I think if you were to ask many people, whether they are nurses or not, if they could do with a nice holiday, you may get an overwhelming response saying yes! But, what nurses can do is take work in a far away country and take a very long holiday all at once and one additional bonus is you can put it all on a CV.
I met with a friend the other day who told me that she is off to australia for a few months. She has handed her notice in on the ward where she works and is jetting off to a new job down under with two other nurses. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous, but then I have thought that perhaps I should look into working abroad...what a tempting thought.
Sounds incredible and too good to be true. Better pay, better living and working conditions and a whole host of new adventures, but is it a case of the grass is always greener on the other side or is it same situation, different country? If it was that simple, wouldn't every nurse be doing it?
I guess it isn't that simple. There are countless adverts for nurses to leave the UK for sunny shores such as the middle east and Australia. My friend spoke particularly about the difficulty of obtaining registration in Australia. this alone seems to be no easy task. I also wonder how some nurses feel about uprooting their entire lives and taking themselves away from family and friendships on the promise of a quick buck and a sunny beach.
I wonder if it is easier for young nurses with no children, partners or mortgages to pack up and head off to another country, I have to confess that I am often very keen to take advantage of what appears to be on offer, but what is actually waiting when I get there? Or put another way, what is stopping me?
When I think about going to work abroad, I also think about the cultural change, for example in the middle east...I am however assured by one international agency that I am not required to learn arabic and that most of the staff and patients understand and speak english. I guess the shortage of nurses worldwide is such that countries are prepared to overlook some things to better the situation.
I have also tried to look at it from another angle, more specifically all the nurses who have come from Africa and the Philippines to work here in the UK. I have no doubt, that without their being here, the situation in healthcare would be dire, but I often wonder how hard it has been for some of them to leave people behind, in a country where actually obtaining work in the Philippines as a nurse is difficult and in some cases, leaving their children behind to support a foreign healthcare system...all to make a bit more money.
Are nurses also leaving one set of politics and problems, to go to another country and find another? If one country is terribly short of nurses, surely that would set a nurse to think why, as they say...there is no smoke without fire? this piece of writing may sound depressingly negative, but I do wonder what awaits nurses in the land far far away.
I guess thats half of the adventure though...the not knowing what you will find, I did contact one of the agencies to find out more. I'm keen to see what opportunities are out there. who knows, you will never know unless you get out there and try it. I wish my friend the very best of luck in Australia and selfishly, I hope she doesn't enjoy it so much she decides to stay. Can't wait to see it for myself someday. regardless of if you are a nurse, I am a firm believer that travelling makes for well-rounded people in society with a lot of stories to tell
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