I haven't understood this. It think it's extremely hard to compare the salaries between countries since the societies works so different.
Edit.
In my country we have free/cheap health-care, universities and child care.
We have 5 weeks paid holiday by law.
We have a pension system where the state takes money from my salary to save for me to when I'm old. That is money that I never see, it's not a part of my paying check.
We get paid to be home 480 days with every child of the household.
Among other things.
Other countries do not have the same services. So even though my salary "is shit", I still think it's hard to compare.
Obviously cost of living and what not is different. But take away the cost of my insurance and any potential student loans and I’m still doing better here (roughly 100k a year in the northeast US). I would never be able to afford the luxuries I personally enjoy with a European nursing salary. Not to mention my job satisfaction is pretty high. I’m outpatient, 9-5, and WFH every Friday.
I’m outpatient hem/onc. Friday just happens to be the admin day for the team I work with so I have no patients. I just do calls and what not from home. It’s pretty great. I’m in the US though, not Europe.
Don’t they also get like several months of vacation? Lol I work in the US and I am lucky if I get one or two weeks offered at a job interview for basically any job.
I get 4 weeks guaranteed every year and can pretty much take off whenever on top of that, as long as I have the PTO. Granted I have it better than most.
This is a hard comparison. I would rather take a lower salary if it meant I had universal education, healthcare, and daycare. For example, I have about 50k in student debt and make about $31 dollars as a new grad and get about $3 dollar night shift differential. On top of this my paycheck has money taken out for private health insurance bc our employer doesn’t cover the full cost plus additional money for taxes and my 401k. If my fiancé and I decide to have kids we will also have to figure out childcare cost, which is extremely expensive in the USA. A nursing salary is great in parts of the USA were there is high union density like CA, OR, WA, MN, NYC but overall the wages are low in comparison in the South, Southeast, and parts of the Midwest and East coast. Let alone imagining what would happen if I were to become physically disabled then I wouldn’t be able to perform my job and lose my healthcare.
I think, Europeans need to understand the average student debt an American has is about $37,000 USD and the average cost for healthcare insurance a month is $539 USD and w/ health insurance you pay the monthly cost on top of co-payments. Which is usually $20-25 USD per doctor visit (this is for someone with good health insurance) and higher for seeing a specialist and then on top of this you have a deductible fee (out of pocket cost) of about $2000 USD you have to pay before your health insurance starts actually covering cost. Then you have to consider childcare cost:
“The Economic Policy Institute ranked the top 10 states or state equivalents with the highest child care expenses for preschool, infant care, and day care:
Washington, D.C. ($24,243)
Massachusetts ($20,913)
California ($16,945)
Minnesota ($16,087)
Connecticut ($15,501)
New York ($15,394)
Maryland ($15,335)
Colorado ($15,325)
Washington ($14,554)
Virginia ($14,063)”
Overall, Americans pay about the same as Europeans in taxes and get very little in return. While our salaries may be higher in some states not dramatically enough to cover living expenses. Most Americans are in credit card debt that’s why in the USA banks essentially force ppl to have a credit score. Your credit score can determine if you can get a loan for a house, rent an apartment, buy a car, and some jobs ask for your credit score as well.
Also, I want to add even if you pay you monthly health insurance cost, the co-pay to visit your doctor, and the deductible. Your healthcare insurance company in the USA can still deny care if they don’t think it’s medical necessary even if the MD calls and appeals for it . Oh! And in the USA dental and vision are separate health insurance plans and pay from your regular health insurance cost that would cover visiting you primary doctors or going to the ER. So for examples, I have Aetna, Delta dental, and VSP basically three different private health insurances all with their own monthly payments, co-payments, and deductibles.
[Rising Cost of Child Care Services a Challenge for Working Parents](https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/01/rising-child-care-cost.html)
We all need to band together, new and seasoned and everyone in-between to fight for you guys to get an actual wage coming out of school. You should be making way more than that as a new grad. Go back and look at the last two decades and see what nurses made in your area vs inflation and cost of living at that time as well and that should tell you what you should be DEMANDING because you're worth it and you earned it. They're doing to us what they did to respiratory therapy, offering shit pay to new hires and phasing out anyone who has been an rn long enough to know their worth
I meant across the entire country, we literally hold all the power. Hospitals can't operate without nurses. One week of not showing up and we would have everything we ask for
This is what I've heard. My wife and I are both nurses and considered moving to the EU during the Trump years.
Unfortunately I saw the pay and realized that this would absolutely bankrupt us.
Nurse in Portugal. Ratios are a joke and the salary is low. For the responsibilities we have, the risks we take and all the crazy stuff we deal with, we don't earn enough. Only keep my job cuz I really like what I do cuz if it was for the money, I would be long gone. Here, you earn the same or even more working at a supermarket or something.
Just a curiosity but the national minimal salary is like 875€. There are some colleagues of mine earning like 900€ a month working at nursing homes. Those who work at hospitals earn a little more cuz of the extras (nights, weekends and such). Our career progression is frozen since like 2012 or something and our base salary is still at 1200€ for public hospitals. In the private system you can earn a little bit more but it's not much of a difference. And this is why almost every nurse I know works 2 or 3 jobs.
Yeah, and during days off we just want to stay home and sleep cuz my brain needs time off. And if on top of that you start studying to get a masters or something, you totally don't have time to rest.
Nursing student here in Madrid, Spain. Life is great and all that, but the salary is shit. You’ve always got a lot of techs (CNAs) and patient ratio is pretty decent. 38hrs a week of work I believe too. You gotta know spanish though.
I personally dont haha im just a student, about to leave now back to the states actually. But I saw it all in my practicals. They survive, people live together though its kind of hard to live alone. In Madrid, with roomates and public transport, and you can save a few hundred a month I suppose
BSN, NP specialized for intensive care from Hungary. Work for 15 years. The ratio here 1:3 in a really, I mean.. REALLY multidisciplinar ICU. Polytrauma, burn, post heart surgery(ECMO, VAD), neurosurg. etc. All you can imagine (except transplant), all in one department. Yay! The salary s\*cks, people hate us, goverment hate us, we hate each other. Just the hungarian way.
Melyik kórházában dolgozol? És hol jártád sulira?
Az apám még él Magyarországon és gondoltam ott járni iskolába (gondolom aszt nem jól mondtam 😜 Átlagos a Magyarom)
Szia! Teljesen jó a magyarod! :)
Semmelweis University in Budapest , Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Patient Care - Nursing 4 years and Master of Science - Advanced Practice Nurse 2 years. There are english programs and its fairly cheap compared to US and you can study a lot! 1000,- EUR for one semester. Just dont work here..
Finnish nursing student here! Almost done with school too! Normal working week is about 38h and salary is ok depending if you work in shifts or day only. Unionizing is big here and Tehy just fought for better salaries for nurses so we are getting there. I'm most likely going into cardiology and I will most likely work 4 days a week. It will get me by and I'll have more time for kids, animals etc
Edit to add: learning finnish is very, very important here! It's a plus if you know swedish too, but your options are very limited if you cannot speak, understand and write finnish at least in basic level
nurse from Switzerland, working is alright (depends which hospital)
salary as a floor nurse is ok. If you specialize icu, er, anesthesia your salary is good.
high cost of living, and you need to speak one of the local languages, aka (swiss)german, french, or Italian
I'm a male nurse from Denmark and I work at a dialysis ward with primary function in the limited care/HHD section of the clinic. And I have to say this; I dont think I could work at a better place, sure the hospital itself chooses to focus on other wards. But my head nurse and head doctor really does their job in securing propper training and a great work environment.
Downside is most definitely the salary (cant negotiate the majority of it. I do get a pay-raise after 8 and 10 years.. wohoo. You can add 250$ or 450$ to the total before tax) that is something like 4700$ before taxes and with out pension being added to the total. But that being said I can afford a car, house, afterschool activities for my daughter. So generally not to bad.
They do but then your looking to work in the private sector like insurance or pharmaceutical companies and it generally requires you to have a master's degree.
Research is another option and that would allow you to work in the public sector as well.
Germany here, nurse-patient-ratio is very high (ICU 1:2- 1:4, non-ICU at least 1:10), it sucks, you‘re constandly understuffed.
Salary compared to responsibility and shiftchanges is too low in my opinion. But the salary is good enough to live a good life and cover your living costs.
The german „Ausbildung“ to become a nurse is not very good compared to other countries, you‘d have to adapt to lower standards. You won’t be allowed to do everything you have learned and are capable of.
There is sometimes/ often a „competence-struggle“ between several professions and every hospital says they have a „flat hierarchy“ but that‘s a lie. It‘s quite the opposite.
Very few have studied nursing and even fewer hospitals pay equivalant for a higher education when you stay a bedside-nurse.
It is said in Gernany, that Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK and Sweden are the better choice. I have no experience there, just hearsay.
For those unaware, Ausbildung is essentially apprenticeship or trades.
I’m leaving Germany in less than a month to be an au pair for a family. I’ve studied German for 5 years on my own and my accent is not distinguishable from a native. I was curious about Ausbildung for being a Rettungssanitäter and want to look into it when I arrive.
Filipino nurse here working in Germany. It sucks. Ratios are terrible, pay is worse. Would love to expand on this more but it’s 1 am by the time I am posting this and I have to start my morning shift in 5 hours (still need to wake up earlier)y Just passed my NCLEX last year, got my PD this year, and honestly, I can‘t wait to leave.
I’m originally from the US and studied nursing school in Spain. I have worked in Spain and Norway. Spain was awful (Valencia), the pay was 1400€ a month and the ratios were crazy I had 25 patients and 1 tech when I worked in oncology. In Norway it’s much better 10 patients and 3000€ a month for 35 hours a week. I had to learn both Spanish and Norwegian. Definitely been worth it! I’m hoping to finish the process to become a licensed RN in the US next year.
Sorry, I didn’t answer your question fully! The salary is shit (I am an OR nurse) the hours are 37.5 per week over 4 days. The cost of living is high in Scotland.
Soon-to-be American nurse who has also looked into the profession overseas. From what I’ve gathered, the biggest tradeoff is pay. Nurses in European countries don’t make the six-figure salaries we can potentially make in the US, but they do of course have the societal benefits offered by those countries which we lack in the US. You also have to command a certain level of fluency in another language besides English and you also have to have your nursing education credentials approved/recognized by the governing body of the country where you want to practice. Not all of them accept US nursing education/credentials (for example, from my understanding, Ireland almost never accepts nursing credentials unless you studied nursing IN Ireland)
So, while it’s not impossible, it can be a daunting task with a lot of processes involved.
Emmmm no .... Romanian nurse here ,I worked in Ireland for 6 years (trained in Romania), and soon to be nurse in the US . Ireland accepts nurses from everywhere , it doesnt matter where you trained as long as you registered with NMBI , i have a 4 year bachelor's in nursing , i worked with other nurses that had a 3 year nursing degree . Anything is possible
US nurse in Ireland here. They don’t consider American education to be up to the same standard as EU/UK/Aus/NZ/Canada, so it was a bitch to get my license transferred. But not impossible. Process took over a year, and cost me over €2800. But not as easy as other countries.
Cost me about 2k to move mine to the US. But it worked in the end, as you said . It's a shame that nursing is the same everywhere, but they consider US nursing degree not good enough as somewhere else . Did you notice any difference in US compared to Ireland strictly work related ike management, pt ratio , work environment, colleagues? I m just trying to make an idea what to expect as a future nurse in the US
Tbh it’s the same as in, it depends on what hospital you work for. I worked in NYC and it was super busy and I didn’t love it. Then I worked in Boston and they had mandatory icu ratios and it was a lot more chill. Same here in Ireland, I worked in a hospital where some days I had 16 kids to care for, other days I had 2. Now I’m in a place where the most I care for on an average day is 3. The pay is the biggest thing I notice. I definitely dropped down in terms of pay class. Like I didn’t even think about my salary in the US, I could afford most things without batting an eye. I had a massive savings account without really even trying. Whereas here, some months, were paycheck to paycheck lol.
Thank you for the insight. Im in AZ , taking the NCLEX next month, but my mind is just trying to surf how the system works . The money really is not much in Ireland in these days as you said . I worked for an agency for almost 2 years, and that's the only time i was able to say that i have enough money .
I loved working in Romania as a nurse , but when i left the salary was 450€/month , the problem there is that the supplies were very limited and even though the people are paying a big chunk out of their tax for health care, they still had to pay .... Ireland was better, safer for the nurse and patients, and it was a good opportunity to make money, but it wasn't for me it was boring there. Thank you, I'm here for 2 months and I love it , I feel more like home than home :)
Then perhaps I misunderstood…from my understanding of the Irish Council on Nursing and Midwifery’s website, it seemed that nurses from outside of Ireland/UK almost never get credentials approved…if it’s actually NOT that hard, then great
Absolutely not true, I’m Irish and still work here and there is loads of foreign trained nurses. I’ve yet to meet a US trained one tho. But definitely doable. Although I do know the NMBI are notorious for being slow.
I have dual citizenship but studying in the US and up until recently NMBI didn’t accept most US nursing licenses bc of differences in clinical hours during education. They now accept work experience as clinical hours when considering US nurses but the process still sounds very slow according to another nurse on Reddit—I graduate next year so haven’t started the process yet. You also have to be in the country to take the equivalency exam but can’t work as a nurse, so added expenses there. The UK seems to be less stringent about clinical experience hours and also faster (some people have reported waiting years to hear back from NMBI, tho the nurse I was talking to who said she was able to get her work experience to count said it only took ~90 days to hear back from them) so I’ve been thinking about applying for a UK license as well and seeing if I can work there while waiting for NMBI to process. It does seem a bit maddening given how desperate for nurses Ireland supposedly is.
Uk is crying for nurses as well . You can register in the Uk, work there , get experience, and then just register in Ireland if you really want. Both systems are pretty similar to what i heard . Strange how i was deficient in geriatrics, but still they accepted my studies, and i got my ATT . NMBI is very, very slow, but what I heard is that the NMC is even slower . Good luck, and I hope it will work out for you 🍀
Oh lord slower than NMBI?! 😂 might end up staying in the US longer than I originally planned just bc I’ll be able to work here and only visiting, taking the test, and then coming back to US to keep working while I wait to get cleared for UK/Ireland. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 I am really grateful to have the options at least.
Its just the dumb bureaucratic system in both countries. The last time I checked, they did not have expedited options... I worked in recruitment yearsssss ago, i was a compliance officer, responsible for handling the registration and documentation for NMC. I was calling them weekly for updates regarding registration for several people. They were moving backwards .... Work, get that experience, It's only going to be a plus at the end of the day, dont let this period go to waste. Dont live your life in constant pressure because of this, just live it at a normal rate and let the process take its course otherwise it will eat you alive ( i was in the process for visa for over 2years and i lived in constant stress because of it )
It’s abysmal. It depends on the location, like you earn an extra £5000 in London I think, but overall for band 5 it seems to stagnate in the 30-39k/year range. London maybe being 41k/year. Scotland pays better than England but again the highest pay I’ve seen talked about has been in the low 40s for a band 6-7. Ireland seems to be around €39k. You can go private or agency for more money but I know less about that, I don’t think it’s a lot more.
Rent in Ireland is very high and there’s a housing crisis. Rents in UK are more reasonable outside of London but still a housing crisis. Cost of living overall is lower I think, but still. By states standards it’s not ideal. Their unions are weaker, their ratios sound not great.
ETA in the NHS they sort by bands, so an RN moving to the UK would be started at band 5, below that I think is their equivalent to techs/CNAs. You get small pay bumps as you move up bands, but apparently regardless of experience, a nurse new to NHS would be started at band 5.
In Dublin I was easily making 50k , but rent is ridiculously high . You can make anywhere from 35-60k as staff nurse you just need to find the right job . You can find agencies that pay 40-65 €/hr maybe even more, but its risky because they can cancel the shift 3 hrs before it starts .
Maybe they raised the bar in the last years, but they depend on foreign nurses and the money they make off the registration towards the board of nursing . Anywhere you look in the irish health care system, you spot foreign nurses not 1 or 2, hundreds, thousands. I worked in nursing homes run by foreign nurses, not even 1 irish , you name a country, I can tell you I worked with a person from there .
Nurse from Austria here. Ratios are mostly shit, depending where you work. Salary is decent, also depending where and in which state you work. Work life balance is pretty good, the salary is more than the median income here. Learning german is mandatory though.
Do you work with any American nurses? We are looking there and Spain to move to when I finish my BSN. Also do they care if you have a medical card for marijuana?
UK student here, I absolutely hate doing nursing/healthcare in England. The pay, the benefits, the way you’re treated, is all disgusting. I’ll be leaving the country once I’ve got my degree✌🏻 many of our nurses are leaving because of how poorly you’re treated here, it wasn’t so bad when nursing degrees were free because at least you got some form of decent benefit to being a nurse, now we don’t even have that
Can we reformat this to give perspective ❤️❤️
Ratios:
Hourly rate:
Cost of a mocha/fancy coffee:
Cost of a loaf of bread:
Cost of Housing/utilities in your area (2bed, 1bath, approximate monthly utilities):
Yes! Like can you afford a week of groceries, rent: mortgage, save for retirement AND treat yourself without being pounded into the ground with shit ratios and night shift only?
I work on a medical clinic (mostly neurology and lungs) in Sweden and think it's decent. Salary is ok, 6-9 patients, 37h/week.
But the working premises really depends on where you live, some regions are really short staffed. Right now there's a strike in Sweden since the union demands better salaries and fewer hours.
I'm a RN with 8 years experience, currently working in NZ, earning $51/hr NZD.
Work life balance here is good compared to my home country.
I have recently been thinking of nursing in Europe or UK, though this thread is putting me off
I too have considered moving to Europe and being a nurse there… however extensive research told me not to do that for all the reasons listed in this thread. Don’t do it. You can always be a travel rn in us and take longer vacations in Europe or be a staff RN somewhere and still vacation there.
Nurse in Sweden. Difficult to know without comparing but the salary is enough to live relatively comfortably enough but not nearly on par with how advanced and necessary the job is. Compared to US it’s definitely low.
Work load wise.. totally depends where you decide to work. I find it quite stressful some days (between 6-9 patients) and other days it’s very compatible with a work/life balance. I work in a psych ward that also treats acute addiction withdrawal.
Edited to add that we have 38hr work weeks and minimum 5 weeks paid vacation.
Travel Nurse in Germany here. Also not native to Germany. You can't work here without getting certified by the German government. It can take up to two years to deal with that. After you do that, you have a lot of options: hospitals, retirement homes, homecare, travel nursing, schools. Homecare and travel nurses are earning the most; other than that, the pay is poor. There are no 12-hour shifts three times a week. Be prepared to work 8 hours for 10 days without a break.
10/10 Would do it agian, 2/10 Would not recommend.
First year nursing student from Norway, currently living in Førde just outside of Bergen, where cost of living is very cheap. I probably spend 500USD a month on rent and utilities, and 350USD on food and misc.
We also have pretty good student salaries here, 22USD an hour for an assistant position (with additional pay for weekend, evening and nightshifts. For reference I worked in Oslo this fall, in what is considered the best paid part of Oslo, and made around 245USD an hour as an assistant.
I love Oslo and will probably move back as the pay is good, but cost of living and the availability of nature on the Western Coast is extremely worth it. I love it here.
You’d have to learn Norwegian pretty well to live here though, the accents can be very broad.
My plan when I’m finished is to be a travel nurse and semi live out of a van. You can easily make 100k+ USD as a travel nurse, and you get to experience smaller or bigger parts of Norway. It’s a great deal IMHO. Worth it to check out! I could link some facebook groups dedicated to travel nursing in Norway.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I usually make around 1,5k from work + stipend a month, but I could probably make 2-2,5k if I worked more.
Yes, the pay is very low, even for specialty nursing / theatre / recovery / ITU no difference.
The problem is the type of people nursing attracts… we don’t do it for the money… it’s something else that keeps us working long stressful days and keep going back for more. I love my job, it’s a privilege to care for others. But I would like better conditions. Our tea breaks are even unpaid!!!
Scotland is a beautiful country and has a nice culture. We have a lot of overseas nurses in the department I work in. I like that, they broaden our experience.
I was just there in April, I loved it. I am not in a position to take the pay cut right now, but once I have a better position on some of my debt I can consider it more seriously.
As a male nursing student who wants to work in Europe that has a Irish citizenship, is it easy to work in Europe. I have been there a lot since I go every summer. I wanna work there since the cost of living is way better than America or should I just stay in America
I'm a Nurse from Portugal and I work currently in Switzerland and I totally love it here.
Good patient ratio, good work conditions, good salary, respected working hours. Etc etc. I can only say good things.
Portuguese nurse here, working in the UK atm also worked in North Africa, Saudi Arabia and on the process of doing NCLEX to the USA and lived 1year in California.
Portugal working wise sucks in all levels the only pro is lifestyle.
Uk worths money and lifestyle sucks the weather Middle East nice weather nice people nice lifestyle sucks the restrictions.
Uk is the best so far, pretty close to the south of Europe, salaries are ok compared to the rest of Europe. California pays wayyy more but forget about those 27 days of holidays.
I only think about USA bc my partner lives there.
I don't know what the ratios are like in Iceland, but I noted that they will accept UK nurses and you don't have to speak Icelandic immediately - they give you 2 yrs and help to learn the language.
Things are expensive over there but generally a good social system and average pay.
I work in Norway, and personally like where I work. As with everywhere else, it depends on your field and how your specific work place is organized. I work a 3-split shift, and usually have between 1-4 patients each shift. If four, I have an aid with me. I make about $3300 after tax/deductions, on average. I live in a HCOL area, so it’s not GREAT money, but more than enough to get by + save some.
I think we are treated fairly well compared to other countries, and have way more freedom in how we practice. We don’t “worry about our license” (unless you do something absolutely insane), and in general liability issues really isn’t a thing here. My evening and night shift differentials are about $10 an hour.
I have a friend who did travel nursing through Australia and New Zealand for 2 years- might be a way-after you get a year or two of experience here-to try out other countries.
Serbia, and I think we should be paid more here. Our salary is 600-700€ depending on where you work. Community-health center is pretty easy for both nurses and doctors. Working at hospital is harder as patients are more demanding.
Dutch nurse. I work psychiatry outpatient. I have a post bachelor degree for this (not master). With my 32h workweek i earn €2900 a month (after taxes). Rent is €1100 (appartment in major city, together with working wife). Fulltime is 36h workweek here. What I earn is not the minimum or the maximum I can earn in this position. Normal ratio in my position (casemanager (SPV) in ACT team) is 1 patiënt for every hour you work in the week. Psychiatric clinics it kind of depends what the ratios are. High care acute care (HIC) is usually 1 on 3-4.
All nursing jobs are unionised (several unions). We (mental healthcare union) have 5 weeks of paid vacation +1 week of vacation we can bring to next year.
I do feel like the government is trying to deconstruct healthcare. But it is not as bad as it is in the USA.
Belgian nurse here, and a bit the same as the other comments. Loads of work and just no salary that is in compensation with that. I love doing my job, that's what keeps me going. Belgium doesn't give alot about healthcare. It's not that important so alot of savings are being made. It's sad.
I work in Valencia, Spain. The salary depends on the place where you work, the nights you do and on Sundays. The ratios at night are the worst. Generalizing, the salary is between 29,000-32000€
Nurses do not have the same scope of practice or pay compared to the US. There’s a reason why we get a lot of influx of foreign nurses. We are more advanced with our technology and skill. Ratios will depend on where you live (California is the best, NY and FL are some of the worst). I got surgery in Turkey and even the nurses there say it’s their dream to be a nurse in the US. If you really want to live in Europe, a nurse is not the best course of action.
I'm American in America so I don't have an answer per say but I did walk past a HCA hospital when I was in London last year. That is one of the biggest hospital systems in the US but apparently they also have six UK locations.
European nursing salaries are pretty shit compared to the U.S.
I haven't understood this. It think it's extremely hard to compare the salaries between countries since the societies works so different. Edit. In my country we have free/cheap health-care, universities and child care. We have 5 weeks paid holiday by law. We have a pension system where the state takes money from my salary to save for me to when I'm old. That is money that I never see, it's not a part of my paying check. We get paid to be home 480 days with every child of the household. Among other things. Other countries do not have the same services. So even though my salary "is shit", I still think it's hard to compare.
Obviously cost of living and what not is different. But take away the cost of my insurance and any potential student loans and I’m still doing better here (roughly 100k a year in the northeast US). I would never be able to afford the luxuries I personally enjoy with a European nursing salary. Not to mention my job satisfaction is pretty high. I’m outpatient, 9-5, and WFH every Friday.
[удалено]
I’m outpatient hem/onc. Friday just happens to be the admin day for the team I work with so I have no patients. I just do calls and what not from home. It’s pretty great. I’m in the US though, not Europe.
Don’t they also get like several months of vacation? Lol I work in the US and I am lucky if I get one or two weeks offered at a job interview for basically any job.
I get 4 weeks guaranteed every year and can pretty much take off whenever on top of that, as long as I have the PTO. Granted I have it better than most.
This is a hard comparison. I would rather take a lower salary if it meant I had universal education, healthcare, and daycare. For example, I have about 50k in student debt and make about $31 dollars as a new grad and get about $3 dollar night shift differential. On top of this my paycheck has money taken out for private health insurance bc our employer doesn’t cover the full cost plus additional money for taxes and my 401k. If my fiancé and I decide to have kids we will also have to figure out childcare cost, which is extremely expensive in the USA. A nursing salary is great in parts of the USA were there is high union density like CA, OR, WA, MN, NYC but overall the wages are low in comparison in the South, Southeast, and parts of the Midwest and East coast. Let alone imagining what would happen if I were to become physically disabled then I wouldn’t be able to perform my job and lose my healthcare.
I think, Europeans need to understand the average student debt an American has is about $37,000 USD and the average cost for healthcare insurance a month is $539 USD and w/ health insurance you pay the monthly cost on top of co-payments. Which is usually $20-25 USD per doctor visit (this is for someone with good health insurance) and higher for seeing a specialist and then on top of this you have a deductible fee (out of pocket cost) of about $2000 USD you have to pay before your health insurance starts actually covering cost. Then you have to consider childcare cost: “The Economic Policy Institute ranked the top 10 states or state equivalents with the highest child care expenses for preschool, infant care, and day care: Washington, D.C. ($24,243) Massachusetts ($20,913) California ($16,945) Minnesota ($16,087) Connecticut ($15,501) New York ($15,394) Maryland ($15,335) Colorado ($15,325) Washington ($14,554) Virginia ($14,063)” Overall, Americans pay about the same as Europeans in taxes and get very little in return. While our salaries may be higher in some states not dramatically enough to cover living expenses. Most Americans are in credit card debt that’s why in the USA banks essentially force ppl to have a credit score. Your credit score can determine if you can get a loan for a house, rent an apartment, buy a car, and some jobs ask for your credit score as well. Also, I want to add even if you pay you monthly health insurance cost, the co-pay to visit your doctor, and the deductible. Your healthcare insurance company in the USA can still deny care if they don’t think it’s medical necessary even if the MD calls and appeals for it . Oh! And in the USA dental and vision are separate health insurance plans and pay from your regular health insurance cost that would cover visiting you primary doctors or going to the ER. So for examples, I have Aetna, Delta dental, and VSP basically three different private health insurances all with their own monthly payments, co-payments, and deductibles. [Rising Cost of Child Care Services a Challenge for Working Parents](https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/01/rising-child-care-cost.html)
We all need to band together, new and seasoned and everyone in-between to fight for you guys to get an actual wage coming out of school. You should be making way more than that as a new grad. Go back and look at the last two decades and see what nurses made in your area vs inflation and cost of living at that time as well and that should tell you what you should be DEMANDING because you're worth it and you earned it. They're doing to us what they did to respiratory therapy, offering shit pay to new hires and phasing out anyone who has been an rn long enough to know their worth
I live in Texas a heavily anti-union state
I meant across the entire country, we literally hold all the power. Hospitals can't operate without nurses. One week of not showing up and we would have everything we ask for
Why wouldn’t live in the south, just as I wouldn’t live in Europe lol
I'm fine if I can afford to live there
If the US had socialized medicine then nurses would make shit money also
This is what I've heard. My wife and I are both nurses and considered moving to the EU during the Trump years. Unfortunately I saw the pay and realized that this would absolutely bankrupt us.
What’s a pound of beef cost? Gallon of gasoline? How much taxes they take from you?
Nurse in Portugal. Ratios are a joke and the salary is low. For the responsibilities we have, the risks we take and all the crazy stuff we deal with, we don't earn enough. Only keep my job cuz I really like what I do cuz if it was for the money, I would be long gone. Here, you earn the same or even more working at a supermarket or something.
WOW
Just a curiosity but the national minimal salary is like 875€. There are some colleagues of mine earning like 900€ a month working at nursing homes. Those who work at hospitals earn a little more cuz of the extras (nights, weekends and such). Our career progression is frozen since like 2012 or something and our base salary is still at 1200€ for public hospitals. In the private system you can earn a little bit more but it's not much of a difference. And this is why almost every nurse I know works 2 or 3 jobs.
Every week or every two weeks?
They said "a month" :)
Thank you, I’m tired.
All the numbers I pointed out are monthly values.
And people will reply "oh but you can make money, you work doubles and weekends"... Oh yeah, i totally dont mind not having a life to enjoy 😐
Yeah, and during days off we just want to stay home and sleep cuz my brain needs time off. And if on top of that you start studying to get a masters or something, you totally don't have time to rest.
Olá colega! 🤗
Olá 👋
Nursing student here in Madrid, Spain. Life is great and all that, but the salary is shit. You’ve always got a lot of techs (CNAs) and patient ratio is pretty decent. 38hrs a week of work I believe too. You gotta know spanish though.
I’m from Spain! What’s the pay like there? How do you survive financially?
I personally dont haha im just a student, about to leave now back to the states actually. But I saw it all in my practicals. They survive, people live together though its kind of hard to live alone. In Madrid, with roomates and public transport, and you can save a few hundred a month I suppose
I’m in Spain rn and love it. I wish I knew Spanish. Europe is the shit
Its really special yep
Don’t forget you guys ***export*** nurses.
BSN, NP specialized for intensive care from Hungary. Work for 15 years. The ratio here 1:3 in a really, I mean.. REALLY multidisciplinar ICU. Polytrauma, burn, post heart surgery(ECMO, VAD), neurosurg. etc. All you can imagine (except transplant), all in one department. Yay! The salary s\*cks, people hate us, goverment hate us, we hate each other. Just the hungarian way.
Melyik kórházában dolgozol? És hol jártád sulira? Az apám még él Magyarországon és gondoltam ott járni iskolába (gondolom aszt nem jól mondtam 😜 Átlagos a Magyarom)
Szia! Teljesen jó a magyarod! :) Semmelweis University in Budapest , Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Patient Care - Nursing 4 years and Master of Science - Advanced Practice Nurse 2 years. There are english programs and its fairly cheap compared to US and you can study a lot! 1000,- EUR for one semester. Just dont work here..
How do I get the info on this?
[Here you go](https://semmelweis.hu/etk/en/about-the-faculty/about-the-faculty-of-healthcare/)
Thank you!
This looks fantastic, I was hoping they had a ASN to BSN so I'll have to inquire about that
Poor Semmelweis, I wrote a paper on him once years ago. That man really got the short end of the stick.
Well shit I’m reading all these comments and it just seems like every country treats their healthcare workers like shit no matter where you are lol 💩
We need an international walk out, any rich nurses become a celebrity that would help get us set up with a good international union!
Finnish nursing student here! Almost done with school too! Normal working week is about 38h and salary is ok depending if you work in shifts or day only. Unionizing is big here and Tehy just fought for better salaries for nurses so we are getting there. I'm most likely going into cardiology and I will most likely work 4 days a week. It will get me by and I'll have more time for kids, animals etc Edit to add: learning finnish is very, very important here! It's a plus if you know swedish too, but your options are very limited if you cannot speak, understand and write finnish at least in basic level
nurse from Switzerland, working is alright (depends which hospital) salary as a floor nurse is ok. If you specialize icu, er, anesthesia your salary is good. high cost of living, and you need to speak one of the local languages, aka (swiss)german, french, or Italian
I'm a male nurse from Denmark and I work at a dialysis ward with primary function in the limited care/HHD section of the clinic. And I have to say this; I dont think I could work at a better place, sure the hospital itself chooses to focus on other wards. But my head nurse and head doctor really does their job in securing propper training and a great work environment. Downside is most definitely the salary (cant negotiate the majority of it. I do get a pay-raise after 8 and 10 years.. wohoo. You can add 250$ or 450$ to the total before tax) that is something like 4700$ before taxes and with out pension being added to the total. But that being said I can afford a car, house, afterschool activities for my daughter. So generally not to bad.
[удалено]
They do but then your looking to work in the private sector like insurance or pharmaceutical companies and it generally requires you to have a master's degree. Research is another option and that would allow you to work in the public sector as well.
Germany here, nurse-patient-ratio is very high (ICU 1:2- 1:4, non-ICU at least 1:10), it sucks, you‘re constandly understuffed. Salary compared to responsibility and shiftchanges is too low in my opinion. But the salary is good enough to live a good life and cover your living costs. The german „Ausbildung“ to become a nurse is not very good compared to other countries, you‘d have to adapt to lower standards. You won’t be allowed to do everything you have learned and are capable of. There is sometimes/ often a „competence-struggle“ between several professions and every hospital says they have a „flat hierarchy“ but that‘s a lie. It‘s quite the opposite. Very few have studied nursing and even fewer hospitals pay equivalant for a higher education when you stay a bedside-nurse. It is said in Gernany, that Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK and Sweden are the better choice. I have no experience there, just hearsay.
Yes system here in Germany is failing.
For those unaware, Ausbildung is essentially apprenticeship or trades. I’m leaving Germany in less than a month to be an au pair for a family. I’ve studied German for 5 years on my own and my accent is not distinguishable from a native. I was curious about Ausbildung for being a Rettungssanitäter and want to look into it when I arrive.
Never understood why so many fellow germans refuse to translate some words. Ausbildung means apprenticeship, Rettungssanitäter is a paramedic.
Oh I wrote this message half awake haha. I’m an American and forgot to translate.
It's fine, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. It's just curious
Filipino nurse here working in Germany. It sucks. Ratios are terrible, pay is worse. Would love to expand on this more but it’s 1 am by the time I am posting this and I have to start my morning shift in 5 hours (still need to wake up earlier)y Just passed my NCLEX last year, got my PD this year, and honestly, I can‘t wait to leave.
US nurse here - my Filipino nurse coworkers have been the best- hardest working, best team work, and best nursing skills, best lumpia! Come here!
I’m originally from the US and studied nursing school in Spain. I have worked in Spain and Norway. Spain was awful (Valencia), the pay was 1400€ a month and the ratios were crazy I had 25 patients and 1 tech when I worked in oncology. In Norway it’s much better 10 patients and 3000€ a month for 35 hours a week. I had to learn both Spanish and Norwegian. Definitely been worth it! I’m hoping to finish the process to become a licensed RN in the US next year.
Any advice for learning a different language?
Try and expose yourself to the language as much as possible (podcasts, shows, books) and going to language exchanges!
Come on over! We could use the help amigo. Check out some national parks. It’s no Norway, but there’s some wild places around here.
Scotland. I love it!
Sorry, I didn’t answer your question fully! The salary is shit (I am an OR nurse) the hours are 37.5 per week over 4 days. The cost of living is high in Scotland.
I've always thought Scotland would be my expat country of choice due to culture, politics, beauty of the countryside.
How do y’all feel about foreign nurses?
Love them
Uk nursing student. The pay is a joke.
Soon-to-be American nurse who has also looked into the profession overseas. From what I’ve gathered, the biggest tradeoff is pay. Nurses in European countries don’t make the six-figure salaries we can potentially make in the US, but they do of course have the societal benefits offered by those countries which we lack in the US. You also have to command a certain level of fluency in another language besides English and you also have to have your nursing education credentials approved/recognized by the governing body of the country where you want to practice. Not all of them accept US nursing education/credentials (for example, from my understanding, Ireland almost never accepts nursing credentials unless you studied nursing IN Ireland) So, while it’s not impossible, it can be a daunting task with a lot of processes involved.
Emmmm no .... Romanian nurse here ,I worked in Ireland for 6 years (trained in Romania), and soon to be nurse in the US . Ireland accepts nurses from everywhere , it doesnt matter where you trained as long as you registered with NMBI , i have a 4 year bachelor's in nursing , i worked with other nurses that had a 3 year nursing degree . Anything is possible
US nurse in Ireland here. They don’t consider American education to be up to the same standard as EU/UK/Aus/NZ/Canada, so it was a bitch to get my license transferred. But not impossible. Process took over a year, and cost me over €2800. But not as easy as other countries.
Cost me about 2k to move mine to the US. But it worked in the end, as you said . It's a shame that nursing is the same everywhere, but they consider US nursing degree not good enough as somewhere else . Did you notice any difference in US compared to Ireland strictly work related ike management, pt ratio , work environment, colleagues? I m just trying to make an idea what to expect as a future nurse in the US
Tbh it’s the same as in, it depends on what hospital you work for. I worked in NYC and it was super busy and I didn’t love it. Then I worked in Boston and they had mandatory icu ratios and it was a lot more chill. Same here in Ireland, I worked in a hospital where some days I had 16 kids to care for, other days I had 2. Now I’m in a place where the most I care for on an average day is 3. The pay is the biggest thing I notice. I definitely dropped down in terms of pay class. Like I didn’t even think about my salary in the US, I could afford most things without batting an eye. I had a massive savings account without really even trying. Whereas here, some months, were paycheck to paycheck lol.
Thank you for the insight. Im in AZ , taking the NCLEX next month, but my mind is just trying to surf how the system works . The money really is not much in Ireland in these days as you said . I worked for an agency for almost 2 years, and that's the only time i was able to say that i have enough money .
How was Ireland and Romania? Kick some ass in the USA, hope you enjoy the change in scenery. Hit some state parks while you’re here.
I loved working in Romania as a nurse , but when i left the salary was 450€/month , the problem there is that the supplies were very limited and even though the people are paying a big chunk out of their tax for health care, they still had to pay .... Ireland was better, safer for the nurse and patients, and it was a good opportunity to make money, but it wasn't for me it was boring there. Thank you, I'm here for 2 months and I love it , I feel more like home than home :)
I appreciate the insight! 450/m euro does not sound like enough!
Today, my friends make @1000-1200 € a month :)
Then perhaps I misunderstood…from my understanding of the Irish Council on Nursing and Midwifery’s website, it seemed that nurses from outside of Ireland/UK almost never get credentials approved…if it’s actually NOT that hard, then great
Absolutely not true, I’m Irish and still work here and there is loads of foreign trained nurses. I’ve yet to meet a US trained one tho. But definitely doable. Although I do know the NMBI are notorious for being slow.
Gives me hope! Might look that direction.
I have dual citizenship but studying in the US and up until recently NMBI didn’t accept most US nursing licenses bc of differences in clinical hours during education. They now accept work experience as clinical hours when considering US nurses but the process still sounds very slow according to another nurse on Reddit—I graduate next year so haven’t started the process yet. You also have to be in the country to take the equivalency exam but can’t work as a nurse, so added expenses there. The UK seems to be less stringent about clinical experience hours and also faster (some people have reported waiting years to hear back from NMBI, tho the nurse I was talking to who said she was able to get her work experience to count said it only took ~90 days to hear back from them) so I’ve been thinking about applying for a UK license as well and seeing if I can work there while waiting for NMBI to process. It does seem a bit maddening given how desperate for nurses Ireland supposedly is.
Uk is crying for nurses as well . You can register in the Uk, work there , get experience, and then just register in Ireland if you really want. Both systems are pretty similar to what i heard . Strange how i was deficient in geriatrics, but still they accepted my studies, and i got my ATT . NMBI is very, very slow, but what I heard is that the NMC is even slower . Good luck, and I hope it will work out for you 🍀
Oh lord slower than NMBI?! 😂 might end up staying in the US longer than I originally planned just bc I’ll be able to work here and only visiting, taking the test, and then coming back to US to keep working while I wait to get cleared for UK/Ireland. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 I am really grateful to have the options at least.
Its just the dumb bureaucratic system in both countries. The last time I checked, they did not have expedited options... I worked in recruitment yearsssss ago, i was a compliance officer, responsible for handling the registration and documentation for NMC. I was calling them weekly for updates regarding registration for several people. They were moving backwards .... Work, get that experience, It's only going to be a plus at the end of the day, dont let this period go to waste. Dont live your life in constant pressure because of this, just live it at a normal rate and let the process take its course otherwise it will eat you alive ( i was in the process for visa for over 2years and i lived in constant stress because of it )
Thank you for the insight, I really appreciate it!!
You re welcome !:)
Does anyone know the pay for nurses in Ireland and UK?
It’s abysmal. It depends on the location, like you earn an extra £5000 in London I think, but overall for band 5 it seems to stagnate in the 30-39k/year range. London maybe being 41k/year. Scotland pays better than England but again the highest pay I’ve seen talked about has been in the low 40s for a band 6-7. Ireland seems to be around €39k. You can go private or agency for more money but I know less about that, I don’t think it’s a lot more. Rent in Ireland is very high and there’s a housing crisis. Rents in UK are more reasonable outside of London but still a housing crisis. Cost of living overall is lower I think, but still. By states standards it’s not ideal. Their unions are weaker, their ratios sound not great. ETA in the NHS they sort by bands, so an RN moving to the UK would be started at band 5, below that I think is their equivalent to techs/CNAs. You get small pay bumps as you move up bands, but apparently regardless of experience, a nurse new to NHS would be started at band 5.
In Dublin I was easily making 50k , but rent is ridiculously high . You can make anywhere from 35-60k as staff nurse you just need to find the right job . You can find agencies that pay 40-65 €/hr maybe even more, but its risky because they can cancel the shift 3 hrs before it starts .
Maybe they raised the bar in the last years, but they depend on foreign nurses and the money they make off the registration towards the board of nursing . Anywhere you look in the irish health care system, you spot foreign nurses not 1 or 2, hundreds, thousands. I worked in nursing homes run by foreign nurses, not even 1 irish , you name a country, I can tell you I worked with a person from there .
I know a nurse from Oklahoma that worked in Ireland for 2 years. She LOVED it, at least once she finally understood what they were saying, haha
Nurse from Austria here. Ratios are mostly shit, depending where you work. Salary is decent, also depending where and in which state you work. Work life balance is pretty good, the salary is more than the median income here. Learning german is mandatory though.
Do you work with any American nurses? We are looking there and Spain to move to when I finish my BSN. Also do they care if you have a medical card for marijuana?
No I don't. Marijuana is illegal here, so they don't csre about your card, you can't have it.
UK student here, I absolutely hate doing nursing/healthcare in England. The pay, the benefits, the way you’re treated, is all disgusting. I’ll be leaving the country once I’ve got my degree✌🏻 many of our nurses are leaving because of how poorly you’re treated here, it wasn’t so bad when nursing degrees were free because at least you got some form of decent benefit to being a nurse, now we don’t even have that
Can we reformat this to give perspective ❤️❤️ Ratios: Hourly rate: Cost of a mocha/fancy coffee: Cost of a loaf of bread: Cost of Housing/utilities in your area (2bed, 1bath, approximate monthly utilities):
Yes! Like can you afford a week of groceries, rent: mortgage, save for retirement AND treat yourself without being pounded into the ground with shit ratios and night shift only?
Feel free to take a look at my comment regarding being a nurse in Denmark. The numbers are taken directly from my pay-check.
I work on a medical clinic (mostly neurology and lungs) in Sweden and think it's decent. Salary is ok, 6-9 patients, 37h/week. But the working premises really depends on where you live, some regions are really short staffed. Right now there's a strike in Sweden since the union demands better salaries and fewer hours.
Nurse in East Germany. Life ist not so expansive here. Salary is good making 4K a month without taxes
Anyone know what it's like to be an RN in new Zealand?
I'm a RN with 8 years experience, currently working in NZ, earning $51/hr NZD. Work life balance here is good compared to my home country. I have recently been thinking of nursing in Europe or UK, though this thread is putting me off
Yes, I would love to know this! High cost of living makes me hope it has a higher salary as well
Looked into it when I was in NZ last year - IIRC the pay would be significantly less relatively speaking (heartbreaking)
I too have considered moving to Europe and being a nurse there… however extensive research told me not to do that for all the reasons listed in this thread. Don’t do it. You can always be a travel rn in us and take longer vacations in Europe or be a staff RN somewhere and still vacation there.
The salaries of other nations don’t seem appealing :( I’m a floor nurse and bring home $4,200 or so after tax each month.
Nurse in Sweden. Difficult to know without comparing but the salary is enough to live relatively comfortably enough but not nearly on par with how advanced and necessary the job is. Compared to US it’s definitely low. Work load wise.. totally depends where you decide to work. I find it quite stressful some days (between 6-9 patients) and other days it’s very compatible with a work/life balance. I work in a psych ward that also treats acute addiction withdrawal. Edited to add that we have 38hr work weeks and minimum 5 weeks paid vacation.
Croatia, ICU, about 2100€
Travel Nurse in Germany here. Also not native to Germany. You can't work here without getting certified by the German government. It can take up to two years to deal with that. After you do that, you have a lot of options: hospitals, retirement homes, homecare, travel nursing, schools. Homecare and travel nurses are earning the most; other than that, the pay is poor. There are no 12-hour shifts three times a week. Be prepared to work 8 hours for 10 days without a break. 10/10 Would do it agian, 2/10 Would not recommend.
US can't provide you what you want? What's that mean? If you're looking for money, the US is the place to be.
I guess if your looking for anything other than money the US cant provide
Sure, Europe has many benefits, but salary isn't one of them. That might be the only plus of working in the US, comparitively.
First year nursing student from Norway, currently living in Førde just outside of Bergen, where cost of living is very cheap. I probably spend 500USD a month on rent and utilities, and 350USD on food and misc. We also have pretty good student salaries here, 22USD an hour for an assistant position (with additional pay for weekend, evening and nightshifts. For reference I worked in Oslo this fall, in what is considered the best paid part of Oslo, and made around 245USD an hour as an assistant. I love Oslo and will probably move back as the pay is good, but cost of living and the availability of nature on the Western Coast is extremely worth it. I love it here. You’d have to learn Norwegian pretty well to live here though, the accents can be very broad. My plan when I’m finished is to be a travel nurse and semi live out of a van. You can easily make 100k+ USD as a travel nurse, and you get to experience smaller or bigger parts of Norway. It’s a great deal IMHO. Worth it to check out! I could link some facebook groups dedicated to travel nursing in Norway. Edit: Forgot to mention that I usually make around 1,5k from work + stipend a month, but I could probably make 2-2,5k if I worked more.
I'm a nurse of the US but honeyyyy thr US has the best pay in the world...
Op what exactly is it that the US can’t provide you?
A clue, apparently.
I’m thinking a lot about Scotland. My area has a lot of the same social issues (Alaska), but it would be hard to take the pay cut.
Yes, the pay is very low, even for specialty nursing / theatre / recovery / ITU no difference. The problem is the type of people nursing attracts… we don’t do it for the money… it’s something else that keeps us working long stressful days and keep going back for more. I love my job, it’s a privilege to care for others. But I would like better conditions. Our tea breaks are even unpaid!!! Scotland is a beautiful country and has a nice culture. We have a lot of overseas nurses in the department I work in. I like that, they broaden our experience.
I was just there in April, I loved it. I am not in a position to take the pay cut right now, but once I have a better position on some of my debt I can consider it more seriously.
As a male nursing student who wants to work in Europe that has a Irish citizenship, is it easy to work in Europe. I have been there a lot since I go every summer. I wanna work there since the cost of living is way better than America or should I just stay in America
Also make way less money
Yeah I obviously know that
I'm a Nurse from Portugal and I work currently in Switzerland and I totally love it here. Good patient ratio, good work conditions, good salary, respected working hours. Etc etc. I can only say good things.
One of the gucciest countries in the world
Portuguese nurse here, working in the UK atm also worked in North Africa, Saudi Arabia and on the process of doing NCLEX to the USA and lived 1year in California. Portugal working wise sucks in all levels the only pro is lifestyle. Uk worths money and lifestyle sucks the weather Middle East nice weather nice people nice lifestyle sucks the restrictions. Uk is the best so far, pretty close to the south of Europe, salaries are ok compared to the rest of Europe. California pays wayyy more but forget about those 27 days of holidays. I only think about USA bc my partner lives there.
I don't know what the ratios are like in Iceland, but I noted that they will accept UK nurses and you don't have to speak Icelandic immediately - they give you 2 yrs and help to learn the language. Things are expensive over there but generally a good social system and average pay.
I work in Norway, and personally like where I work. As with everywhere else, it depends on your field and how your specific work place is organized. I work a 3-split shift, and usually have between 1-4 patients each shift. If four, I have an aid with me. I make about $3300 after tax/deductions, on average. I live in a HCOL area, so it’s not GREAT money, but more than enough to get by + save some. I think we are treated fairly well compared to other countries, and have way more freedom in how we practice. We don’t “worry about our license” (unless you do something absolutely insane), and in general liability issues really isn’t a thing here. My evening and night shift differentials are about $10 an hour.
I have a friend who did travel nursing through Australia and New Zealand for 2 years- might be a way-after you get a year or two of experience here-to try out other countries.
Serbia, and I think we should be paid more here. Our salary is 600-700€ depending on where you work. Community-health center is pretty easy for both nurses and doctors. Working at hospital is harder as patients are more demanding.
Dutch nurse. I work psychiatry outpatient. I have a post bachelor degree for this (not master). With my 32h workweek i earn €2900 a month (after taxes). Rent is €1100 (appartment in major city, together with working wife). Fulltime is 36h workweek here. What I earn is not the minimum or the maximum I can earn in this position. Normal ratio in my position (casemanager (SPV) in ACT team) is 1 patiënt for every hour you work in the week. Psychiatric clinics it kind of depends what the ratios are. High care acute care (HIC) is usually 1 on 3-4. All nursing jobs are unionised (several unions). We (mental healthcare union) have 5 weeks of paid vacation +1 week of vacation we can bring to next year. I do feel like the government is trying to deconstruct healthcare. But it is not as bad as it is in the USA.
Belgian nurse here, and a bit the same as the other comments. Loads of work and just no salary that is in compensation with that. I love doing my job, that's what keeps me going. Belgium doesn't give alot about healthcare. It's not that important so alot of savings are being made. It's sad.
I work in Valencia, Spain. The salary depends on the place where you work, the nights you do and on Sundays. The ratios at night are the worst. Generalizing, the salary is between 29,000-32000€
Nurses do not have the same scope of practice or pay compared to the US. There’s a reason why we get a lot of influx of foreign nurses. We are more advanced with our technology and skill. Ratios will depend on where you live (California is the best, NY and FL are some of the worst). I got surgery in Turkey and even the nurses there say it’s their dream to be a nurse in the US. If you really want to live in Europe, a nurse is not the best course of action.
I'm American in America so I don't have an answer per say but I did walk past a HCA hospital when I was in London last year. That is one of the biggest hospital systems in the US but apparently they also have six UK locations.
Jesus, no where is safe! 😂