Nursing Schools Internationally

April 18, 2016 2:13 PM

I'm looking into going to nursing school in a few years and I'm trying to understand what the options are internationally.

I'm a US citizen with a BA, but I'd like to consider studying abroad if I do a nursing program. I'm not especially tied to one place, so it's not like there's a particular region that I should be focusing on.

Right now, I'm mainly concerned with understanding whether an RN is an RN everywhere, or would I need extra training to practice somewhere other than where I trained?

Does anybody have experience studying nursing outside their home country, or with working in a different country than the one they trained in?

I'd also be interested to hear about any other major regional differences in studying and practicing nursing.

I've read this previous question.

posted by aniola to Education (4 answers total)

Replying because nobody else has answered---I know nothing about nursing, but I did my teaching degree overseas. I worked with a recruiter who specialized in international programs. He only sent people to countries whose standards were very compatible with ours and to schools whose programs were pre-vetted to be equivalent. My particular program exceeded the practical hours I needed, for instance. When I came home, I had to register with the college of teachers here and pay some fees so they could assess my equivalency. That cost a little money and took a few months, but once it was done, I was pretty much good to go.
posted by JoannaC at 5:37 PM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

You might find answers in the World Nursing section of allnurses.
posted by shiny blue object at 6:17 PM on April 18, 2016

Hi. I'm a nurse- I went to school in US and worked here and on Canada.

There is a huge range on what nurses do in different countries. Going to school in Canada, England or Phillipines then working in U.S. Will be the easiest. Nursing in those countries are similar enough to nursing here so state boards of nursing are more likely to grant you a lisence. The key thing to remember is that each state has its own criteria on education, clinical hours etc... So make sure you can meet the requirements in at least one state.

Canada has excellent nursing education; they were some of the best nurses I ever worked with.

Best of luck on your journey, sorry I don't have more info.
posted by SyraCarol at 3:20 PM on April 19, 2016

I forgot to say: another option is to do your general courses (biology, anatomy...) overseas, and then come back to states to finish your nursing courses.
Or get a four year degree overseas in something else and then get a masters in nursing in the states.
posted by SyraCarol at 4:18 PM on April 19, 2016