Student Nurse Electives Abroad in Africa

Nursing Electives in Developing Countries

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), U.S. estimated that 230,000 new nurses graduated in 2019, whilst in the UK in the same year, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) reported that 24,000 nursing and midwifery students graduated. These figures may seem high, but they are not against the global shortage of healthcare professionals, projected to rise to 18m by 2030. Additionally, the medical workforce is migrating, whether that be from low income to high income countries, or from countries such as the UK to Australia, health professionals are subject to push and pull factors that lead to emigration as they increasingly look to take their skills overseas, a process hitting the low-income countries particularly hard.

In what ways is my elective related to the process of migration and work, when I am just completing my training and wanting to secure my first job?

Good question!

Completing a nursing elective, particularly one that involves an international dimension, which may or may not have a specifialist focus, offers several advantages, not simply to the people you go to support, but also in the job market, and your own personal and professional development. Undertaking your elective in a low income and low resourced country provides a platform upon which you can build and develop a broader understanding of healthcare systems, and gain exposure to a wider range of medical conditions which grow competence, adaptability, and cultural awareness, all invaluable skills in our increasingly interconnected world.

These skills will support you at the start of your career as you seek your first post, as well as open up wider opportunities for you in the future when you may consider either relocating overseas, or working with global healthcare providers such as the Red Cross, or MSF.

Our nursing electives opportunities provide a range of settings in Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana, each of which will welcome your support as well as your payments. (We pay the hospitals to place you with them, which provides much needed foreign currency). In Ghana, our dedicated health care professional partners set up community outreach programs at the end of your placements, the precise nature of which depend on the healthcare needs of the communities at that time, as well as the number of student nurses on electives, with them.

Our partners in these countries, all qualified professionals could likewise emigrate, but when we speak with them they remain in their countries and dedicate their lives to support the people they deliver health care to.

Whatever you decide you wish to do, whether a general nursing elective, or in specific specialisms, and wherever you choose to go, you can be assured of a high level of support for yourself, a very warm and glad welcome from our partners, and personal fulfilment as you deliver a positive impact on healthcare and in the lives of both patients and local practitioners.