At present, the UK is on a massive drive to significantly increase overseas recruitment of health workers, specifically nurses, to try and combat the current workforce crisis. The NHS is very reliant on international recruitment, and this is not looking to change any time soon.
Overseas nurses and midwives who want to work in the UK, must have registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) before they can practice here.
Haven’t yet registered with the NMC? Not to worry, you can still look through, and apply for one of our many nursing and midwifery roles (as long as you have completed your English language exams) – look through them on our website.
In this blog, we’ll share details on how overseas nurses can apply for UK jobs, and what’s required to do so:
One of the benefits of training to be a nurse, is that you’ll gain a whole bunch of transferrable skills and knowledge and will feel comfortable in the fact that it’s a job that is always in demand. You may have long-standing ambitions to work abroad, and if so, nursing is a great way to head to another country for work. If this sounds like you, the UK is a place you should consider moving to.
Here are some of the reasons:
• NHS staff benefits. The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world and comes with a few staff perks. These include its renowned pension scheme, assistance with childcare and housing, flexible working opportunities and a Blue Light Card, which provided thousands of amazing discounts online and in-store to NHS staff. Find out more about NHS benefits in our blog.
• Professional development and career progression, and mental health support at the NHS.
• British weather. You can also expect a mild climate, with UK temperatures typically ranging from 9 – 18 Celsius in summer, and 2 – 7 degrees Celsius in winter.
Once you’ve passed your English language exams and found your dream nursing job on the Migrate website, you’ll need to begin the registration process with the NMC to be able to practice as a nurse in the UK.
There are a few different ways to apply to register with the NMC, depending on which part of the register you want to join (either as a nurse or midwife, or as a nursing associate) and where you trained…
The main things you’ll need to do to join the NMC register are:
• Check that you’re ready to register
• Complete an eligibility / qualification application
• Take the Test of Competence (ToC), which is made up of the CBT and OSCE exams
• Complete the registration application
• Wait for the evaluation of your NMC application
For more information on these different stages of the process, visit the NMC website.
Abroad, and have questions about working as an overseas nurse in the UK? Please contact us at hello@migratehr.com – our customer support team will do their best to help.
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