December 12th, 2023
I taught an entire clinical section of nursing students who all wanted to work on cruise ships. Happily, a nursing journal published an article early in that semester and the gist of it was: you need critical care or ER experience; nurses are not free to debark in every port to explore and enjoy the sights, and you will spend the majority of your time on shipboard. The article advised that the prospective nurse contact the cruise ship company for specifics as longer cruises crossing oceans to Europe/Asia often had more requirements than shorter more local cruises such as Fla. to the Carribbean islands.
