NURSING IN GERMANY

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Hello all (AGAIN!)

I had posted a little while ago about nursing in Germany but am still searching for more clear cut answers :/

I am a working RN currently in California but moving with my spouse (Army) to Germany (will be stationed in Sembach). I have spoken to a few people about finding jobs but what I'm concerned with at the moment is obtaining a license in general.

Can anyone guide me in the direction of a website or anything that will give me info about how to qualify as a nurse in Germany? Is it just paperwork? Is it a board exam all over again? Do my certifications in the US count for anything? What if I will be working at a US military hospital?

THANKS to any and all info!!!

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Sorry I am from the uk but I think I can assist in a little sense. germany is part of the EU which also is the uk, all nurses within the EU (Europe) need to meet the requirements of the EU so the process will be similar to the uk which is at least 2300 clinical hours in training and nearly that again in theory, I copied and pasted this if this is any help, but this is for uk nurses, also as stated you would need to know how to speak german

Good luck and hope you get on ok

UK Nurses wanting to work in Germany

In Germany, all nurses who want to work in their nursing profession have to have their qualification recognized by applying for an "Anerkennung". This is usually at the The Landesamt für Gesundheit Soziales (LAGeSo) in Berlin. Here are some requirements that you need:

Language Profiency level B2 German. Registered with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC). Evidence of Nursing Education including Academic Transcript and all translated into the German language. Evidence where you currently live. Evidence that you are allowed to work within the EU. Evidence that your Nursing education is the standard of "EU Berufsanerkennungsrichtlinie/2005/36/EG".

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Specializes in Trauma ICU.

I can't tell you much about the evaluation process but what I can say is, that it is super easy to find a job these days. Hospitals here don't even have close as much nurses as they would need. However, it's really easy to find a job within a big city circle and not so easy when living out in the country where jobs for nurses have gotten pretty rare.

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Suzy12: thanks for replying! Do you know if any of that stuff applies to military bases??

Matt89: thank you also! What's considered a big city ? Is Sembach by a big city??? :/

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Specializes in Trauma ICU.

Well it's pretty close to "Kaiserslautern" which has a population around 100.000 people living there. I just checked the German employment center website which popped up 94 results. But not a whole lot for RN's in hospitals but a lot for nursing homes for the elderly.

I used to work at a pretty small hospital out in the country with a population somewhere around 35.000 people and there where in need of RN's every once in a while but for instance the hospital

where I work now doesn't even bother deleting job offers they have on their homepage because we have people come and go pretty much every month. I mean there is about 4500 people working at the hospital I work now so the employee turnover is pretty high.

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Sorry am not sure what you mean exactly but Like the US , nursing is a licence profession .. I imagine you will need to meet the Germany requirements to nurse... You would need to apply and be evaluated against your own licence.. In your training you would have to have a certain amount of placement hours .. Which is around the 2300 .. They might take little less as the NMC does .. But first and foremost I think you would have to be able to prove you can speak German ..

However If you are talking about working nursing in military only and they are all English speaking ? It might be different of course ? You might even be able to apply for something under the military .. But am not sure how that works ? I know the military work different as at the end of my course they tried to sign us up to work in Iraq in camp bastide? Or Bastille ? Am not sure and they had there own programme of training .. That's all I know am afraid .. Good luck and hope you get on great :)

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Suzy12: thanks for replying! Do you know if any of that stuff applies to military bases??

Matt89: thank you also! What's considered a big city ? Is Sembach by a big city??? :/

Think Hannover, Essen, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Lubeck, Dortmund. Sembach never heard of it. Google it and see what the population is and how many hospitals there are.

Fluency is your main issue. Base hospitals will always hire a few dependents but there are limits to how many spouses they can absorb.

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Are you talking about a position in a German hospital or a position in a military facility?

If you are interested in a position in a military facility all that should be required is a current license in any state, territory, or the District of Columbia.

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Chare: yes, that's what I meant... A position in a military hospital.... I think someone mentioned Landstuhl (sp?) med center possibly? So you're saying My current California license might be enough?

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Yes, for employment as a nurse in any federal facility the applicant "must have active, current registration as a professional nurse in a State, District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States."

For a listing of available jobs search USAjobs.gov, using job series 0610. Although USAjobs.gov should list all federal positions, you might also try searching VA Careers, US Army Civilian Personnel, Air Force Civilian Service using job series 0610 as well.

Good luck with your relocation.

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THANK YOU so much for the info!!!

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