unless that have made a recent change that I am not aware of.
I doubt that the MSN will cover the requirements, as you usually do not do much clinical time in the MSN program, and if you do, it is strictly in your specialized area.
If you are definite about working over there, I highly recommend that you contact them directly, as they are the ones that have final say in everything. Plus they are frequently changing their rulings over there right now.