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Are you interested in working as a nurse overseas? With the right qualifications, your passion for nursing could help you begin a new chapter in Australia, the US, or the UK.
In this guide, we’ll learn about what you’ll need to do to work as a registered nurse in each country, as well as what employment opportunities waiting for you abroad. Let’s explore:
Australia is a beautiful country to live, work, and study in. It boasts quality education, a relatively affordable cost of living, and breathtaking beaches. Even more, healthcare in the country is world-class. Back in 2017, researchers at the Commonwealth Fund based in New York ranked Australia’s healthcare system as the second-best among developed countries – beating places like Canada, Norway, and New Zealand.
For this reason, the requirements for a registered nurse in Australia are quite strict. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) oversee the registration of internationally qualified nurses and midwives in the country.
There is a lengthy list of things you’ll have to do before being able to register as a nurse and emigrate to Australia. Both NMBA and AHPRA will review whether you meet the edibility requirements.
When you first apply to register the NMBA will investigate:
How proficient you are in English
How recently you practiced nursing
Your professional indemnity insurance arrangements
If you have a criminal record
Additionally, they will review your qualifications to see if they line up with those of Australian nurses. You’ll then have to write an exam. If successful, you’ll then be able to register as a nurse or midwife.
After this, you can apply to immigrate to Australia. ANMAC reviews whether you have the experience needed to apply to migrate under the Australian Government’s General Skilled Migration Program. For official information on how to register as a nurse or midwife in Australia, visit NMBA’s website.
At the current rate, Australia will have a shortage of 109,000 nurses by 2025 – meaning there could plenty of opportunities for nurses from abroad. To find a position, Nursing Jobs Australia is a great website to visit. You can also search for jobs on employment sites like Indeed or Seek.
To learn more about what it’s like to be a nurse in Australia, visit the government website Job Outlook. It offers advice, explores sought-after skills, and outlines job prospects across the country.
Did you know that in the UK 94% of nursing students get a job within six months of graduation? Nursing in the UK is an incredibly sought-after skill, making it a wonderful place to work for international nurses, as well.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) oversees registering nurses in the UK. On their website, they offer a personalized tool that helps you discover exactly what you’ll need to register – and if you’re eligible.
To apply, you’ll have to:
Complete an eligibility and qualification application, where you’ll need to include a copy of your nursing certificate.
Take the Test of Competence. There are two parts to the test: the CBT and OSCE. The CBT is a computer-based multiple-choice exam, while the OSCE is a practical test that assesses your skills in a clinical setting.
Complete a registration application, where you’ll have to supply information about things like your health, character (including a police certificate), and English-language proficiency.
It takes about 30 days to hear if you’ve been successful.
To work in the UK, you can apply for a Health and Care Worker visa. This allows you to work with the NHS, which is the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system. You can also apply for a Skilled Worker visa. Nursing is on the UK’s Shortage Occupation List, which gives you an advantage when applying.
There has long been a nurse shortage in the UK; in fact, about 15% of nurses in the UK are trained abroad. A great website to check out for jobs is nurses.co.uk. You can begin to look for work on popular UK employment websites like Reed or Jobsite.
There are more than 3.8 million registered nurses working in the US; in fact, nurses make up the biggest part of the country’s healthcare workforce. So, how can international nurses get their qualifications recognized?
In the US, each state has its own Board of Nursing, so it’s a smart idea to choose where in the country you want to work before applying. Not each state follows the same process, but many of the requirements are similar. To register as a nurse, you’ll likely have to:
Get your credentials reviewed by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), which is a non-profit that evaluates people’s healthcare qualifications to ensure they are in line with US standards.
Write an English-language proficiency test
Take the CGFNS’ Qualifying Exam, which assesses your theoretical nursing knowledge. Some states require this test to sit your final exam.
Sit the final NCLEX-RN exam, which is run by The National Council of State Boards of Nursing
Apply for licensure with your state board.
The US government estimates there will be more than 200,000 registered nursing positions created each year between 2016-2016. To find work, we recommend searching through websites like NurseRecruiter and Nurse.com. Once you have a job offer, your employer can sponsor you for an occupational visa (such as an H-1B visa).
Being a qualified nurse makes you highly employable. And while registering as a nurse can be a multi-step process, it’s a fantastic opportunity to start a new chapter of your life abroad.
Our English language proficiency test, PTE Academic, is fast, fair, and accepted by governments around the world for immigration purposes. Learn more about PTE academic today!
We are not immigration agents. For all up-to-date information about visa rules and regulations, see the official guidelines on the Australian, UK, and US government websites.
During 2018 students, migrants, and professionals that sat PTE Academic received their scores in even less time than ever before. In fact, during 2018, 85.7% of PTE Academic test takers received their results within just 2 days.
Learning a language is much easier when you’re enjoying yourself – which is why watching movies can be a great way to immerse yourself in the language.
What better way is there to pick up new phrases and slang terms that you would not learn in the classroom, all with popcorn in hand?
It can be hard to know which movie to choose so here are our top ten to help you get started. These films are chosen for their language clarity and cultural insights, offering a fun way to improve English skills for beginners and advanced learners alike.
If you are not feeling confident, watch with subtitles and you will soon pick things up.
A fantastic choice for beginners, this film teaches English while taking you through the heart of American history. This movie is one of the best English movies for learners as Forrest speaks so slowly throughout the entire movie. It is also an iconic 90’s movie which will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.
Perfect for all ages, these films are a treasure trove of rich vocabulary set in a magical world. Many things make the Harry Potter series great for your linguistics skills! Aside from the rich vocabulary, due to the sheer number of films in the series you will get to build up your understanding of different characters, their personalities, accents and ways of communicating.
What a great idea for learning English – watching a film where the main character – a historic British figure – is learning to speak! King George VI struggles to communicate due to a speech impediment, which means pronunciation is a very big focus in this movie.
For lovers of classic literature, this film offers a window into historical British English. The movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice will also expose you to societal norms, colloquial expressions, formal language and phrases as this movie is set in the early 19th century England.
This is one of the best English movies to watch, especially for beginners. It is full of day-to-day phrases and a slower pace, so it is easier to follow along. It is also a Christmas classic for all the family.
Great for picking up informal turns of phrases, slang and expressions used by British people. It also showcases a variety of British (and Irish) accents, so you can expose yourself to a breadth of British ways of speaking.
A charming film for mastering conversational American English.
Immerse in everyday conversational English set in contemporary America.
Animated and perfect for beginners, this film is set in Medieval Scotland so you will get to experience the Scottish accent and culture as well as learning some everyday phrases and idioms.
This movie should be on your list if you are focusing on advanced language learning. The language and the plot are both really complex. You will be exposed to advanced vocabulary and narratives which are really thought-provoking.
These films offer an immersive, engaging, and often emotionally resonant context for language learning. Whether you're just starting or looking to refine your skills, each movie is a step forward in your language-learning adventure.
Ready to prepare for your English language test? Explore Smart Prep, which combines all our practice materials in one place, so it's easier for you to stay on track with your PTE preparation.
Smart Prep is a clear path to test day, guiding you through the official paid and free resources available for your test
It can be accessed whether you’ve booked a test or not – just create, or sign in to your myPTE account
Preparation materials include guided practice tests, introductory videos, video courses and test tips.
Smart Prep brings all our free and paid preparation into one convenient place, so you can mix and match to fit your unique needs. Perfect if you have booked your test and are not sure where to start with your preparation journey.
Here are four top tips to help you get started:
All you need to do is set up your free myPTE account, and you will have access to all our free and official prep resources — so everything you need to be ready ace your test is at your fingertips.
As close as you can get to the test without taking the real thing. Our unique Scored Practice Tests are just like a mock test and are marked in the same way as your PTE test. So you can see how you score and then focus on the areas you need to improve.
With five to choose from, we recommend you use them throughout your prep journey to check your progress.
Practice makes perfect and our PTE Academic Question Bank is packed full of questions with model answers, plus samples for speaking and writing. So you have plenty of opportunity to practice before the real thing.
Finally, don’t forget to download our free PTE Academic Handbook and Score Guide.
The handbook covers everything you need to know about taking PTE Academic - from how to prepare and test day policies, to how to retake your test if necessary.
And, the PTE Score Guide helps you understand things like what you’re graded on, how automated scores work, and how our scores compare with those of other English language tests.
PTE is more than an English language test. It’s your ticket to studying abroad.
