Nursing schools in Germany

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Hi, I have a report to do for a nursing class, I am hoping someone could tell me what the nursing schools in germany are like. I can find plenty of web pages but I cant read english. What I would like to know is

How many yrs. to for a lpn or rn, Im not sure what it would be called in germany, Are the classes a lot like the us classes? Pharmacolgy, fundys, skills etc. Any input would be greatly apprecieated, thanks so much

If anyone went to a nursing school in germany, could you tell me what it was like? anything at all. thanks so much.

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Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.

If you give me the adresses of some web pages, I can translate it for you. I am a German girl who moved to the US 5 years ago. Hopefully I can help.

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Could you tell me what the nurses wear in germany? Are they alot like the states?

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Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.

They wore only white uniforms back then, no nice colored scrubs. It was white scrubs (provided by the hospial with their logo on it). But I have only seen nurses there when I visited someone in the hospital. Like i said, if you give the info where I can look up stuff for you in German, I will.:nurse:

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I finished nursing school here in Germany 10 years ago so I can give you a general idea of how it works. (Or at least how it worked where I was)

Most, if not all nursing schools are affiliated directly with a hospital. This is because nursing school here isn't considered "college" or a university-type program. You don't need the equivalent of a highschool diploma to go to nursing school. Even (I think?) 10 years of formal schooling are enough to be accepted. Not saying that you will be accepted, it's always a matter of how much demand there is out there. Right now, with many people choosing to go into nursing, the schools are able to be choosier, than say, 13 years ago, when I attended.

The programs go 3 years. And are all about nursing with tons and tons of hands on. We did have a tiny bit of other things (german, chemistry) but mostly nursing. We would have a few weeks of school, 8 hours a day, and then we'd be on a unit where we would stay for 8 weeks. The classes were small (still are) About 25 people per class. Each year, two classes started. I had all the same classes as everybody else during the 3 years- everybody was always together for everything. (Except for the units- because the hospital had 1000 beds- there were more than enough units to go around.)Every week we had one day of school and would work the other 4 days. I think in all, maybe about 6 weeks of vacation per year, but not the large blocks of summer vacation and winter vacation that U.S. students are used to. But this is probably due to the fact that we didn't have to pay for tuition- in fact, we got payed because we worked so much on the units. And believe me, we did work. Back then, there was a massive nursing shortage in Germany so every hand was used. My first year, I was often responsible for 8-10 pt. Everything from giving bed baths to pulling central lines or giving iv meds. In hindsight really scary- especially for the pts. but man, did I learn a lot!:chuckle

That is quite different nowadays because the nursing shortage is long over.

Nursing students wear a different uniform than the other nurses, so that they are readily identifiable. In my case it was lint green. (very ugly)

There is a reform under way here and while nursing schools still run 3 years and are not considered equal to colleges or universities- there is a call to change this. Who knows how long that could take.

OH, there aren't really LPN's here. The closest is probably a program that only runs a few months, they are called "Pflegehelfer." But Pflegehelfer are not employed by hospitals, and usually end up in old-age homes where nobody else wants to work.

It might also be interesting to know, that all nursing students who are graduating in the same year, take the nursing exam on the same day. Or better said, all Nursing schools that begin in October, take their test together in October. On the same day, at the same time, with the same questions. All Nursing schools that start in September also have everything the same. And so on.

Well, hope this hasn't been too confusing:eek:

If you have any more questions, email me and I'll do my best!

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Thats auesome!

Thank you so much for the input, a lot of that info. I will be able to use in my report. There isnt a NCLEX in germany? About how many questions were on the test? Did you and the other students think it was hard? If you failed, were you able to take it over?? Those are just some questions that we as students have for the NLEX in the u.s. and I just thought that would be interesting in the report. Do you think the programs have changed signifigantly from 10yrs. ago? Im sure alot of the health care practices have changed, and I know that it is still a three yr. program, but I wonder if there is still so many clinical hrs. seems that would be the way to go though, Ive been in clinicals for almost six weeks and ive learned as much as I have being in shcool for the whole semester, I just cant wait when I go to work as a lpn knowing that I will be able to learn so much more. Thanks for the input.

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The test was hard. A lot more in depth than the NCLEX. We got a case study-for example a 59 year old man with symptoms of angina and an ulcur on his leg.....we had to write out a plan of care and explain how we would do what. I don't remember exactly, but there were multiple choice questions as well. Not (if any) pharmacalogical ones, though as that is more of a physicians thing over here. Not as broad based as the NCLEX though. Here midwife is a separate school, as is pediatrics. So, although we did have some questions on that- they were few and far between.

If you fail, you have to wait 6 months (i think?) until you can take the test again and you have to retake some classes. If you fail the second time, I think that's it- no more repeating. But I'm not sure on this, as I passed the first time around and didn't bother enquiring...:wink2:

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Thank You for all of your help!

I got an A :)

Couldnt have done it without the info. that you gave me..thank you!!

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Congratulations on that great grade!!!!

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Hi Kersti, my name is Tatiana and I am interested in knowing more about nursing school in Germany. I actually just signed up allnurses.com for my boyfriend who is studying to be a nurse. I am very interested in moving to Germany for I am a German citizen, but he is scared if there is opportunities for him there. I am curious to know if they transfer credits in Germany of if like you said, you just start from the beginning?

Well any advice you can give is of great help!

Thank you,

Tatiana Kallmann

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I am also planning to move to Germany in a year or two with my husband. I am a licensed RN with a bachelors degree. Doesn't seem to sound like i'll have any luck getting a job over there (?). What about continuing nursing education? I've heard something said about nurse researches. Does anyone know anything about that or anything else that might help me? I don't speak German either.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I am also planning to move to Germany in a year or two with my husband. I am a licensed RN with a bachelors degree. Doesn't seem to sound like i'll have any luck getting a job over there (?). What about continuing nursing education? I've heard something said about nurse researches. Does anyone know anything about that or anything else that might help me? I don't speak German either.

You will need to be able to speak German although when I lived there several years ago they could speak English they much preferred to speak German. Not sure how you will get a work permit but may have trouble

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