American wanting to move abroad, what's the best bet for an registered nurse?
Hi there, I’m a registered nurse in Phoenix, Arizona and I’m seriously considering moving abroad because this country is driving me insane for a lot of reasons. I was considering moving to Israel since I’m Jewish and I’ve heard they have a better healthcare system there and pay nurses well but this war has made me not really consider that anymore, so I’m open to suggestions. Thanks
Spain? We’ve free Healthcare, lots of British and German immigrate here to escape the bad weather. I’ve never seen any jew communities in Spain but I don’t believe you’ll be in trouble for having said faith.
Check out Switzerland. Huge private healthcare network, expensive country but the salary is high too. Excellent public transport, good social protection… And magnificent landscapes, smack in the middle of Europe you have access to everywhere. You’ll have to learn French or German tho. It can be a bit quiet, but very very safe. Traditional food is meh, especially if you’re not a fan of melted cheese by the bucket.
Switzerland intentionally makes things hard for Americans. For example, it’s very hard to open a bank account because the US government have harsh reporting rules for American citizens. And Switzerland has strong financial privacy rules. So they just deny American citizens.
In the UK visas are awarded on a points system. You get X number of points for having a college degree, Y points for it being in a certain field, etc. from what I’ve been told, nurses and doctors immediately qualify for all points required to get a visa just based on profession
However, as someone that moved to the UK 13 years ago, I don’t consider it a great destination. Prexit really screwed everything up. Having an EU passport would have been an incredible complement to my US passport, but now a British passport is no more useful that my American passport, especially since most of my travel is to the European continent. Also, the NHS is being gutted continually so in all id just say it’s not the most desirable location if you’re in the healthcare field.
At minimum, I’d look at countries that are properly in the EU, which includes Ireland. Other countries in western Europe would be great as well I think, depending on what kind of life you’re looking to live in. Something I’ve noticed is that generally Europe very quickly transitions from city to countryside. In the US you’ll get suburbs that stretch for dozens of miles past the core infrastructure of the nearest major city, where as in Europe it’s usually straight to farming fields and two lane roads.
France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Germany would all be excellent locations to start a new life in healthcare I think. Each of those (except the Netherlands maybe) would expect you to be working towards fluency in their language though, so if you’re not interested in learning a foreign language that is definitely something to consider - which is why Ireland and Dublin specifically is so desirable to Tech companies and has been for the last 15 years.
In general I would say that as someone in the healthcare field, you do have a job that is valued highly as far as getting a visa is concerned in Europe.
Germany is desperate for nurses, currently. Just a heads-up though: Whether you’ll feel welcomed here sadly still depends on your skin color! And most Jews don’t show their heritage and faith publicly, again sadly for good reason.
I don’t want to botch your plans but you gotta keep in mind that the educational systems in the EU and US are very different. Being a RN might not mean a lot abroad. I Germany there is however a lack of nurses and programs to recruit internationally. Maybe the situation is similar in other EU countries.
Where ever you are planing to go: Compare salaries cost of living, and what is publicly funded and what not. I think many people are turned off from moving because salaries are lower…
An RN degree in the US is often a bachelor’s degree. They didn’t really have university degrees for nurses in Germany (there are nursing management degrees). There is obviously a licensing test, but that should be the only barrier.
Working in healthcare --> always consider Norway, because they pay good and their system is well funded. That’s so much more than you can say about most other countries.
If you don’t want to move far and want a similar but more centrist culture, you could move to Canada — this would make it easy to move back in the future if you want. And unlike many Americans, as a RN, you could actually move without much difficulty. I know a number of RNs who have made the move and are happy about it.
Healthcare is kind of in a situation in many parts of Canada now. Look into the situation in each of the provinces you’re considering. (Healthcare is run at the provincial level, not federal)
I’m not in healthcare, but I’m trying to stay politically aware.
We’d love to have you. I just want you to be prepared with the best information.
I don’t want to dash your hopes of emigrating to a better country, but don’t underestimate how painful emigration can be. You can’t just pick a country and move there. Moving countries is not like moving states. You’ll need to convince the country you’re going that you’re worth letting in. If I were you, I’d start with a list of countries that might be willing to let you in, and work your way down from there.
I would suggest Europe, the Nordics in particular; the Nordics are some of the best countries to live in in the entire world, with (in my opinion) rather pleasant politics in comparison. Germany and other north-western countries tend to score well too, but you’ll have to look into how much they match your ideals and culture. Europe is generally on pretty good terms with the USA, which helps a lot. However, you’re not alone in wanting to move there. Don’t be surprised if the process of applying for permission to enter the country takes months to years and several thousand dollars in paperwork, time and money you don’t get back if you’re refused. Things can go a bit smoother if you’ve got a claim on citizenship by blood or family history, but that too can take time and paperwork to arrange, and is entirely dependent on the current laws in the countries your ancestors are from.
In many countries, being a highly skilled worker gives you a major advantage. However, your nursing education may not be accredited in other countries, or be considered “highly skilled” enough; with some bad luck, you may need to go back to school in your country of choice to get your education revalidated (if you’re let in for that). The same goes for driver’s licenses and certifications you may have achieved over the years.
One trick you may be able to use if you’re of European descent is getting European citizenship by blood (I believe Italy, Spain, and a bunch of other countries allow for this) and then use the freedom the Schengen accords provide to move elsewhere in Europe, skipping a whole lot of paperwork. This way, you can, for example, work in Denmark without needing to go through the strict Danish immigration system (though validating your education may still need work).
Just as an example: if you want to apply for a license for a general nurse in Norway as a non-EEA citizen, processing time takes at least 11 months if you provide all the required paperwork and costs $152 to file (which you don’t get back if you’re refused). You need a license to be a general nurse; without a license, you can’t do your job. Without a job, you can’t just move there; you can get a temporary holiday visa but you can’t apply for jobs with that. This is on top of the other requirements, like speaking B2 level Norwegian. If you apply, you may be given a deadline to conform with the requirements.
One trick you may be able to use if you’re of European descent is getting European citizenship by blood (I believe Italy, Spain, and a bunch of other countries allow for this) and then use the freedom the Schengen accords provide to move elsewhere in Europe, skipping a whole lot of paperwork. This way, you can, for example, work in Denmark without needing to go through the strict Danish immigration system (though validating your education may still need work).
My parents are of South African descent and afaik the only country I can move into automatically is Israel which atm is not on my list of movable countries. But Ill look into it for sure
Actually, as a nurse I guess it makes sense - The few that don’t are seniors.
As a native speaker I’m probably very biased, but I’m pretty sure norwegian is among the easier languages to learn. Just be aware of the WIDE variety of dialects - Some of them differ more than Norwegian and Swedish do.
Oh well in that case, then I really am considering Norway. Full disclosure: I’m a communist so one reason I’d move there is the fact it has communist parties (or at least one Im aware of) in their parliament.
Kind of. We have one political party simply named “Red”. They’re the result of a few far left parties joined forces a few years back, two of which were communists. I’m not a big fan of communism myself, as that’s a bit too autocratic for my taste, but the fusion has resulted in a party that is more evened out and focused on general socialism.
Are you what Americans consider a communist or an actual one? Cause in Europe you will find that what Americans consider far left in politics is actually right of center still.
There are right wing populists in virtually every democracy these days. It’s not an issue unique to the US. I think it’s a byproduct of our times. Economic uncertainty + geopolitical tensions and war = hard shift to the right.
Yes but Germany saw millions of protestors over a sub-20% party. In the US, 50% of people want to vote in someone who is openly fascist and wants to abolish democracy and round up immigrants in camps.
There was a 62% voter turnout in the 2020 election. 46.8% of voters voted for Trump.
0.62 x 0.468 = .290
So actually, 29% of people voted for Trump.
If we do the same calculation for AfD in 2021. 76.6% voter turnout in Germany and AfD got 10.4% of votes.
0.766 x 0.104 = 0.799
So the difference looks like 29% to 8% US to Germany.
But you have to remember the US and Germany are different political systems. There are only two parties in the US, so each of the big parties (DNC, GOP) have many different factions. Moderate Republicans would be an entirely different party from Trumpian “MAGA” Republicans if the US had a party system like Germany.
They functionally ally together in order to form a government, much like different parties will do in parliamentary systems in Europe.
So if we for example take the center-right Christian conservative party and add that to AfD, which in my opinion more closely resembles the GOP, we get the following numbers.
76.6% voter turnout. AfD got 10.4% of votes. CDU got 24.1% of votes.
0.766 x (0.104 + 0.241) = .264
So we’re actually looking at a ratio more like 29% US to 26% Germany. Fundamentally not that different.
And last thing I’d like to add. Shifts in the political Overton window like we’re seeing right now happens at an exponential rate. It’s why Germany in the early 1900s went from a liberal democratic society to full blown Fascist dictatorship fairly quickly.
I think the process has started in the US first, but the movement is shifting to other countries too. US news is emphasized because of the importance of the US as a superpower, but this process of the hard shift to the right is happening in many countries.
We see it not only in certain parties gaining ground like Fratelli d’Italia, Sweden Democrats, Rassemblement National, Alternative für Deutschland, etc - but the rhetoric changing. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric that would be rare a decade or two ago is seeing a large increase.
We see populist like Argentina’s Milei, Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Canada’s Poilievre, etc all following the footsteps of Trump and being wildly successful. People globally feel insecure and it’s a ripe environment for these types of right-wing populists.
I view the US as the leader of the Zietgiest right now, much like Germany was the leader of the Zietgiest during WW2. It’s leading the pack, but we’re all headed towards the same destination.
Add comment