American wanting to move abroad, what's the best bet for an registered nurse?

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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.

There are right wing populists in virtually every democracy these days. It's not an issue unique to the US. I think it's a byproduct of our times. Economic uncertainty + geopolitical tensions and war = hard shift to the right.

Fair enough
I think it's more tangible in the US.
- Definitely, while it's true everywhere is shifting right, the US is starting off from a much further right starting point.
Yes but Germany saw millions of protestors over a sub-20% party. In the US, 50% of people want to vote in someone who is openly fascist and wants to abolish democracy and round up immigrants in camps.
- Couple of things
  
  There was a 62% voter turnout in the 2020 election. 46.8% of voters voted for Trump.
  
  0.62 x 0.468 = .290
  
  So actually, 29% of people voted for Trump.
  
  If we do the same calculation for AfD in 2021. 76.6% voter turnout in Germany and AfD got 10.4% of votes.
  
  0.766 x 0.104 = 0.799
  
  So the difference looks like 29% to 8% US to Germany.
  
  But you have to remember the US and Germany are different political systems. There are only two parties in the US, so each of the big parties (DNC, GOP) have many different factions. Moderate Republicans would be an entirely different party from Trumpian "MAGA" Republicans if the US had a party system like Germany.
  
  They functionally ally together in order to form a government, much like different parties will do in parliamentary systems in Europe.
  
  So if we for example take the center-right Christian conservative party and add that to AfD, which in my opinion more closely resembles the GOP, we get the following numbers.
  
  76.6% voter turnout. AfD got 10.4% of votes. CDU got 24.1% of votes.
  
  0.766 x (0.104 + 0.241) = .264
  
  So we're actually looking at a ratio more like 29% US to 26% Germany. Fundamentally not that different.
  
  And last thing I'd like to add. Shifts in the political Overton window like we're seeing right now happens at an exponential rate. It's why Germany in the early 1900s went from a liberal democratic society to full blown Fascist dictatorship fairly quickly.
  
  I think the process has started in the US first, but the movement is shifting to other countries too. US news is emphasized because of the importance of the US as a superpower, but this process of the hard shift to the right is happening in many countries.
  
  We see it not only in certain parties gaining ground like Fratelli d'Italia, Sweden Democrats, Rassemblement National, Alternative für Deutschland, etc - but the rhetoric changing. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric that would be rare a decade or two ago is seeing a large increase.
  
  We see populist like Argentina's Milei, Brazil's Bolsonaro, Canada's Poilievre, etc all following the footsteps of Trump and being wildly successful. People globally feel insecure and it's a ripe environment for these types of right-wing populists.
  
  I view the US as the leader of the Zietgiest right now, much like Germany was the leader of the Zietgiest during WW2. It's leading the pack, but we're all headed towards the same destination.

Check out the Scandinavian countries, all of them blow away the rest of Europe and they are looking for medical professionals.

Norway especially looks attractive, especially with its strong left parties.
- Can confirm.
  
  Source: I'm a noggie and my sister in law is a nurse, and I get the impression they're always short staffed.
- You'll probably like countries that follows the Nordic Model

If you don’t want to move far and want a similar but more centrist culture, you could move to Canada — this would make it easy to move back in the future if you want. And unlike many Americans, as a RN, you could actually move without much difficulty. I know a number of RNs who have made the move and are happy about it.

Canada is high on my list
- Healthcare is kind of in a situation in many parts of Canada now. Look into the situation in each of the provinces you're considering. (Healthcare is run at the provincial level, not federal)
  
  I'm not in healthcare, but I'm trying to stay politically aware.
  
  We'd love to have you. I just want you to be prepared with the best information.

As a person in technology, I envy you the chance to leverage a skill useful in the real world.

Uh? Is technology now exclusive to hobbies?

Sorry if this seems lazy, but Canada has a decent population of Jews. Since you are a nurse, you have a better chance of getting in. Obviously there's a ton of paperwork involved, but might be worth looking into.

If you speak French, France might also be a good choice. Hella good worker's rights there.

Not to brag but I speak French, Hebrew and German alongside English.

Yeah I've heavily considered Canada though ironically it seems they're going to elect their own Trump and might become more like the US. Still, I'm seriously considering it.
- Not a brag, your languages very relevant to finding a new place to live.
  
  I wish good folks would stay and fight. But at the same time, I don't blame anyone for leaving.
- Worth noting that the Prime Minister does not have the same executive powers as the President. If Polivere actually wins a majority of seats (unlikely), he’ll still have to work with everyone else to get things done.
  
  It’s more likely the conservatives will win just enough seats to have to run a minority government and work with the Liberals, NDP, BQ and possibly Greens. And I don’t see the current conservative party surviving more than one election cycle.
- French and German? Definitely Switzerland then!
about France, she may disagree with you : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY4w3Ljn6ks
- Well in France they need police armed with machine guns to guard synagogues so probably not the best choice for me.

Germany is desperate for nurses, currently. Just a heads-up though: Whether you'll feel welcomed here sadly still depends on your skin color! And most Jews don't show their heritage and faith publicly, again sadly for good reason.

Canada is a pretty good market for nurses.

I guess I can become a Canadian of convenience :P
- I'm also an American who moved to Canada - I did that because my wife lives up here but I've found it an extremely welcoming culture.

Working in healthcare --> always consider Norway, because they pay good and their system is well funded. That's so much more than you can say about most other countries.

Thoughts on New Zealand or Austrailia?

I know nothing about them. I'd have to read up on them, like quality of life, safety, level of antisemitism, etc
- Nz is more tolerant to different cultures at least in the 3 big cities, Australia offers a higher pay and lower living costs. However as a American they will not see you as much as an outsider. Crimes in NZ are the cost of living.
- here in NZ I'd say we are much more progressive than the states, although we have a centre right government at the moment.
  
  you will earn less than the US I would think, but I would hope that our quality of life is better.
  
  Safety? not every second person is carrying a sidearm or protesting with an AR style firearm

Good luck! Not only is it's expensive to do this, it will also take years.

If you manage to get it all figured out, please do not forget to update us all here!

Will do!

Ireland. English speaking, need nurses, Americans move here handy enough. Your faith wont matter.

Spain? We've free Healthcare, lots of British and German immigrate here to escape the bad weather. I've never seen any jew communities in Spain but I don't believe you'll be in trouble for having said faith.

I don't want to botch your plans but you gotta keep in mind that the educational systems in the EU and US are very different. Being a RN might not mean a lot abroad. I Germany there is however a lack of nurses and programs to recruit internationally. Maybe the situation is similar in other EU countries.

Where ever you are planing to go: Compare salaries cost of living, and what is publicly funded and what not. I think many people are turned off from moving because salaries are lower...

An RN degree in the US is often a bachelor's degree. They didn't really have university degrees for nurses in Germany (there are nursing management degrees). There is obviously a licensing test, but that should be the only barrier.

Check out Switzerland. Huge private healthcare network, expensive country but the salary is high too. Excellent public transport, good social protection... And magnificent landscapes, smack in the middle of Europe you have access to everywhere. You'll have to learn French or German tho. It can be a bit quiet, but very very safe. Traditional food is meh, especially if you're not a fan of melted cheese by the bucket.

Hard to get into as a foreigner, though. Best bet to get in would be through the various international orgs like the red cross or MSF
- That's why I mentioned "huge private healthcare network": the employer does the Work Visa authorisation paperwork for you.
Switzerland intentionally makes things hard for Americans. For example, it's very hard to open a bank account because the US government have harsh reporting rules for American citizens. And Switzerland has strong financial privacy rules. So they just deny American citizens.

In the UK visas are awarded on a points system. You get X number of points for having a college degree, Y points for it being in a certain field, etc. from what I've been told, nurses and doctors immediately qualify for all points required to get a visa just based on profession

However, as someone that moved to the UK 13 years ago, I don't consider it a great destination. Prexit really screwed everything up. Having an EU passport would have been an incredible complement to my US passport, but now a British passport is no more useful that my American passport, especially since most of my travel is to the European continent. Also, the NHS is being gutted continually so in all id just say it's not the most desirable location if you're in the healthcare field.

At minimum, I'd look at countries that are properly in the EU, which includes Ireland. Other countries in western Europe would be great as well I think, depending on what kind of life you're looking to live in. Something I've noticed is that generally Europe very quickly transitions from city to countryside. In the US you'll get suburbs that stretch for dozens of miles past the core infrastructure of the nearest major city, where as in Europe it's usually straight to farming fields and two lane roads.

France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Germany would all be excellent locations to start a new life in healthcare I think. Each of those (except the Netherlands maybe) would expect you to be working towards fluency in their language though, so if you're not interested in learning a foreign language that is definitely something to consider - which is why Ireland and Dublin specifically is so desirable to Tech companies and has been for the last 15 years.

In general I would say that as someone in the healthcare field, you do have a job that is valued highly as far as getting a visa is concerned in Europe.

Gaza need you.

Jews aren't allowed into Gaza.