Nurse Aurora

Filipina | Nurse Life Abroad | Travel
Registered Nurse: PH, USA, Germany, The Netherlands
📍👩🏻‍⚕️🩺: Amsterdam to California

16/01/2026

2016 - what an important year to look back to as a RN✨

To anyone dreaming and wanting to pass NCLEX, you might want to read this post.

I graduated BSN in 2009. NCLEX applications from most states stopped accepting new applicants from other countries. Maybe 1-2 states were still open but quite expensive and difficult to obtain.

Imagine the wait from 2009 to 2016. I didn’t give up the thought of getting my USRN license.

In 2016, I got the chance to be sponsored by my then employer to take NCLEX and work for them. Even though I already had plans on processing myself, I took the opportunity and I’m very grateful for it.

The lesson here is, if you’re a new grad Filipino nurse, don’t take this opportunity for granted. Currently, NCLEX applications in a lot of states are quite easy and still accepting. It is very sure that one of the following years, they will have a break, a pause or maybe order new rules in receiving foreign-grad applications.

Never thought that I’d be here now. It’s because of what I did in 2016.

🤍✨🫠

14/01/2026

Are you a “baby nurse” in the Philippines and you need tips on what to do after graduation? Please watch this and share!

✨❣️

29/09/2025

Things I’ve realized after moving from one country to another as a Filipina nurse:

1. Our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from home is something we shouldn’t take for granted. Some countries have deficiencies in even the most major nursing subjects. So, if you graduated with a BSN and are hoping to work abroad, this is your sign to just do it!

2. Coming from the Philippines, we sometimes assume that everything is already better abroad—things like patient ratio, salary, and working hours. We often have a “Bahala na!” mindset, which leads us to settle for less than what we truly deserve as nurses. But no matter what, we still work hard.

3. Leaving the Philippines is worth it, even if homesickness is real.

4. Your mindset changes.

5. You end up advising the younger generation, family members, or friends’ children to take up nursing if they want to go abroad. This is not for everyone, of course. But I understand now why my cousin advised my dad to send me to nursing school.

6. Filipino nurses are the best to work with: We aren’t lazy, we work hard, we don’t take any nonsense, we are skilled and knowledgeable, we integrate easily, we are sweet and caring, and we treat our patients and workmates like family. And it’s something I’m very proud of!

- Nurse Aurora 👩🏻‍⚕️♥️

18/05/2025

there’s actually so much more to life than work

⛰️☀️🏡🫠

17/05/2025

RN life abroad: the goal is not to get stuck at work life ☀️

📍Palm Springs

20/04/2025

RN life abroad: „Do it tired.“

Yes, do it tired.

Nothing is easy. It’s not for the strong nor for the weak. It’s for everyone. It’s for every nurse who wants to live and move abroad.

Do it tired- exams, language certificates, interviews.

Do it tired- work experience, seminars, symposiums.

Do it tired- time with your family and friends, exploring your hometown, traveling to nearby islands.

Do it tired- with your favorite coffee.

Do it tired- because it’s for your future.

This is for every nurse who dreams to work abroad: don’t ever give up. New grads or 30yo to 50yo nurses…age doesn’t matter when you’re here.

We’re waiting for you.

- Nurse Aurora 👩🏻‍⚕️🏥

14/04/2025

RN life abroad: Romanticize your nurse life.

Get up and prep your coffee or tea. Slow mornings they say. But do it how you love it to be.

If you’re leaving for work, wear that fave shoes. Fave scrubs. Fave headband. W/ your fave bag, fave tumbler…and fave lunchbox! Whatever fave you have, use ‘em!

If you’re on a break, take your lunch or drink your coffee outside your facility or hospital. Or go to the lunch room. Or the cafeteria. Or wherever is your fave spot at work.

If you’re on your dayoff, spend quality time with your family. With your kids. With your dog. With your cats. With your husband. With your wife. With your significant other. With your parents. Go to the beach. Make some crafts. Visit a new coffee spot. Go for some window-shopping. Drop by a bookstore and grab something new to read! Get a massage. Buy that bag or shoes you’ve been eyeing for weeks now. Have a mini-trip to another city. Or enjoy the sunshine in your backyard. There’s beauty in everything you do outside your shifts. Do more of what makes your soul happy and calm.

Everyone is not the same. Some will always refuse to have a break and breathe (figuratively). It’s valid. Some will just enjoy their lives, carpe dieming everyday. Also valid. As nurses, we know how demanding our work can be- physically, emotionally and mentally. Let’s take care of ourselves. 🌸

- Nurse Aurora 👩🏻‍⚕️

09/04/2025

Honoring my Alma Mater 🙂

Clocking out from your extra night shift with this weather hits so different! ☀️

05/04/2025

RN LIFE ABROAD: when people say that there’s no life in the US as a nurse, idk where it came from but wherever I’ve been to as a Filipina nurse, it’s all the same if you know how to balance your life between shifts and time outside work ✨

1. Shifts in the US ~ you can choose to work on different types of shifts, 12x3 / 8x4-4.5 / 10x3.6 ✨ but most newly hired nurses work for 3 days / week w/ 12hr shifts! EVERY STATE has diff rules about salaries, rates and extras. Know which one fits your wants and needs!

2. Work-life balance ~ this is a huge debate between which country is better when it comes to this topic🧘🏻‍♀️wherever you are, if you work for more than the 36-40hr/week basis, it’s definitely going to affect your life 🙏 but if there’s a need to do more, make sure to prioritize self-care, family time and life outside your job even if it’s not as demanding as other nursing specialties 🕰️

3. Salary ~ every country offers different salary ranges but certainly, places like the USA, any Western or Northern European countries including UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, pay you better than what you get in the Philippines 💵 💶💷 you can still spend your daysoff well in most of these countries without thinking of getting another job 💸 however, it’s our Filipino work culture to say “sayang or anugon”! So yeah, Filipino nurses get these side jobs & making them earn more!

4. Old vs New Generation of Filipino Nurses ~ The old gen are really focused on working hard but are also the best nurses in their teams! Everything I hear about my colleagues here say about every Tito/Tita Filipino/Filipina RN they’ve worked with, they said that they are the best nurses and preceptors! ❤️🫠 on the other hand, the new gen nurses focus on getting the job they want and they love but are also focused on self-care and family time! But am I right? Let me know what you think about this part 💓

5. DAY-OFF ~ as a Filipina nurse, we’re so used to back home working hard instead of working smart 😖 and it’s quite hard to let go of it, right? But since I always love the “pauraray” vibes, I always make sure that I am more relaxed than being more attached to work. So daysoff should be important to everyone of us! 😍

What do you think about this post? 📄

Thanks for dropping by and let me know what you think! 👩🏻‍⚕️

- Nurse Aurora ❣️

03/04/2025

RN life abroad: orientation in CA vs NL as a Filipina nurse

Will talk about my experience as a Filipina RN here in California (still new!) vs being a nurse (verpleegkundige) in the Netherlands 👩🏻‍⚕️

- Here in CA, the orientation time (inwerkensperiode) is longer than when I was in NL.
- Every time you need to finish an e-learning/course, every second or minute of it is paid (and not while you’re on your shift/niet tijdens je diensten).
- Break means break 🍜 ☕️ 🍎…you have to step away from your area, go to the break room or spend it outside/in the café!
- The nurses’ union is very strong. Had to attend to different orientation days about the hospital, our union and different required courses while starting my orientation in my department. They protect you!
- Proper staffing makes everything better. Charge nurses don’t have their own patients vs in NL, STIP verpleegkundigen still have to care for patients w/ the same ratio.
- We bring the patients from the ED to the floors (van de SEH naar de verpleegafdelingen). While in NL, the nurses need to get the patients from the ER and bring them to their departments.
- Preceptors really orient you well as they’re assigned to teach you to be as effective as the team. While in NL, there’s a designated begeleider/preceptor but the time is shorter and you have to start working independently right away.
- In California/USA, they have this “teaching/guiding you” culture. In the Netherlands, they have this “figure out yourself” culture.
- Here, w/ ACLS, for example, should be acquired by all RNs in different departments. In the Netherlands, only certain verpleegkundigen/RNs are required to have it (like SEH(ER)/IC/CCU nurses).
- Nursing Assessment is definitely different between 2 worlds. Here, you have to do thorough, focused assessment. While in NL, assessment like auscultation or palpation are done by doctors.
- In the US, after graduation/passing NCLEX, you can work in any dept you want- like in the ER as a new grad. In NL, you have to study again to be an ER nurse. Reason: the nursing degree in the US (what we Filipino RNs follow) teaches the basics up to critical care.

✨

02/04/2025

Thank you, Marso ❤️

Apart from officially starting my orientation month at the ED, le hubz surprised me with some Douwe Egberts oploskoffie! 🤎☕️

I’m very very grateful right now- for everything. 🙏

Adres

Amsterdam

Website

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyxuweEsnnNZ9dP8EvTCf-g

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