Hi

Just I’ve just accepted a job in Vaud on the basis of advice I found on this site, Thanks!

Now I need to sort out the wife…

She’s a Sister (Head Nurse) in a central London hospital A&E (ER) department and would be looking for similar. Only problem is she doesn’t speak French…

She is looking at going on an Intensive French language course/bootcamp (any suggestions?) But could anyone suggest any Hospitals/Doctor’s clinics that cater for international patients so that English would be the first language.

Also what sort of healthcare opportunities would be available in the UN, WHO, Red-Cross etc

Thanks!

Hi,
i used to work as a charge nurse at the big state hospital in Lausanne( CHUV), www.chuv.ch/
all the state hospital require quite a good level of french ( altho when my group of friends from london started we were anything but fluent- altho it was very difficult & stressful for those whose french wasn`t so good as in the state hospitals you really get flung in at deep end-no english allowed or hands slapped!!).I think getting a job with UN/WHO pretty difficlut ( I found it pretty hard to find anything suitable there- but by all means try)

there are lots of private clinics about. I am hoping to find something at one of them in the Montreux region when I return in the summer.
here are some websites. depends where you are living. check them out.many of these will take international clients so if she can get her french up to a fairly reasonable level she should find something. there are lots of jobs check out the agencies like adecco/ kelly services/manpower

http://www.vaud-cliniques.ch/
http://www.suisse-romande.com/hopita...e-romande.html
http://www.suisse-romande.com/hopita...e-romande.html

any clinics that are doing major cardiac surgery/ plastic surgery etc will probably have a lot of foreign clientele eg. genolier, la prairie,

I would say if she is working in any hospital where french is needed then perhaps she may have to think about somewhere less acute ( initially) A&E- no room for error with the lingo there.
maybe she could look at doing an intensive course before going out, altho this will not cover medical terminology which can be quite different.There are lots of language schools about including migros , berlitz etc. http://www.avdep.ch/public/ecoles-profils.cfm?id=7

Feel free to pm me if you want any further info and good luck.
Jo

Hi Jo

Thanks for this:- looks like a good start!
May well PM you at a later date if we come unstuck...

Cheers

Hi, I am very interested in working in switzerland as a critical care nurse. I am bilingual english and french. Could you help me find out what i need to do inorder to work in switzerland

hi there how did u go about getting a job here..i would like to know where to start

i appreciate any input u offer

the swiss red cross regulate nursing here and they will not recognise your nursing qualification until you are fluent in one of the 4 main languages spoken in CH. this means you will not be able to take any nursing positions here.