So far this year, the United Kingdom has offered nearly 2,500 work positions for nurses and midwives, according to data of the UK National Health Service (NHS). The massive increase in these offers could even reach 15,000 annual proposals to work in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For this reason, the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra has organized a session on employment opportunities abroad, framed within the conference for the academic and professional development .

"Outside there is work" is what was most often heard in the session moderated by Professor Agurtzane Mujika, who emphasized the opportunity of development professional and staff that emigration represents. This was emphasized by the other nurses at the table, former students who decided to cross the border: María Pérez Arenaza to the United Kingdom, Sandra Schimmel to the USA and Cristina Labiano to France. The other speaker was Teresa Fernández de Mesa, director of the FM Nurses Agency, a service business aimed at Spanish nurses and midwives who wish to work in the UK.

With the initiative of this session, the University of Navarra demonstrates the necessary international aspect that the Nursing profession has acquired. Precisely to reinforce this profile, the School of Nursing has the International Nursing Program, an academic pathway where the student completes his training internship at centers such as the University of Pennsylvania or Birmingham City University.

Know the language and plan the bureaucracy.

The speakers agreed that going abroad is a highly recommendable experience but, as María Pérez de Arenaza pointed out, for which"you have to be prepared". To this end, they recommend getting to know language and planning the bureaucracy of each country. 

Regarding the foreign language , Pérez Arenaza insisted that knowledge of the language is essential to be able to function in the work: "The nurse has to feel comfortable with the language because of the responsibilities she acquires". This same idea is supported by Cristina Labiano for whom, once the language barrier is overcome, the opportunity to go abroad brings "a work contract, professional experience and development staff ".

Administrative formalities are the other obstacle and Teresa Fernández de Mesa is dedicated to help solve it. Processing the issue membership in each country, translating degree certificates or setting up interviews are some of these steps. Sandra Schimmel stresses that thinking ahead "saves a lot of effort, as it can take up to a year to get all the official documentation to fill in ".