Scandinavian Nurses

World Immigration

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Hi! I want to start a thread for scandinavian nurses.

Lets make this thread as a meeting and discussion place for all of scandinavians all around the world :)

And ofcourse if you, who are not scandinavian are also welcome here to share your thoughts with us ;)

Me my self am a Finnish guy, 25yo from Finland

Hello! I am a nursing student from Sweden, Gothenborg. Very interesting forum, I found so many answers on my questions about working in US for foreign nurses.

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Specializes in ER.

One Native Nordic here in California! Relocating to east coast soon - I need my four seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in CCRN, ATCN, ABLS.
Hello! I am a nursing student from Sweden, Gothenborg. Very interesting forum, I found so many answers on my questions about working in US for foreign nurses.

Great to hear from you! I am a nurse in Rochester, NY, but I visited your beautiful city this past Summer, including Kungsbacka, Boras and the whole region surrounding Goteburg. I would love to be in your shoes, and be able to practice nursing in Sweden! My wife's family lives around there, and it seems as though the whole healthcare industry is much more person-oriented over there! Nurses came to grandpa's home to take care of him instead of sending him to a nursing home! (I realize it is a cost-measure- I am not stupid, but they found ways to provide much more holistic care than here)

Anyway, good luck with nursing school and maybe one day we can trade...

Wayunderpaid

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Does anyone have an opinion about the different health systems in US and Scandinavia? Is there one that is better than the other or do both have positives and negatives? What about the different levels of education between American nurses and Scandinavian nurses?

As an American studying nursing in Norway, it seems there are lower expectations in regards to basic anatomy and physiology requirements, as well as low passing levels for exams. I was surprised to discover that you can pass an exam with the letter E, which is lower than a D but just enough to pass. I sure wouldn't want to be the patient who gets treated by a nurse who just barely passed all of their exams in school. Shouldn't we demand a higher level of excellence?

I also am frustrated with the organization of nursing school as a whole. We have little practice time and it seems to be obvious that the education is lacking when most nurses are not ready for their first jobs or feel comfortable with their work tasks until after working for 6 months full time. Wasn't the old system better, where nurses were educated in the hospitals and had a much more hands on experience?

And why would a Scandinavian nurse want to work in America? There seems to be a lot better conditions here than in the States in regards to overwork and low staff, not to mention the benefits a social system provides like free health care for you and your family.

Just a few questions from a 2. year nursing student

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Specializes in CCRN, ATCN, ABLS.
Does anyone have an opinion about the different health systems in US and Scandinavia? Is there one that is better than the other or do both have positives and negatives? What about the different levels of education between American nurses and Scandinavian nurses?

As an American studying nursing in Norway, it seems there are lower expectations in regards to basic anatomy and physiology requirements, as well as low passing levels for exams. I was surprised to discover that you can pass an exam with the letter E, which is lower than a D but just enough to pass. I sure wouldn't want to be the patient who gets treated by a nurse who just barely passed all of their exams in school. Shouldn't we demand a higher level of excellence?

I also am frustrated with the organization of nursing school as a whole. We have little practice time and it seems to be obvious that the education is lacking when most nurses are not ready for their first jobs or feel comfortable with their work tasks until after working for 6 months full time. Wasn't the old system better, where nurses were educated in the hospitals and had a much more hands on experience?

And why would a Scandinavian nurse want to work in America? There seems to be a lot better conditions here than in the States in regards to overwork and low staff, not to mention the benefits a social system provides like free health care for you and your family.

Just a few questions from a 2. year nursing student

A lot of issues you are trying to tackle in this post. First and foremost, yes, I do think that nurses in USA have a lot of freedom, autonomy, the advance practice role is perhaps more developed, etc.

I am not sure of practice in Norway, but from my visits there, it seems to me that nurses pretty much follow orders and are more involved in the physical care. E.g. here at the teaching hospital where I work, a lot of the physical care is performed by nurses aides (some of them receive something of a 6 wk course), medications and procedures which require more skill are performed by the RN. This is not to say that RN won't bathe a patient, empty foley, take vital signs, etc., just that those tasks are usually delegated, especially if a patient is stable and help is available.

I can't comment on grading, because each school has their passing requirement, which in most cases is a 75% (70 sometimes). That amounts to a "C". This whole issue of minimum passing requirements seems to bother a lot of people. However, there is an old saying that goes like this: what do they call a doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class? A doc. Same goes for nurses.

Regarding choosing Scandinavia over America, I have to agree with you. I would love to practice and live in Scandinavia. The quality of life is incomparable. Holiday and vacation time is so nice over there. Specifically in Norway or Sweden. My wife's family is from there, and issues of residency permits, etc. would not be difficult to secure (I think). My mother-in-law is a Norwegian citizen who lives there and has property there. My wife however, does not speak Norwegian, neither do I. Getting a license without language skills would be impossible, let alone practice. (Even though I have a Baccalaureate in Nursing and she is a Family Nurse Practitioner (Master's in Nursing).

Some people would definitely choose America because of lower taxes, health insurance for healthcare providers is not as difficult to secure; and life overall is way cheaper (a cup of coffee for 6-7 kr, vs 20kr, gasoline twice as cheap, etc). Some communities in America offer a comparable quality of life as Norway (perhaps not many... Norway is beautiful!!).

Regarding practice time, I have to say that overall requirements here in America are not all that much either. The learning curve that occurs at orientation and during the first year of nursing is phenomenal. Many new nurses do not feel prepared to handle a full assignment the way busy hospitals in America require nurses to handle. Orientation for new nurses sometimes fall way short of expectations, and frankly, many nurses leave the profession within a few years, sometimes because of the demand that work places on them, or they feel unsafe work environments. Many find desk jobs which are also available here.

Re. health system? Socialized medicine has a lot of pitfalls, but overall I think it is better there than here, where we have 50 million uninsured (1/6 of the overall population, or 17%). Yet, in socialized medicine I would have never been able to get an endoscopy to truly diagnose GERD, hiatal hernia. It would have been managed symptomatically. And there, when procedures are approved, you have to wait... I was able to get my upper GI work up within 2 weeks of calling the provider. So, there are ups and downs in every system. This one is definitely broken, and provides better care for the rich, the insured middle class, and the indigent. There is a huge segment of lower middle, and low class, that is left totally defenseless.

I hope that your studies go really well, and may be one day it will be easier for American trained nurses to practice in Norway. I will be the first to enlist.

Wayunderpaid

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As an American studying nursing in Norway, it seems there are lower expectations in regards to basic anatomy and physiology requirements, as well as low passing levels for exams. I was surprised to discover that you can pass an exam with the letter E, which is lower than a D but just enough to pass. I sure wouldn't want to be the patient who gets treated by a nurse who just barely passed all of their exams in school. Shouldn't we demand a higher level of excellence?

I also am frustrated with the organization of nursing school as a whole. We have little practice time and it seems to be obvious that the education is lacking when most nurses are not ready for their first jobs or feel comfortable with their work tasks until after working for 6 months full time. Wasn't the old system better, where nurses were educated in the hospitals and had a much more hands on experience?

Comparing the two systems of grading is not that easy. Norway has 5 letters that basically do the same as Americas 4. You will not pass with lower % score in the Norwegian system. And I would like to add that an A in America is very easy, but an A in Norway is pretty hard work. But I guess you will experience this since your are a student here now. I went on a student exchange program last year to America and I was surprised of how little they learned of hands on practical stuff.

As for doctors, I would say that grades is not everything .... Peopleskills and job satisfaction and so on is also important.

And the health system ... There are positives and negatives for both I think. One thing is for sure, the Norwegian healthsystem would not be as good if it were not for a good social system behind it.

- Jon Fr

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Specializes in ICU,cardiac surgery, orthopaedia.

greetings to all finland nurses!!!

here in Italy we have heard about your courage and achievements you gained from your governement!!!!

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Specializes in Mental health, organization and leadership.

I believe that there might be some diffrences between the scandinavian countries as well. I have never worked outside Sweden myself, but from what I have heard other colleuges with experience say are RN nursing work generally more advanced and comes with more responsibility here compared to Finland, Norway and Denmark. Norway pay much more though, thats why many swedish nurses choose to work there. The swedish system seems to be more like the one in US with assistant nurses doing most of the basic care. Talking about grades, here we only have two grades: Passed or failed. Passed means you need to score from 75% to 100% depending on course. There are lots of discussing going on here at the moment about the fact that the hospitals complains about students not being ready for work after exam. My opinion is that it migtht be so compared to what it was like before when education took place almost only at the hospital. Though- now we are educating academic nurses who have their strength i other areas, like life long learning and research. Im not so sure that it is what the hospitals want though, cause with that comes staff that wont settle with the same working conditions as before. Well, well. There is a lot to say in this subject. Im sorry for my quite poor english today, might be because it is the day after new years eve...;)

Does anyone have an opinion about the different health systems in US and Scandinavia? Is there one that is better than the other or do both have positives and negatives? What about the different levels of education between American nurses and Scandinavian nurses?

As an American studying nursing in Norway, it seems there are lower expectations in regards to basic anatomy and physiology requirements, as well as low passing levels for exams. I was surprised to discover that you can pass an exam with the letter E, which is lower than a D but just enough to pass. I sure wouldn't want to be the patient who gets treated by a nurse who just barely passed all of their exams in school. Shouldn't we demand a higher level of excellence?

I also am frustrated with the organization of nursing school as a whole. We have little practice time and it seems to be obvious that the education is lacking when most nurses are not ready for their first jobs or feel comfortable with their work tasks until after working for 6 months full time. Wasn't the old system better, where nurses were educated in the hospitals and had a much more hands on experience?

And why would a Scandinavian nurse want to work in America? There seems to be a lot better conditions here than in the States in regards to overwork and low staff, not to mention the benefits a social system provides like free health care for you and your family.

Just a few questions from a 2. year nursing student

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Happy New Year/Godt Nytt Aar!

Hi, I am born and raised in Norway, but moved to the US 20 years ago. I am now a US citizen, and starting my 3rd semester of nursing school here in the US. Unfortunately I will have to continue to go to school after getting my RN, because it is my understanding I have to have a BSN to work in Norway.

I was wondering if there was still a nursing shortage in Norway? Since I am fluent in Norwegian, I should not have a problem getting licensed there, but I was wondering how hard it would be to get a job there. Hoping to work in the US during the winter, and in Norway during the summer. Maybe work in Norway during their common vacation if there is a need for nurses during that time.

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Count me in with a Screen name like HM2Viking I am definitely Norwegian....

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Great to hear from you! I am a nurse in Rochester, NY, but I visited your beautiful city this past Summer, including Kungsbacka, Boras and the whole region surrounding Goteburg. I would love to be in your shoes, and be able to practice nursing in Sweden! My wife's family lives around there, and it seems as though the whole healthcare industry is much more person-oriented over there! Nurses came to grandpa's home to take care of him instead of sending him to a nursing home! (I realize it is a cost-measure- I am not stupid, but they found ways to provide much more holistic care than here)

Anyway, good luck with nursing school and maybe one day we can trade...

Wayunderpaid

Hi Wayunderpaid!

How are you doing? Nice to see your response. I am from Gotenborg by the way and my sister going to Boras universety for nursing program. I taking my nursing program in Gotenborg universety and finishing in may 2008. Thank you for nice words about Sweden, it is beautiful country, well in summer time for sure.

I have some seriouse plans to explore my nursing career in US, and honestly have no idea where to start. I wonder if I can ask you some questions, because different people on this forum have very different opinions and I don´r really know whom to believe. Would you be able to answer some questions about nursing in US?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi Wayunderpaid!

How are you doing? Nice to see your response. I am from Gotenborg by the way and my sister going to Boras universety for nursing program. I taking my nursing program in Gotenborg universety and finishing in may 2008. Thank you for nice words about Sweden, it is beautiful country, well in summer time for sure.

I have some seriouse plans to explore my nursing career in US, and honestly have no idea where to start. I wonder if I can ask you some questions, because different people on this forum have very different opinions and I don´r really know whom to believe. Would you be able to answer some questions about nursing in US?

We have a good sticky called Primer to working in the US which is a good starting point. Also currently affected by retrogression and looking at 5+ years before getting a visa to work in the US and that is no longer a guarantee due to high demand.

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