Studying Nursing in Germany – is it a better option?
Nursing is a noble profession, and nurses are in high demand worldwide. But is Studying nursing in Germany a better option?
Even in our home countries, hospitals require qualified nurses always.
Then why are nurses migrating from many developing countries like India?
For example, even after having such a vast population and the need for more nurses to provide nursing care, our nurses still migrate to other countries!
The reason could be that nurses are not well paid for their contributions in these countries and are not given due respect to the nursing profession.
In comparison, they get both in many foreign countries. For example, a graduate nurse’s salary equals or is better than many other occupations!
To explain it further, a nurse starts working for Rs.5000-15,000/month in India and a graduate nurse’s salary in Germany is approximately Rs.1,80,000 per month!
German employers follow the minimum wage salary in every industry, sector and business, making it more attractive. Employees in Germany enjoy many other benefits, including annual paid leaves and various allowances.
Germany tops in the world for work-life balance.
There are two kinds of nursing courses in Germany. Both have a common factor of having work placements.
The vocational programme in nursing is offered solely by a hospital as many of them in Germany have inbuilt study centres to provide the study part as well.
Universities will offer the course in association with hospitals to ensure that their student is trained well.
Studying nursing in Germany does not cost much; the student gets paid a monthly stipend for the entire programme duration.
The following paragraphs will explain how to study nursing in Germany through a university or an employer/hospital as a vocational programme. One should qualify and get licensed, and how to study nursing in Germany doesn’t matter!
How to study BSc nursing in Germany?
One can study nursing in Germany as a dual degree programme, study and work, so a job offer is crucial to studying at a university. A university and an associated employer in Germany offer the BSc nursing in Germany as a dual study programme.
A job offer from an associated employer is the main requirement to accept an applicant for a BSc nursing in Germany by any German university. In addition, International applicants should have a German university entry qualification, Abitur.
So a foreign applicant aiming to study BSc nursing in Germany should migrate to learn German up to C1 Level and attend a subject-based foundation course to meet the Abitur requirements first before applying for a BSc dual study programme at university.
There are no nursing universities in Germany, no nursing schools or colleges separately. Like medicine, many universities, especially universities of applied sciences, offer nursing courses and engineering, business, and technology courses.
So Nursing colleges in Germany for international students also mean free public universities that offer BSc dual study programmes in Germany.
If you ask the best nursing colleges in Germany, the public universities invite international students to study BSc nursing in Germany!
So nursing universities in Germany mean those universities teach BSc nursing degree courses also on their campus.
Nursing studies through Ausbildung or vocational courses or apprenticeship training are offered directly by hospitals/employers, not by nursing universities in Germany.
Study nursing in Germany through Ausbildung
Ausbildung is apprenticeship training in English and a unique opportunity for applicants from foreign countries to study nursing in Germany and become a nurse ultimately.
Ausbildung the diploma nursing in Germany. The diploma in nursing in Germany or Ausbildung leads to a German state-approved vocational qualification in Germany.
Those who sit the nursing licensing exam will start working as nurses, and those who don’t attend the test will work as assistant nurses or health care assistants.
The participants/students/trainees will learn nursing while on the job.
Most of the programme is a work placement, almost 70%, and the students attend classroom teachings for 30% in the participating training institution. The better side is that work placement and classroom teaching are offered simultaneously, making it a unique programme that attracts a monthly stipend for the entire programme duration – 3 years!
It was next to impossible for non-EU citizens outside of Germany to get a job offer while still in their home country until the German Government introduced the Ausbildung programme in Mar 2020.
The dream comes true to study nursing in Germany through a vocational programme called Ausbildung for non-EU citizens. Of course, they must attend the nursing licensing examination successfully after completing the course.
The requirements to study nursing in Germany
The requirements to study nursing in Germany are;
Those who wish to study a BSc dual study in nursing should have completed a 12th-grade school/senior secondary school education. The subject group in the 12th should be the Maths-science group. They have obtained at least 50% in their board exam.
Additionally, they must develop an interest in learning German and be highly motivated to study nursing.
They should also be ready to migrate to Germany, learn German and achieve better communication skills, attend a subject-based Foundation course, and pass with good marks before applying to the BSc dual study programme.
The requirements to study nursing in Germany for international students through an Ausbildung programme are;
12th-grade school examination passed with at least 60% marks. Start learning german in the home country, at least B1.
The language requirement is the B2 Level, and those who archive this level will stand qualified and be considered for direct training as soon as they arrive in Germany. They can avoid further language learning in Germany and thus avoid the requirement for a blocked account while applying for a visa at the German consulate in the home country.
Nursing students will find it easy if they prepare well to integrate into Germany’s learning, living and working culture.
Better German language proficiency makes your life easier in Germany. It could be problematic if your language is not good enough.
The German Language is the KEY to success in Germany!
Is nursing salary in Germany better and nursing a promising career in Germany?
Nursing salary in Germany is reasonably better, and nursing is a promising career in Germany. German registered nurses can apply for a license anywhere in Europe provided they know the country’s language, e.g., they need to learn French to work in France. In Austria, they do not need to do any other formalities than the country’s registration paperwork as a nurse.
Nurses’ salary in Germany starts from EUR 2400 per month. Experienced nurses earn more than EUR 5000 per month in Europe.
Nurses have better career growth as they can later become nursing superintendents, managers, tutors, or hospital managers.
BSc nursing salary in Germany is not any different from the registered nurse’s salary, in the beginning, it would be the same. But BSc nursing salary in Germany could be better while getting more experienced.
German registered nurses can relocate to work in the UK, USA, Canada, or Australia if they want at any time in future.
Is Germany in need of nurses?
Germany has an acute shortage of nurses, other health care workers and professionals.
There were times, and recently people thought many German health care settings, including hospitals, might close their operations until they had enough hospital staff, especially nurses and doctors.
Germany needs nurses in large numbers, so the German state governments support any good initiatives to attract foreign-educated qualified nurses to Germany.
Skilled Immigration Act, 2020 allows foreign-educated nurses to immigrate to Germany without hassles. While considering foreign-educated nurses’ visa applications, German consulates in non-EU countries look only at their German skills and a job offer from a German registered hospital or any other healthcare setting.
The introduction of Ausbildung and bringing nursing under this apprenticeship training or vocational training is a piece of better evidence of Germany’s seriousness in improving the number of nurses available in the country.
Skille immigration Act permits German hospitals and nursing homes to create apprenticeship positions, get enough young people from non-EU countries with minimum educational qualifications and genuine interest, and train them in a nursing care environment as nursing specialists.
Related articles about Nursing in Germany :
How much does it cost to study nursing in Germany?
Study nursing in Germany for free attracts most foreign-origin applicants worldwide. Education in subject nowadays otherwise is not that easy for millions of people in many countries.
Study nursing in Germany for free for international students is crucial for an applicant from a family looking for alternatives to taking loans from banks and other private institutions.
Study nursing in Germany for free is correct as both the BSc dual degree and the Ausbildung vocational programme have mandatory work placements as part of the curriculum and syllabus, and students get a monthly stipend. They don’t need to pay tuition fees.
BSc Nursing is free in Germany. Public universities teach free nursing course in Germany. Tuition-free nursing schools in Germany are op-rated public universities charging no tuition fees to international students.
Free nursing schools in Germany for international students could be read as public universities that offer BSc dual degree programmes.
Study nursing in Germany for free for international students as well, as education from the elementary level to PhD is free for German citizens!
Ausbildung is a Government controlled programme. The participating institutions and health care settings charge no tuition fees.
The health care setting/employers train the participants on the job and pay a monthly stipend for the programme’s entire duration, starting from the first month onwards.
The nursing occupation attracts a stipend of EUR 1000-1300 per month in the first year.
So that it’s like for the citizens, free nursing schools in Germany for international students are also available for those who are motivated to study nursing in Germany.
The Hospitals and its associate study centres jointly offer Ausbildung/Apprenticeship training in nursing free in Germany.
The cost is the money they spend only to prepare to qualify for the programme.
For example, they will need to pay for their language classes. They need to learn the German language and sit the tests to check their progression until they achieve at least a better B1 Level.
Apart from the cost of learning the German language, they will also need to spend on the paperwork, certification, translation and legalisation of documents.
Since they are new to the country, when they arrive in Germany, they may need the services like somebody meeting them at the airport and transferring them to their accommodation, which means housing needs to be arranged before their arrival. They need to pay for these services.
The post-arrival services include familiarisation trips, opening a local bank account, introducing the local community, orientation programmes, and grievances address service during their entire Ausbildung programme.
Otherwise, German public universities have free nursing courses in Germany, not to pay a tuition fee for the entire duration of their nursing study programme.
The Ausbildung programmes or diploma programmes are also tuition-free nursing schools in Germany.
How many years does it take to become a nurse in Germany?
Nursing in Germany duration can take three years to complete the Ausbildung nursing specialist programme.
BSc dual studies in nursing in Germany duration also is three years. Here an international student needs to learn German up to C1 Level and a foundation year completed before being accepted to the degree programme by the university concerned.
As mentioned above, the programme completion leads to a state-approved vocational qualification and recognition all over Germany and Europe.
They may begin working as a health care assistant/support worker immediately after that and become a nurse as soon as they pass nursing licensing exam and complete the registration procedure.
Suppose they work on the total time they need to become a nurse in Germany.
In that case, they need to count how many months they take in their home country to prepare;
with the required German language,
get all the required documents,
attend an interview conducted by a participating employer/health care setting,
qualify for a training contract and eventually a visa from the German consulate.
Do nursing students get paid in Germany?
Yes.
Ausbildung nursing participants get a monthly stipend for the entire duration of the programme.
The Ausbildung nursing students get a minimum of 1000 EUR per month in the first year.
The employer can increase the monthly stipend in the second and consecutive years.
The students should be career-oriented and focused.
They should do well and get the appreciation of the trainers and the management to grow better and achieve their goals as planned.
Study nursing in English in Germany!
One should know that Germany speaks the German language, and the Germans are proud of their language and love to communicate only in German if possible.
Leaving this apart, health care and medical services are a national subject for all developed countries. No responsible government will dare to play with the public health care system of the country.
For example, English-speaking countries insist that qualified foreign-educated nurses who have studied their nursing course in English in their home country also pass an acceptable English language test and prove their proficiency level.
That clearly shows that they do not want to take any risks that may jeopardise their public health care.
Germans speak the German language the most; thus, the workplace language of all the healthcare settings in Germany is German.
Therefore one cannot even imagine to study nursing in Germany with international students in English.
Can they work in Germany as a nurse after the course?
The main idea of introducing the nursing Ausbildung programme is to create more healthcare workers, especially community workers, healthcare assistants and nurses in Germany.
After the course, one can start working, but one should register with the state office that controls the nursing practice within the state to work as a nurse.
Germany needs many nurses across the country. Once registered, they will find multiple employers/hospitals interested in hiring them.
German hospitals look for many ways to find qualified nurses to work for them. They are hiring nurses from many foreign countries with a minimum level of German skills, at least the level of B1, and offering B2-level German courses under their sponsorship in Germany. Then they train to help them adapt to the nursing practice in the country.
PR after completing a nursing course in Germany
Nowhere in the world will get a PR just because of completing nursing studies in the country!
Germany is the only country with the most straightforward immigration system concerning immigrants, including students, trainees, job seekers, and employees.
Students, including Ausbildung trainees, will qualify to apply for a PR after working two years after completing their courses.
That means;
- Attend an Ausbildung course successfully.
- Start working as a health care worker or a nurse.
- Work in Germany for at least two years.
- Apply for a PR.
Nursing studies in Germany is free as no tuition fees are paid to the universities and Ausbildung training-providing companies.
A nurse starts earning 2400.EUR per month for their work under the standard duty hours per week.
There are three options;
- Study BSc dual study in nursing at a German public university in Germany.
- Participate in an Ausbildung training course offered directly by a hospital in Germany.
- If you are already a nurse in your country, participate in adaptation training in a German hospital and work towards becoming a registered nurse in Germany.
The UK and Germany are the best countries for nurses to work in Europe.
The nurses will be happy if they enjoy their work and the workplace.
Germany is a German-speaking country, and the German government is very serious about Germany’s health care and public health. One cannot even expect to teach nursing in English in Germany. That simply won’t work in Germany.
You can study BSc nursing in Germany at public universities and Ausbildung training at hospitals.
There is no age limit mentioned anywhere but preferably 30.
At least 12th grade passed.
Maybe your home country.
One should be motivated to study nursing; for them, it should be fun!
BSc dual study!
It could be Geriatric Nursing!
No tuition fees are charged, and the students earn a monthly stipend, so it should be free of cost while on the course.
Three years in Germany, whether it is BSc or Ausbildung.
But international students need to attend a foundation course before the degree course.
Please contact KCR CONSULTANTS for details and process your application, whether for a BSc dual degree in nursing or an Ausblidung training programme.
8 thoughts on “Studying Nursing in Germany”
it’s very informative
I wish to study B Sc nursing in next year.
Hello Aparna,
Please get in touch with us and email your questions to [email protected] or email your qualifications and supporting documents whenever you are ready to start the process.
Hi,
Have a spouse trained and registered as clinical officer in Kenya. She is interested in taking bachelors degree in Nursing.
Kindly advice
Regards
You may suggest your wife email her qualifications to [email protected] for a preliminary assessment.
The preparation to pursue nursing starts with attending the German language courses of A1-C1 level, followed by a medical foundation course before progressing to the BSc nursing main programme offered at a public university.
my email is [email protected]
I want your services in helping secure admission for my son, a Nigerian Adult who
wants to come to Germany to study nursing.
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out. We would be happy to assist in securing admission for your son to study nursing in Germany. Please provide us with his educational background and any language certifications he may have to proceed further. You may email them to [email protected]
i want to study BSC Nursing in Germany from Nigeria at age 42, i am not a Nurse. how do i go about the German Language courses of A1-C1
Hi, we generally get a conditional admission for tuitin-free nursing degree program and another letter of offer for German language course from a language centre which is a paid course. Upon achieving C1 level you will meet the condition.
I hope this answers your questions.