Tea Time Travels

I chose to study nursing in college, which has definitely had many rewards and challenges over the years. Despite its hardships, nursing has granted me an opportunity to live in a different country, which is one of the greatest rewards I could have hoped for.

I have been a nurse for 5 years, always in the field of oncology. I was living in Michigan and worked both inpatient and outpatient settings. I wanted to have more autonomy and increase my knowledge and expertise, so decided to go back to school to be a Nurse Practitioner. I graduated with my Family Nurse Practitioner degree in 2021, right before my husband and I decided we wanted to move to a different country.

It became quickly apparent that becoming a nurse in a different country wouldn’t be easy. There were only a few countries that accepted my US certification but none of them excited us like Europe did. I dreamed about hopping on a train to Germany to see the Christmas markets, jet setting to Spain to drink sangria at sunset, and driving through the countryside of Ireland’s lush landscapes.

I felt like Cameron Diaz in The Holiday when she is looking for a place to vacation and says “Where do they speak English? England!” That is exactly what we did… Except we were moving there.

So the research began about jobs, visas, certifications. Just as I suspected I would not be able to practice nursing with my certification in the United Kingdom with my current certification. But the United Kingdom had a healthcare visa that would provide sponsorship for up to 5 years as a way for us to get there.

So despite having a brand new master’s degree, I went back to square one and started the process to become a certified nurse in England. This involved registering with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, providing documentation from my current board of nursing, taking a Computer Based Test, and knowing that once I arrived in England I had to take another test called the OSCE.

Surprisingly, one of the easier parts was actually getting a job there. At first I signed up with an international recruitment agency, had an interview, and was offered a position hours after the interview was completed. However, they told me the hospital would be about an hour outside of the city and I would not know what floor I would be on until I got there. I then realized that I could be a bit more picky with my search. I started applying directly to positions through different hospitals that were centrally located. I received about 5 more offers, but finally accepted a position at an outpatient oncology daycare unit. This was very similar to my position in Michigan which would hopefully make the transition easier.

Once I got my job offer, I worked with the international recruitment team to provide documents, get background checks, provide evidence of my U.S. registration and lots of logistics that I won’t bore you with.

Finally, my husband and I received our visas and we were ready to begin our new adventure. My company paid for my flight, while my husband got to fly first class with our dog Cookie (a whole different story that I will go into in a future post).

There were many times throughout the long process where we questioned whether it was worth it, but after wandering the quaint streets of London, seeing shows in the heart of the city, and gazing upon the River Thames at night, I can confidently say that it was.