British Nurse moving to Germany

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Hello All,

I am soon to be moving to Cologne in Germany and would like to know some information. I am a British Nurse working In London within General Surgical ward, almost 2 years qualified. I read some post from a number of years ago about how limited a nurses role was, and how poor the pay is, although I now believe there has been some changes??? Has this effected the working conditions?

There was also some suggestions that OR nursing or research nursing may be an easier option, if so how do I know which hospitals to contact? Someone else has mentioned that International Nurses must work for one year unpaid for your skills and language ability to be assessed. I am not sure if this is accurate information. I speak very basic German but will attend an intensive language course upon my arrival however knowing how challenging the language is I doubt I will be fluent for 1-2 years which is a long time to be out of work.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

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Specializes in neuro med, telemetry, icu, pacu.

i have no answers nor a clue to how one would find out....

but i would be very interested in the answer....so keep us posted :)

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I read your question and I too have no answer but that sounds like one big adventure! Deutschland ist sehr schon! besten Wunsche Krankenschwester :) :)

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Specializes in psych/addictions/liaison.
Deutschland ist sehr schon! besten Wunsche Krankenschwester :) :)

Vielleicht ist Bobo ein Krankenbruder.......

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Specializes in ED, OR, SAF, Corrections.

There is a NATO installation in Geilenkirchen (about a 45-60 min drive) from Cologne if you wanted to go that route - not sure if they have a hospital there, but I know they have clinics. Being a British citizen might be a plus when applying, though like the US Army they do hire local nationals (Germans) for many jobs. Then there is also a US Army garrison in Schinnen about 30 minutes beyond that (in the NL's). Just a thought to give you other options.

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Vielleicht ist Bobo ein Krankenbruder.......

Sie ist richtig :) es tut mir leid :)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Guy's I know it is nice speaking another language but terms of service of the site asks that we post only in English

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Guy's I know it is nice speaking another language but terms of service of the site asks that we post only in English

Sorry, didn't realise. all i said in the first post was that germany is lovely and best wishes krankenschwester which means sick sister-meaning female nurse. The other person replied saying that perhaps bobo is krankenbruder meaning-sick brother meaning male nurse. Then I replied You're right , Im sorry. Just in case anyone was wondering, didn't mean to be rude!

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