World Nursing, Please Read

suzanne4, RN · Nov 4, 2005

You need to take the licensing exam in each of the other countries, as well as go thru immigration to be able to get a visa that will permit you to work. The exams are also in their language. You do not get credit for having the US license unless you work on one of the military bases.

And unfortunately, you cannot begin the application process until after you have actually graduated from nursing school and have a completed set of transcripts.

Hope that this helps.:wink2:

KatieBell · Nov 4, 2005

I've worked in several African countries and a few in latin America. In these instances, I have only had to provide appropriate documentation of my education to whomever I was working for. The organization then handled the work permit issues.

This is not the best place for a new nurse to start out. Resources are less- and knowing truely what is going on with a patient (because you have seen it before many times) can make the difference in life/disability/death. You need to be able to improvise (so knowing the theory behind a chest tube drainage system suddenly becomes more important.) And you need to be able to deal with large disaster scale interventions- this is usually not the strong suit of a brand new nurse.

In addition, there is more a need for managers of local staff in developing countries- rather than someone to actually spike IV bags and give medications.

I did it for some time, the pay is horrendous, but the experiences were indeed priceless (note I said priceless, not enjoyable or rewarding- there is nothing rewarding about watching a PPH die because there isn't enough blood in the blood bank.)

Peace Corps uses nurses, but most often their health programs are things that any college grad can do though at times they have different positions.

Working in developed countries, I have had do the visa process/immigration/work permit. Some travel companies that have international contracts sometimes walk you through it. Nursing through Europe would indeed be difficult, unless you speak a multitude of languages! But, if you want to nurse in Ireland or Australia, I know several international companies have positions for travelers- again youwould need experience to travel with an agency...

Best Wishes

hippienurse · Nov 4, 2005

You can definitely do this with the peace corp after you have your degree! Goodluck!