Scandinavian Nurses

Hi,

I am also a Finn from Savitaipale. I earned my nursing degree in Las Vegas

Hi

It´s nice to see there are other Scandinavian nurses here on allnurses! This forum is fantastic and can answer just about any question you might have. I know it has for me.....

My name is Anna and I´m a Swedish nurse. I have a job waiting for me in California (nicu) and hopefully I will get there someday.....

Anna

Hello Anna,

My wife and I are living in Sweden now studying nursing. I was wondering if you have worked in Ca. yet and if so was the process difficult i.e. credentials, nclex. Did you get your degree in Sweden. I am from Ca. so immigration isnt an issue, just concerned if they recognize Swedish nursing education.

Thank you

I'm European, educated and working as a RN in the US. Planning to relocate to Norway. Any nurses in Scandinavian forum from Norway. Any ideas/advices about licensure/job search in Norway? Very happy to have Scandinavian nurses here, at allnurses!!!

I'm European, educated and working as a RN in the US. Planning to relocate to Norway. Any nurses in Scandinavian forum from Norway. Any ideas/advices about licensure/job search in Norway? Very happy to have Scandinavian nurses here, at allnurses!!!

Hi, I'm an American studying nursing in Norway. I'm not so sure about all the technical stuff with licensure, but I do know there is a lot of jobs out there. I just started a job with a company called Adecco. It is supposed to be the largest staffing agency in the world. That could be a good option for you if you have experience. Check it out on http://www.adecco.com. As far as I can tell from heresay (best friend took RN in US) the US nurses learn a lot more and have more responsibility than the Norwegians. It should be a relatively easy transition, except the language barrier. Almost all Norwegians from 50 and under can speak English and many can speak German. In the hospitals there are doctors and nurses from Sweden and Denmark and you are expected to be able to understand their languages as well, which is a challenge for a beginner Norwegian speaker. Good luck on your search! And be prepared for long summer days: buy some good window blinds. The sun is up from 3 am til 11.30pm at the worst. In the winter be ready for some depression from about October to March. You wish you were a bear so you could hibernate. I count the days until I see the sun (due to cloudy days and little daytime from 10am to 3pm), sometimes it can be as bad as 14 days! It's beautiful country anyway!

Good luck!

Dear Norwaystud

thank you very much for your response. It's so helpful info. I just began studying Norwegian and doing pretty good so far. For me it is mixture of German, English and my native language--all of them I know, so much easier than was with English. Are you doing studying abroad program? Majoring in Nursing?

I have AD in Nursing (from American college) and MS in Economics (from my country) Not sure--do I need to get BS in Nursing in the order to qualify for licensure in Norway or they will retrain me anyway? Most BS in Nursing programs here, in the States, for me will be online and I think they will give me only degree not much knowledge.

Also, thanks for emlployment agency link.

Good luck in your studies!

Hi Cicada!

It's great to hear that my information was helpful. I am not doing a study abroad program. I just started out on my own. It took me about 2-3 good years to learn the language and I didn't get accepted the first time I applied to school. It's good that you have started learning Norwegian already. I'm sure you will catch on much faster than me. It was my first "second" language. And I agree it is a much easier language than English!

It sounds as if you will probably have to take some college here in Norway. Perhaps a year program. Here there is only one option for Nursing, a BS degree. I have been gone from the US for a few years now so I am unfamiliar with the term AD degree. Is that the same as an Associates Degree?

If you do have to take college here, it is difficult to be accepted. There are few nursing schools and many students. But the drop out rate is also quite high...so you have higher chances to get in if you only have to take the last year. If you want more information on the visa process and what your options are try this website: http://www.udi.no/default.aspx?id=2112 you can choose another language if you wish.

Smiles,

Norwaystud

Hi, Norwaystudy

You're so helpful! I do have Associate Degree in Nursing (AD --that's how we abreviate it) from community college. Just thinking now--is that better for me to take RN to BSN program here, in the US and then go to Norway or better to take courses in Norway. I think that even with BS in Nursing from USA, Norwegians still will want me to be "re-educated" according their requirements. But I can be wrong. Any info you'll give for me-- I'll highly appreciate. My relocation back to Europe will be not easy because I'm in the States for 12 years. However, I need to be closer to my family. Your advices will ease my relocation.

I still hold an EU countries passport, so immigration will be easy. I know that Americans have a lot of problems while immigrating to Europe. So, you did a perfect job learning foreign language, immigrating to Norway and studying nursing there. I know what means to learn foreign languages, immigrate, and adapt in a new country. Not easy at all. You'll love being a nurse!!! It's a very rewarding profession. Do you plan to come back to the States after graduation or you'll stay in Norway for good?

Have to go to work. I'm a nurse in a small community hospital on general medicine floor. Working a second shift.

So long!

Hello Anna,

My wife and I are living in Sweden now studying nursing. I was wondering if you have worked in Ca. yet and if so was the process difficult i.e. credentials, nclex. Did you get your degree in Sweden. I am from Ca. so immigration isnt an issue, just concerned if they recognize Swedish nursing education.

Thank you

Hi

No I haven´t worked in california yet, but hopefully it won´t be too long now since retrogression seems to be lifted as of next month.....

I have my original lisence from new york and endorsed to california. Since they always do their own evaluation my school had to send transcripts to the CA BON. It took 8 months, 3 transcripts and a lot of phonecalls (they claimed they didn´t recieve the trancripts despite the fact that they had signed for them) but I finally got my license.

If will make it a lot easier to apply and be evaluated if someone from your school has applied for a license in California before. I was the first from my school and that meant that they also had to evaluate the school and needed answers to a lot of questions before they even got to my application.

Good luck!

Anna

God Dag! Are there any nurses from Denmark, home of my family, out there??? Would love to visit and practice my terrible danish!

Christina

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.