Firstly, the population in the developed world is aging which means that there is a higher demand for medical care. An unfortunate side effect of an aging population is that there are more people who suffer from age related illnesses. A second, and related, contributing factor is that many qualified, experienced nurses are reaching retirement age and leaving the nursing profession. A large number of nurses in the developed world are quickly approaching retirement age, which means that these countries are losing a valuable human resource on top of the number of nurses required to staff the medical facilities.
Thirdly, there are not enough new nurses graduating every year to replace the number of nurses leaving the profession. For some reason many developed countries are struggling to attract the numbers of student nurses they need to replace the nursing staff that are leaving, or they simply do not have the number of places in nursing education programs to train the necessary number of replacement nurses. Many hospitals and other health care facilities struggle to find suitably qualified and experience nurses to staff their wards. This is creating increased competition between medical employers for the small pool of nurses available. This is creating an employment environment for nurses where they are sought after and head-hunted.
Because of this nursing shortage many countries are experiencing, and which is predicted to worsen to crisis proportion in the next decade, governments in developing countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the USA are making it easier and less complicated for internationally educated nurses to enter these countries and work legally, both short term and permanently. Without these countries taking immediate measures to counteract the shortage of nurses in their own country the quality of healthcare being provided will fall considerably.
In order to take advantage of these nursing employment opportunities you may need to move away from the area or country where you currently live as the nursing shortage is global and this is creating a strong demand for qualified nurses worldwide. Most developing countries now have several visa options that are suitable for nurses who want to nurse overseas. The USA, for example, have 4 visa options for nurses to choose from depending on how long you wish to stay in the US.