Thank you for responding! That info is very helpful. But am I correct in reading that the courses cost 6,000 CHF just to have my nursing license recognized by the swiss red cross?? This seems a bit outrageous considering I already have a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and am a registered nurse in the U.S.

Maybe, but things are done differently here than in the US. If you want to work here that's what you're going to have to do.

If there's a real shortage then it doesn't seem to me to be beyond the realms of possibility for an employer to sponsor you through all of this. Especially if the individual is highly experienced.

Hello all together

I need help now quitting high school for nurses where I acquired the title of a registered nurse, but in my country is no longer a future for the young, but I would like to come to work in Switzerland, but I was wondering where I can get a job, what should I narditi ...

thank you

The answer is already in this thread. You need to get your qualifications recognised by the Swiss Red Cross first; that's fairly easy to do for EU citizens. Then try and find a job here, preferably down in Ticino where Italian is the main Swiss language spoken. If you come here to look for work, you'll need sufficient funds to support yourself while you job hunt. Same as anywhere else really.

Hi

I am a peaditric nurse looking to move to switzerland. Does anyone know if I do the french b2 level would the Red Cross accept my qualification as a child nurse or will I have to start from zero. Please let me know, i am feeling so desperate and really dont want to have to go back to uni.

To all those who have nursing job was was the process difficult and how long did it take for the Red Cross to do the whole comparing thing.

Any info you have will be helpfull, hopefully it'll be good news rather than bad
Dosa

How did u manage to find a job without the reconaissance? Can you register urself as a nurse without the reconaissance?

Thank you

Dosa

Hi Dosa,

Don't know about a child nursing degree (from the UK?), but I'm currently going through the process of getting my degree (Bachelor of Science in Nursing from a US university) recognized by the Red Cross, and I can tell you about my experience with the whole "comparing thing".

The absolute first thing you have to do is contact the Swiss Red Cross (from now on RC) and tell them your situation. This can be done in English. They will send you a form to fill out, along with a list of required documents. This is what they call "l'examen préalable obligatoire" of your documents. They will assess your case for FREE, and tell you whether or not, in principle, your degree can be recognized. In my case, they told me this free assessment takes 1-2 months, I got my reply in the mail about 1.5 months later. For me it was a positive reply, stating that my degree could in fact be recognized... I was very impressed with how they handled my request and thought it was a great example of that famous "Swiss efficiency"...

If you received a positive response the first time around, the next step is to send the "real" application. You have to send the same documents again (certified copies this time around for a few of the documents) + proof of language. This part of the assessment costs 500chf. They told me this part would take 3 months... but then there was a misunderstanding (too long to explain).. so they didn't officially accept my request till Nov 1, 2013.. well, Feb 1 rolled around and.. nothing... so I asked... and then I asked again, and then after the 3rd time... I finally received my partial decision at the end of Feb. (so, almost 4 months)

Now (as a non-EU educated nurse) I have to do an internship and take the ~6000chf class mentioned by someone else above. Might be different for a UK nurse. But beware... it becomes increasingly hard to contact the RC as you go along the process... they seem to have reasonable requirements, but then they don't hook you up with anything (internship, or class). It's up to you to find and do these things... so far, I've had 2 offers to do my internship completely UNPAID. Contacted the RC about this and they said that it really should be paid, with at least an intern salary... but they couldn't tell me where past candidates have done their internship and have been paid, for example. Also, the class only happens once a year in the french part of Switzerland (might be more often in the German part?)... in my case, I got my partial decision telling me to take the class at the end of Feb, and the class doesn't start till the end of September. The first portion of the class is 9 days, spread out in 5 months!! Then will have to register for the second part of the class, 22 days spread into 7 months or so?? (not sure yet). Oh, and they're not allowing me to start my internship until the beginning of the course... haven't yet gotten a good explanation for this “rule” form their part. The RC gives you 2 years to fulfill these requirements... and in my case, due to the timing of their decision and the availability of the courses, I will actually be cutting it close! Also, I will then have to pay another 500chf to the RC.

Make sure you give yourself enough TIME to do this, it is not quick and painless. You have to be 100% motivated and it helps if you are independently rich or can find some sort of other income during the whole process (which is tricky, because you have to be available to do the internship, etc). Ideally, a hospital hires you before you start the whole process. But more and more hospitals are requiring that you have the RC recognition, and so far I haven't succeeded at finding a nursing job. Clearly, the recognition system is designed for you to do it while you work... not independently... but I too don't know how you go about getting a nursing job without having the recognition! Anyone out there that has succeeded at doing that.. any advice??

Oh.. and there is way too much talk about the language requirement on this thread... you NEED to know one of the languages to work as a nurse (any nurse should know that ). If you are going through the process of getting recognized while living here in Switzerland though, that will be the least of your worries (and paying your bills will be the first...) and you will have plenty of time to learn and perfect the language. But again, you have to be really motivated to do this...

Hope this helps and good luck! Don't mean to scare you, I just think that this would have been so helpful to know when I first started this whole process...

Hi kstewart87

Thank you so muchb for the info, just one more question according to the red cross u have to pass at a level b2 in the language test, when I check the website for the classes it says u have to have a C1. So now im a bit confused to what level language exam i should be sitting. I dont want to do the b2 for my reconaissant nw only to be told by the uni that i need a c1 for the classes. The more i read the more stressed i get lol

it's exactly like that, makes no sense! Good catch!

When I did my language test I took the TFI, a test that is NO LONGER accepted by the RC as proof of language level (but was accepted then...). The TFI is an assessment tool for all levels, and I was lucky that I scored in the C1 level and the school accepted the results as proof of C1. But since that test is out of the question now.. my advice is to do the DALF C1 once and for all.. well, if you're already at that level of course.

If you're not there yet, don't worry... for the first free assessment of your dossier (the examen prealable obligatoire), you don't need to submit proof of language yet. I encourage you to get that part going as soon as possible.. you have nothing to loose, and then you'll know whether your degree can be recognized or not, and if you will have to do "compensation measures" to get it recognized (aka the classes and internship). Who knows... maybe you'll get direct recognition (no class or internship). Not sure who that's for, but it is one of the possible outcomes of their evaluation (and I think it might be for EU trained nurses )

I have no idea what your current level of french is, if you're starting from scratch or not... but if you are not at the C1 level yet by the time the RC wants you to submit proof of language, and you feel that you can pass the DELF B2, you can always do C1 later when it's time for the class. You will have plenty of waiting time during the recognition process to keep working on your French.. but you should know that the DELF/DALF tests are only conducted in Switzerland 4 times / year, and you usually have to register for the test 2 months in advance at the latest. Calendar and prices here: https://delfdalf.ch/index.php?id=68

As I said.. at first glance it seems that the RC demands are very reasonable... but then you find little incoherences like this one along the way, and the whole process can get really frustrating! I hope you are a patient person...

Thank you for your help, im moving in novembre this is just so frustrating. Guess i'll have to learn to be patient ��

Not easy, I know. Most of us have had to be patient and to put lots of effort to learn the language of the country we chose to settle in.

However, if I may say, as a patient, as a mother and grand-mother- I have to say it makes total sense to require key workers like doctors and nurses to speak the local language, to understand it, orally and in writing- for safety reasons and to make patients feel at ease. Surely any nurse or doctor would understand just how essential that is- totally irrespective of the nursing or doctoring skills.

Hi Odile

I do speak the language just never bothered to think about what level iits at, its definitly enough to be understood by patients I just dont know if its sophisticated enough for uni! What frustrates me is really is that I am child trained and want to continue workong with children but they are confused of what I should do since they train their nurses as general rather than dividing them into branches. I dont see why its a problem since i plan on working with kids anyway sorry im just ranting now.

Kids in pain and coming out of anesthetics are not always easy to understand, and your French has to be good enough to understand written instructions of all kinds, etc.

I only trained to be a teacher, so no life depended on it as such - but I still had to spend 10 years working hard first to become fully bilingual, in all 4 skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) before I was allowed to go ahead and study at uni. It truly makes sense to ascertain that a safe level has been reached, both in language and nursing skills. I fully understand how frustrating it can be to have to wait and work hard at it though. As said, been there, done that- even though I taught languages, I still had to take full part in the life of the school, administration, other staff, inspections, etc, etc- and of course the safety of the students in general in case of an emergency, etc.

In the UK the situation is the same- all nurses train for general nursing, and then would specialise in different fields. Nurses looking after children need to have a full understanding of nursing in general- same for doctors. No doctor ever becomes a peadiatrician first- has to qualify in Medicine and surgery first, then specialise.

When I was in hospital I had a big problem communicating with the nurses, my broken German & their broken English. Doctors were fluent in English, but very few of the nurses. I was always so happy when I got an English speaking nurse…… but this was my fault, not the nurses. If you were in your home country, struggling to speak to the nurse, you wouldn't be very impressed.

No question about it, knowing the language is essential.

The frustrating part is the discrepancy between what's required by the red cross to get your recognition, and then what's required by the school that offers the course (which is also required by the Red Cross to get your recognition).

Seems to me that the Red Cross should require the C1 level to begin with, or at least make their candidates aware that they will need C1 for the course that's required later on. That way you don't find out when you go sign up for the course (offered only once a year) and realize you have to wait another year bc you don't yet have C1. Also, if one already had the language skills or was even close to reaching the C1 level, this little bit of information could save you the cost of taking the B2 test... might not seem like much, but every little helps!

Exactly, the tests are not exactly cheap so having the same level requirement would help a lot! I have to now wait till novembre to take my test since ive missed the june deadline so I'll keep practicing my French

Something else to consider... and I don't know how true this is or whether it's a rule or more of a guideline... but I have heard that you have to know either French or German (usually French) really really well, and then ALSO have at least some basic knowledge of the other language in order to work in Fribourg, being that it's a bilingual city/canton. Same goes with Biel. I have also heard that there IS a lot of work available in Fribourg, and that it pays well. Again, I think it was a nurse I met that told me this... I don't actually know how true it is... but it makes sense.

Any knowledge of German by chance? otherwise Lausanne is not too far away...

Good luck!

I don't know if it's required, but it would certainly help if she wants to work in Fribourg. There's a good mix of both German and French speaking doctors on the staff. What little documentation I've seen is in both French and German so she might be okay with knowing just the one. I do know there's an English national working there who speaks French, but whether she also knows German I couldn't say. Checking with the hospital itself will get a definite answer.

Yeah i've heard that before as well thats why i was kind of planning to work in lausanne rather than Fribourg, i have absolutely no knowledge of german but my husband does so we trying to meet each other in the middle since he works in Bern but thanks guys so much for the support i'm feeling slightly better about this move now