Undersköterska = LVN/LPN???

suzanne4, RN · Aug 8, 2004

If you are planning on going that route to work in the US, and you are not a US citizen, go for the full four year program. Otherwise big problems with getting a visa to work in the US.

Please fill in more information first,....................... :balloons:

goddess_of_summer · Aug 9, 2004

If you are planning on going that route to work in the US, and you are not a US citizen, go for the full four year program. Otherwise big problems with getting a visa to work in the US.

I am a US Citizen so no problems there.

Please fill in more information first,....................... :balloons:

I'm not sure what further information I can give. I just thought maybe someone in Sweden who was an undersköterska would know if it is the equivelent of an LVN or a CNA. There seems to be quite a debate on that subject from others I have spoken to. The Swedish levels in order from lowest to highest are Vårdbiträde, Undersköterska and Sjuksköterska. I am of the opinion that the equivelents go like this:

Vårdbiträde = CNA

Undersköterska = LVN/LPN

Sjuksköterska = RN

My thinking on this is because of the length of schooling. Vårdbiträde education is one term or semester. Many programs for CNA that I have seen in the States are from 6 weeks to a semester.

Undersköterska education is 3 semesters here. Comparable to LVN programs that I have seen for a full calender year to 18 months.

Sjukskötersa education is a full 3 year program. Comparable to 2-3 year programs i have seen in the US for RN.

But where I have problems is that there aren't so many hoops to jump through for the program I am going into (Undersköterska) as I have read about for lvn school. No waiting lists, no entrance exams, nothing... And the course load itself doesn't seem to be as hard. So I worry that once I complete this program and if we move back to the States I would have to go to LVN school all over again to get a job.

Anyway, just hoping there was maybe someone who had gone this route before that could help me. I keep getting conflicting answers from others I have spoken to here. Some say that undersköterska is the same as CNA...but I can't imagine having to go to school a year and a half to be a CNA. Others say that once the credits transfer that you could be an RN in the States, but I can hardly see that happening either.

If you are curious, here are the courses as best as I can translate them.

1st Term:

Treatment and Caring ???

Basic Medicine

Psychology

Work environment and safety

2nd Term:

Healthcare

Ethics and life questions

Humans - socially and culturally

Working in the Public Health system

3rd Term:

Hospital Care

Geriatric Care

Rehabilitation and Habilitation

Optional courses are:

Organization and leadership

Healthcare education

Terminology for non native Swedish speakers

Each semester lasts 20 weeks. 17 weeks in class and 3 in a clinical setting, usually a nursing home.

Here is the job description of an Undersköterska translated by me from a Swedish website:

As an undersköterska you can work in different places within the healthcare system and have a variety of work related duties. Undersköterskan help patients wash and dress themselves. You make beds, hand out food, and do everything else that includes daily care. You take temperatures, take blood pressure, take tests and dress wounds. Another duty would be to prepare patients for different treatments that a doctor orders. You can for example give an enema before an xray.

In a hospital you often work together with a sjuksköterska (what I think is an RN). It is you that has most contact with the patients. Therefore it is important that you take time to talk with them (the patients) and give support when needed.

You can also work in home healthcare. In that case among other duties you would give medicine, injections as instructed by a sjuksköterska (RN).

If you work as a sjuksköterska in a doctor's office or special unit you assist doctors and sjuksköterskor with exams, treatment and procedures. You take temperatures, blood tests and fetch test results and journals as well as prepare patients for treatment. You also might arrange the instruments for examination and clean and disinfect them afterwards.

Sorry for the choppy language...but I was translating as I was reading. I could do a better translation if I had more time, but now I must go cook dinner!

Thanks for your help!

suzanne4, RN · Aug 9, 2004

The curriculum that you are talking of being equivalent to a LPN/LVN doesn't look like it with the classes that you wrote. I do not see any pharmacy calculation classes, hours in psych, or labor and delivery. I think that you are going to find yourself further behind by going that route if you are an American citizen and your goal is to work in the US. Medications are going to be different, such for a simple thing. If the hours are zccepted, you will still need to write the US Boards, whcih are geared for how we practice in the US and not overseas.

They both look like medical asst and CNA to me.

Best would be to submit the classes to a baord of nursing and see what they say.

goddess_of_summer · Aug 10, 2004

The curriculum that you are talking of being equivalent to a LPN/LVN doesn't look like it with the classes that you wrote. I do not see any pharmacy calculation classes, hours in psych, or labor and delivery. I think that you are going to find yourself further behind by going that route if you are an American citizen and your goal is to work in the US. Medications are going to be different, such for a simple thing. If the hours are zccepted, you will still need to write the US Boards, whcih are geared for how we practice in the US and not overseas.
They both look like medical asst and CNA to me.
Best would be to submit the classes to a baord of nursing and see what they say.

So basically I am going to be wasting the next 1 and a half years of my life.

Good thing to know the day before school starts!!

*sigh*

suzanne4, RN · Aug 10, 2004

So basically I am going to be wasting the next 1 and a half years of my life.
Good thing to know the day before school starts!!
*sigh*

Definitely sounds that way....................you would have to make up areas of deficient hours to be able to just sit for your boards in the US. And if you are already a US citizen, sounds like it is not the right thing to do.

When you take short-cuts to speed up a process, it doesn't always work in your favor....................Sorry.............

goddess_of_summer · Aug 10, 2004

you would have to make up areas of deficient hours to be able to just sit for your boards in the US. And if you are already a US citizen, sounds like it is not the right thing to do.

Why is there a difference between citizens and non citizens?

When you take short-cuts to speed up a process, it doesn't always work in your favor....................Sorry.............

But I am not trying to take any shortcuts. I thought I was entering a program that was the same as an LVN program. I thought I would graduate from this program, get a job, then when and if I moved back to the States would be able to get a job there.

Sorry if I sound like I am whining. :) I am usually not a whiner. Just not the info I expected...and definitely not the day before my first day of school. Anyway thanks for your help! I have read other posts of yours here before and you are always so helpful! So I hope I haven't been too much of a pain!

suzanne4, RN · Aug 10, 2004

As a foreigner, you would not be able to get a green card if you trained overseas as an LPN/LVN. At least not in the expedited fashion as you would as an RN. You don't have that against you, but when comparing the training, things will bwe quite different. Plus are your classes are in a different language and the vocabualry is so different. Even in Thailand, most of the medical words are the same as in the US, just pronounced differently, where your vocabualry will be quite different.

You will have to relearn all of the nomenclature all over again, as well as the drugs. If your goal is to work where you are, then it is perfect for you. However, if your goal is to work back in the US, then you are going to be spending longer time in school. The Baords of Nursing are quite strict when evaluating coursework that was done overseas. And if the classes aren't listed just as they are in the US, even with their literal translations, you may find yourself up against a wall in some states.

Don't mean to scare you off, but just be prepared for it.............. :balloons: