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How to Progress Your Career in Nursing from Anywhere in the World

by Melissa Bell
6 minutes read

If you like to travel, are an ex-pat, or live outside of the US, you may be considering how you can advance your career in nursing from outside of your home country. Luckily, nursing is one of the professions where it is easy to progress without having to remain in one place, allowing you to train, practice and make progress in your career from any location in the world. Here are some top tips on finding progression opportunities worldwide.

Take an Online Course

Now that technology has started to have a variety of effects on learning and education across the world, it has become less necessary for people to travel to accredited nursing schools in order to complete an education. Rather than having to remain on campus, online courses give you the ability to progress your career in nursing from anywhere in the world. Online courses are hugely beneficial – they let you complete coursework and assignments, give you access to course materials and lectures and enable you a contact with a tutor, no matter where you are. Many of the colleges providing these courses do not demand any on-campus attendance, and not only offer qualifications in registered nursing, but also progression training, such as courses in nursing leadership. For example, Baylor University offers an online DNP in executive leadership for nurses, giving them the opportunity to learn the skills needed for management opportunities, such as allocating human resources and communicating with employees.

nurse-stethoscope-medicine-doctor

Volunteer Abroad

Not only can you get nursing qualifications from anywhere in the world, but nursing also gives you the chance to accept volunteering positions worldwide. This means that you can combine your new career with travel opportunities, as well as train to become a nurse, no matter where you live. Many nurses volunteering abroad will be working with people living in disadvantaged countries or those with nurse shortages, providing the care and attention that local communities need to survive.

The best volunteering programs for nurses include:

  1. African Impact;
  2. Projects Abroad;
  3. International Volunteer HQ;
  4. Love Volunteers;
  5. Maximo Nivel.

These global opportunities will enable you to get a more general understanding of nursing, as well as the nursing opportunities offered in other countries, and will combine your knowledge with a sense of cultural understanding that can bolster your empathy as a nurse. You can find nursing opportunities in countries worldwide by working with volunteering schemes and placement companies that can help to place you in areas where nurses are in high demand.

Become a Travel Nurse

You can also progress your career as a nurse from anywhere in the world by deciding to become a travel nurse, traveling between different positions globally, where nurses are in high demand. Not only will becoming a travel nurse allow you to progress your career from anywhere in the world, but it gives you the chance to experience new and interesting places and also offers many other advantages, such as good pay and free housing. Becoming a travel nurse will help you to learn basic nursing skills, such as empathy and independence, in a new environment. It will also help you to avoid some of the negatives of a nursing career, such as exhaustion, underappreciation and financial struggles.

The best places to work as a travel nurse include:

  1. Costa Rica
  2. Ecuador
  3. Ethiopia
  4. Honduras

To find jobs as a travel nurse in order to progress your career and choose a new specialism, you should visit nursing job boards that can help you to find a position in a location that appeals most to you.

Get Licensed in Other States and Countries

If you want to ensure that you can practice as a nurse anywhere in the world, you need to make sure that you can get licensed as a nurse in other states and countries. This can help you to advance your career by opening you up to other opportunities that would previously have been barred to you due to where you live. Some of the best countries for nurses include the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia, with the highest-paid salaries coming from countries such as the USA, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

To get licensed in another state, you will need to:

  1. Pass your NCLEX examination (you do not have to do this for each new state);
  2. Submit an application to the state’s board of nursing;
  3. Get Your Licensure by Endorsement online;
  4. If the state is a Compact Licensure State, your license will be automatically transferred.

This is a slightly different process when applying to become a nurse in another country. Although some countries will allow you to accept positions with the proof of qualifications and experience, you may also have to register with the nursing board of each country when you apply for jobs within them, such as the UK and Australia.

Look for Global Development Opportunities

Nurses looking to progress their career should always be looking for professional development opportunities wherein they can gain vital experience and learn new skills. However, the opportunities that you are looking for to grow your resume will not always be situated in the country in which you are located. In that case, it is important that you look for international development opportunities around the world to ensure that you are finding the position that can most benefit you. For instance, there may be training schemes, qualifications, or positions offered in other countries that your home country currently does not offer. Then, you should be able to advance your career from anywhere by accessing and accepting these opportunities, no matter what country they arise in.

Nursing is not a static profession, and it is simple to practice and progress in your career as a nurse from anywhere in the world, whether you want to travel abroad, or are simply living as an ex-pat within another country. By utilizing training and placement opportunities, there is no end to the global opportunities available to nurses worldwide.

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