Nursing in Germany

[AnthroRN89]

Hello!

I am currently a nursing student with an expected graduation date of May 2017. I was hoping to get some updated intel on what nursing may be like in Germany? The most recent posting I have seen on here is from 2012. My boyfriend has dual citizenship and moving to Germany in a month. One of the many components to how much hope our relationship has is going to be my ability to get a job over there. What I was reading in the previous posts was...disheartening. I was wondering what kind of changes may have occurred in the past few years? Obviously learning German is going to be a big component however I'm open to alternative nursing opportunities beyond that of working in the hospital. I am pursuing options for working on the U.S. Army bases although that would also be a long shot as I am not associated with the military and preference is given to nurses who are there with their spouses.

Any guidance/updated information would be of great help!

Thank you!

[nutella, MSN, RN]

You should find more recent posts about working in Germany - they are not in this forum, please search for it.

Generally speaking, there is a process in place in Germany to evaluate your education and language skills. In addition, you can not just "go to Germany and work" - as a non EU citizen you need a work permit/visa. Your German has to be at a certain level as patients usually communicate in German (unless you work for the forces in a US hospital in Germany).

Nursing itself is not highly regarded and scope is also somewhat different depending on where you work. There are no advanced practice nurses and nursing itself is still very hierarchical.

To be honest - I doubt that you would find work as a new graduate and survive, as the German preparation and education is different. Also, the culture is very different especially in the healthcare system.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Moved to the International Nursing forum.