Working as a healthcare worker or nurse abroad: what is it, why would you do it, and where is the best place to go?

What is working as a healthcare worker abroad like?

• Responsibilities: Healthcare workers are indispensable all over the world! From mountain clinics in Nepal and nursing homes in Spain, to private hospitals in Canada.
• Whether you’re a nurse, caregiver, or support worker, you’ll be helping people improve their quality of life and health through:
  • Assisting with personal care, wound care, and daily support.
  • Working in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, or people’s homes.
  • Supporting patients recovering from illness or surgery.
  • Providing care for people with disabilities, the elderly, or the chronically ill.
  • Sharing information about hygiene, nutrition, and self-care.
  • Training or assisting local healthcare teams.
  • Or simply: doing whatever needs to be done — even if it’s not in your job description.
• Working conditions: The deal varies widely. In developing countries, you might receive room and board (plus a lifetime’s worth of lessons), while in countries like Australia or Germany, you can earn a solid salary.
• Sometimes you’ll stay with a host family, sometimes in a shared volunteer house, and sometimes... with a few geckos or goats as roommates.

What are the reasons for working as a healthcare worker abroad?

• To deepen your empathy: you’ll learn to handle a wide range of emotions, cultures, and life stories, sometimes heartbreaking, often heartwarming.
• To strengthen your intercultural communication: you’ll learn to truly listen, even when words fail, and discover that a smile is universal.
• To build resilience: you’ll learn to improvise when the IV gets stuck, the power goes out, or the goat eats the laundry.
• To improve your teamwork skills: you’ll collaborate with local colleagues, families, and international teams toward one shared goal: humane care.
• To find meaning and purpose: because few things are as fulfilling as making a direct difference in someone’s daily life, recovery, or dignity.

What skills and motivations do you need to work as a healthcare worker abroad?

• Empathy: patients and families are often in difficult situations — you need to listen, comfort, and connect, sometimes without words (especially when language barriers are big!).
• Relationship-oriented mindset: you build trust and long-term bonds; patients often see you not just as a caregiver, but as a friend.
• Proactive thinking: you spot problems early, act fast, and keep things running smoothly.
• Communication skills: you explain, reassure, and motivate people — clearly and respectfully.
• Collaboration: you’ll work with doctors, family members, and local colleagues. A smile and humor go a long way everywhere.
• Independence and organizational talent: especially in small or remote clinics, where you need to manage your work without much supervision.

What are the best countries and locations to work as a healthcare worker abroad?

• Volunteer projects & development aid: Nepal, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Cambodia, Indonesia→ Work in local clinics, orphanages, or community health centers where basic care is urgently needed.
• Hospitals & nursing homes: Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Australia→ Countries with aging populations and staff shortages offer great opportunities for qualified healthcare professionals.
• Rehabilitation & home care projects: South Africa, Costa Rica, Peru, Sri Lanka→ Often small-scale and community-based — ideal if you want to connect deeply with local life.
• Expat care & private clinics: Spain, Curaçao, Portugal, Aruba, New Zealand→ Work with international patients in sunny places, combining sea breeze with service and compassion.

What are the risks of working as a healthcare worker abroad, and are you insured against those risks?

• What are the risks of working as a healthcare worker abroad?
  • Mental strain is common: working long hours in understaffed teams, dealing with death or cultural differences in healthcare can lead to burnout, insomnia or trauma.
  • High levels of stress are common: due to responsibility, a strong desire to help, miscommunication or cultural and linguistic problems.
  • High workloads are common: due to long hours, emergencies, staff shortages or intensive supervision.
  • It is common for the working environment to be unsafe: infrastructure, health risks, political instability, manners.
  • It is common for accidents to occur due to lifting patients, working in extreme heat or cold, which increase the risk of back problems, overexertion or exhaustion.
  • It is common for someone to contract a contagious or local disease such as hepatitis, tuberculosis or tropical diseases, especially when protective equipment is limited. A lack of gloves, disinfectant, sterile materials or safe needles can increase risks, preventing you from working for a period of time or even requiring you to be flown home.
• Are you insured while working as a healthcare worker abroad?
  • There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance when working abroad.
  • Local employers usually offer no, or limited, supplementary insurance.
  • There is a risk of accidents because, for example, you are doing work with which you have little experience.
  • During work, an internship or voluntary work abroad for which you receive remuneration or a salary, the cover provided by your own health insurance in your country of residence may lapse.
• There may be several reasons why you need separate insurance when working abroad. Check the following pages: insuring international Insurances for working abroad, for internships abroad, for volunteering abroad, or for expats and emigrants.