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
Personally, as a fellow Jewish leftist I’d advise against moving to Israel. If you think politics are toxic here (maybe I’m reading into what you mean by things driving you insane), Israel is much worse. I’m not sure which countries have the easiest visa process but you probably have some flexibility as an RN. You could look into a travel nurse job that lets you move across Europe and try a few different places out.
By driving me insane, I was in fact referring to the rightward drift of the US. And I don’t just mean Trump, but the entire GOP and the fact the only opposition to them is the limp centrist Democratic Party. So yeah, Israel is probably much worse post 10/7.
Europe would be cool, Germany especially though I’ve heard its less safe now.
Israeli politics have been fucked for a long time. Netanyahu has always been a dangerous extremist, and the fact that people repeatedly voted for him speaks volumes for the political culture.
To be fair there’s huge protests against Bibi but your point is well taken
In Germany nurses are often not well payd IMO, but there are different kinds of nurses, so idk… there are strikes in the news from time to time. … but at least it’s okay and well accepted to strike in Germany
Yeah but I guess I’d be concerned a bit about the rise of antisemitism there Ive heard about
In Germany? You’ll be fine, they’re very aware of the threat of antisemitism but it’s not any worse than elsewhere.
Now, whether German culture is enjoyable is another question.
Well I like beer so doesn’t that make me German deep down? :p
Liking one of humanity’s oldest and most commonly drank beverages does not make you German, no
I’m a nurse in germany. From what I hear from colleagues who studied/worked abroad, the job is very different in Germany than most other countries. (I haven’t met anyone who worked in the US.) Mostly, nursing in germany involves a lot less medical tasks, which are reserved for doctors. In turn you’ll do a lot more bedside care.
So its more like patient care technicians?
I had to google what that is. According to this link https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/careers/what-does-a-patient-care-technician-do It involves a lot of the same tasks. I do everything that is listed there, except escorting patients and cleaning rooms. But i also have more tasks. I administer medication (I can only administer medication prescribed by a doctor). I change dressings. I do lots of coordination (e.g. with the surgery or radiology team, also stuff around release, like how does the patient get home, where does a patient go if he can’t live alone anymore, where do they get their medication, who will change dressings etc.). I’m also the first responder in an emergency like cardiac arrest. I should probably add that this will vary across hospitals. I work in a mid size hospital (about 500 beds). Generally the bigger the hospital the more additional staff is there to take over some of the “patient care technician tasks” from nurses. Also there are obviously jobs a nurse can do that involve medical tasks that almost exclusively, like working in an emergency room or as a surgical assistant.
Interesting, thanks for this. I’ll keep all this in mind
If you’re interested in a nursing job in Germany, hit me up. I get a bonus if I bring in a new nurse ;-)
Can I message you directly?
yes
I’m getting an error when trying to respond to your message. I’m gonna try and resolve it in the afternoon (well, my afternoon. It’s 5:40 in the morning here and I’m on the last half hour of night shift)
Sort of like LPNs. Education is similar as well
Germany/Austria/Switzerland. You absolutely need to learn German though. It’s not unsafe here, but the right shift is happening all across Europe right now.
I speak fluent German so not a problem
In Switzerland we pretty much lack professional healthcare staff all the time (like half our doctors are from Germany it feels). I’m not working in the industry but afaik nursing is better paid than in Germany, just other conditions around the job are very stressful and make many people leave.
During Covid, things got bad enough that a popular initiative by the trade unions got passed which demanded augmentations to the working conditions. The concrete improvements will soon get voted on and hopefully quickly implemented.
If you already speak German fluently, learning to understand Swiss German will hopefully not be too much of a challenge to you.
Update: I looked it up and a professional nurse makes on average a bit more than median income here.
Everything is better paid in Switzerland, like, a lot. And also, you’re then living in Switzerland… Since OP speaks German I would also highly recommend putting Switzerland at the top of the list since you’ll be 2/3x better paid than neighbouring countries (and, again, living in beautiful, lovely Switzerland).
It’s as safe as it ever was and much safer than most places here in Germany. But you’ll need to speak German to get a job in the healthcare sector here. And the pay isn’t great.
I speak fluent German actually so that wouldnt be a problem
I’d consider Bolzano. You’d get by with German, and you get to live in a beautiful part of the arguably most beautiful country of Europe.
I forgot that theres a German part of Italy. That would be very cool to live in, best of both worlds
If you try to get away from fascism, moving to Italy might not be such a great idea.
If you’re concerned about a rightward drift, you’re not going to like many places in Europe. I also wouldn’t leave a country because of a temporary political shift. America’s left is more powerful now than it’s been in close to 100 years and it’s only growing with the next generation. If politics is the main reason you want to leave, I’d seriously encourage you to rethink things. That seems very shortsighted, especially given the political tide in Europe.
Is Europe going further right than the US?
no
Socially it is moving pretty fast to the right in many places. They still have trains and healthcare. For now. Most US cities are as left leaning as Europe is.
Than the US? Eastern Europe, sure. A lot of the rest is heading in the wrong direction, whereas the US seems to be moving in the right (left) direction.
The US is moving to the left?
Have you met a gen Z kid? The most conservative Americans are dying off and religion is TANKING at a record pace.
I hope you’re right
The trick is waiting for Boomers to die. This is where your nursing skills can really pay off…
This isn’t the impression that I get about the US at all.
The conservative movement is stronger than ever. Half the country wants to install a conservative dictator?
Youth have always been left leaning. For every Gen Z vegan pouting about climate change there’s a thirty something that just bought their own home and decided that things are “ok just as they are”.
Since the advent of social media politics across the globe has been sliding to the right and I don’t see that trajectory changing in the imminent future.
As a millennial 30-something, my ilk are only slightly left of the older generation. Gen Z, of which I have some (in-law) siblings, is different. These are kids who saw the Trump shit, even if they didn’t totally understand it all. But it left an impression. They are also way more open minded and waaaay less religious. That alone indicates a shift left. And the old adage of shifting right in your 30s/40s has not held for millennials. Assuming it doesn’t hold for Gen X (why would it?), the US is going in a promising direction.
One problem we do have is an activation of boomer voters in response to this stuff. But y’know what Gen X has that Boomers don’t? Time.
If by Eastern Europe you mean Belarus and Hungary, maybe.