Lonely After Moving Abroad as a Nurse? 15 Ways to Make Friends in a New Country

You did it. You passed the exams, got the visa, packed your life into two suitcases and started work in a new country. Then, a few weeks in, the excitement fades. You come home from a long shift to an empty flat, scroll through photos of friends back home and wonder why you feel so alone.

Loneliness is one of the most common, and least talked about, parts of moving abroad as a nurse. It is not a sign you made the wrong choice. It is a normal stage of building a new life, and it gets better with a little intention.

Why it is especially hard for nurses

• Shift work: you are often working when others are socialising, and sleeping when they are free.
• Exhaustion: after a 12-hour shift in a new system, you may have nothing left for meeting people.
• Culture shock: different humour, food, weather and social rules can make small talk feel tiring.
• Time zones: calling family and friends back home may only be possible at awkward hours.
• Pressure to succeed: many nurses feel they cannot admit they are struggling because family back home is proud of them.

15 ways to make friends

At work

1. Say yes to the first invitations. A coffee after a shift, a team night out or a leaving party. Even if you are tired, go for an hour.
2. Eat your break with others rather than alone on your phone. Breaks are where ward friendships start.
3. Find the other new starters. Nurses from your induction group or OSCE course are going through exactly the same thing.
4. Ask colleagues for local tips: the best place for groceries from home, a good hairdresser, where to go at the weekend. People love sharing what they know.
5. Join a staff network. Many hospitals have international staff, faith, LGBTQ+ or ethnic minority networks.

Outside work

6. Connect with your diaspora community. Cultural associations, community groups and festivals are a lifeline for many nurses.
7. Find a place of worship if faith matters to you. Many congregations have welcome groups for newcomers.
8. Join a class or club that fits your rota, such as a gym, running group, dance or language class with flexible sessions.
9. Use apps to meet friends, not just dates. Some friendship and activity apps help you find people with shared interests nearby.
10. Volunteer. It gives you purpose and puts you alongside local people regularly.
11. Invite people to your place. Cooking food from home is one of the best ways to start a friendship, and people are often curious.
12. Explore your new city. Plan a day out once a month. Feeling at home in a place helps you feel less alone in it.

Staying connected to home

13. Schedule calls around your shifts instead of hoping they happen. A weekly call at a fixed time is easier to keep.
14. Be honest with someone back home. You do not have to pretend everything is perfect.
15. Balance home and here. Staying close to home is important, but if all your social time is spent on calls, it can be harder to build a life where you are.

Give it time

Research on friendship suggests close friendships take many hours of shared time to form. Expect the first six to twelve months to feel slower than you would like. Most international nurses say it gets much easier in the second year.

When loneliness becomes something more

Feeling down for a while after moving is common. But if you notice any of the following for more than two weeks, speak to a healthcare provider or your employer’s occupational health or employee assistance service:

• Low mood most days, or losing interest in things you used to enjoy
• Trouble sleeping beyond what shift work explains
• Feeling hopeless, or thinking about harming yourself

See our guide to the signs of depression. Many employers offer free, confidential counselling to staff, including international recruits. If you are ever in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.

If you moved with a partner

Couples face their own challenges abroad, especially if one partner is working long shifts and the other has not found work yet. Read when the nurse’s spouse can’t find work abroad and long-distance relationships when a nurse moves abroad first.

Planning your move? Start with our moving abroad checklist and the money plan for nurses moving abroad.