A nurse, who is trying to make a decision of staying or leaving—the reason why you are reading this right now. As a writer and a nurse myself, I do not want to be biased, or even hold you up on your dreams. Each nurse has different reasons why he or she should stay, or leave. The questions in this article might assess your decision and help you identify what you might want to get ready for before leaving.
1. Have you tried being alone without any family with you for days?
If yes, how does it feel? This might assess your strength when it comes to being away with your family. If you cannot imagine yourself being away with them for days, are you ready to do it for a few years? If not and you are already set up for leaving already, you might want to be emotionally ready by doing a few things. One of the things that you might want to consider is to make sure that your communication with them is strong enough, and I actually mean that literally. Use current advanced technologies to make sure that your family is very reachable over video calls.
2. Can You Cook?
This might be one question that you should consider very well because everybody needs to eat especially you. If you can’t cook, you might want to learn a few basic dishes before leaving. Aside from the fact that it’s not cost-effective to always eat out, it is also very unhealthy. If you are willing to eat out and be healthy at the same time, you should be ready for the expense as well.
3. Where and how long is your latest long travel?
Gauge your performance in these travels. Can you make it to your hotel room without any help from any of your family members? How long was your last travel, and in the gauge of 1 -10 how did you do? Some people are not pretty good with directions, so you might want to study the place you are going to very well. The streets, the nearest 7eleven store, the nearest supermarket, and all that. It’s true that your roommates or co-workers might help you when you get there, but it is also possible that they won’t.
4. Are you ready for all the work problems that you might face?
This might be a very vague question, but one thing that you might want to get ready with is crab mentality at work. It is definitely a jungle out there, you might want to consider situations and how you might want to face it all. Some say humility always work but never let others eat you up and take advantage of what they might see as your weakness. There should be a balance in both.
5. Are you ready to make new friends with an entirely different culture?
This might be one of the most exciting parts of going to an entirely new place. If you are the person who likes to make new friends all the time, this is one thing that you should be looking forward to. Ask yourself if you are ready to make an effort in adjusting to new cultures and beliefs. Learn about your new place’s culture and beliefs so you can be ready on how to make decisions and interactions as well. Always remember that you are going to be taking care of an entirely different race, and be working with a different culture as well.
6. Can you handle your own finances well?
This might be exciting but very intricate. Always remember that you will be receiving 4 times more than you are receiving in the Philippines. Can you handle yourself when it comes to becoming financially intelligent? Can you control yourself in spending? Would you want to be abroad working forever? If you cannot handle your finances well, most of the time, you will be held stuck there and you will have nowhere to go. So before leaving, learn a few techniques that will make sure that you are saving more than spending.
7. What are your family’s expectations?
There is this common notion for OFW’s and it always has been putting too much pressure for the overseas workers. Some families tend to be very dependent on the one working abroad. This question is somewhat connected to the latter question about finances. Always remember that you are not a cash cow for everyone to be tithing. You have all the right for the money that you are earning. So make it to a point that your family’s expectations are in line with yours. You are working hard for them, but make it crystal clear that it’s not going to be a one-hit millionaire deal. Control their wants, and only give what you can afford and save as much as you can.
8. Is your family ready?
It’s not just all about you, it is also about your family that you will be leaving behind. They will also suffer because of your absence. Are they ready for you to be gone and away? It might be hard for you to answer, but this is going to be an emotional process that everybody in the family should be ready for.
These eight questions are not only for nurses but also for all the Filipino heroes who will be leaving their family behind to earn more money abroad and take care of their family financially. The environment and the people that you are going to be dealing with is never going to be the same, but one of the most important aspects that you should be dealing with is yourself, and your capacity to survive and live through all the changes that you have to face. Either way, being ready in all aspects is as important as the real reason why you are leaving anyway.
