Nurse
💊Gives injections and drips, takes blood, monitors patients and assists in surgery and with dressings. Spends more time with patients than anyone else.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $88.5k a year on average · +5.6% jobs by 2035 · 180,800 openings a year
Registered nurses — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £42.4k median a year · 446,000 jobs
Other nursing professionals — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI will take some paperwork and monitoring and robot carts will deliver medicines. Care, procedures and attention to the person stay with the nurse.
Who it suits
Interests: 🩺 Medicine and health, 🤝 Helping and caring, 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems.
Key strengths: manual dexterity, organisation, understanding people, strength and stamina.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BSc Nursing (UK, 3 yrs: adult, child, mental health), BSN (US, 4 yrs)
- Apprenticeship Registered nurse degree apprenticeship (UK)
- Vocational Associate Degree in Nursing (US), Pflegefachfrau/-mann Ausbildung (DE)
- Master's MSN / nurse practitioner — advanced practice later in the career
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Biology, Chemistry, Psychology.
🧗 UK: 3-year BSc Nursing (adult, child or mental health), then NMC registration. US: 4-year BSN or associate degree, NCLEX exam and state licence. Later you can train as a nurse practitioner.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- King's College London London
Non-UK foundations not accepted, only King's IFP; nursing: interview, English Band B; medicine and dentistry: UCAT - University of Manchester Manchester · €40.6k/yr
Attestat + foundation (INTO/own) or 2 years at a Russian university; medicine/dentistry A-levels/IB only; nursing IELTS 7.0, £35.3k - University of Edinburgh Edinburgh
Attestat + foundation (IFP); medicine A-levels/IB only; veterinary medicine £41,700/yr (2026/27); IELTS by programme
🇺🇸 United States
- University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Philadelphia · €64.4k/yr
BSN bachelor's; Common App; SAT/ACT required; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; aid for internationals is need-aware - University of Michigan School of Nursing Ann Arbor · €58.4k–62.5k/yr
BSN bachelor's; Common App; SAT/ACT if available; no aid for internationals, full cost - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill · €41.3k/yr
BSN etc.; out-of-state tuition; SAT/ACT only if GPA < 2.8; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers
🇩🇪 Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin · free
Medicine/dentistry: 5% of places for non-EU, via uni-assist, selection by grade only; DSH-2/3 or Goethe C2 by the deadline - Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Hamburg · free
No tuition; German C1; Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg (FH course) or a year at university; nursing is a dual programme * - Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); nursing is a dual programme with an employer *
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen
HBO: Russian certificate equals HAVO, direct entry; nursing is Dutch-taught (NT2-II) * - Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam
HBO: Russian certificate equals HAVO, direct entry; most programmes (incl. Aviation) are Dutch-taught, NT2-II * - Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam
HBO: Russian certificate equals HAVO, direct entry; Maritime Officer and nursing are Dutch-taught (NT2-II) *
🇫🇷 France
- IFSI Pitié-Salpêtrière (AP-HP) Paris
Nursing: Parcoursup, 3 years in French (diplôme d’État); limited access for foreigners * - IFSI Esquirol – Hospices Civils de Lyon Lyon
Nursing: Parcoursup, 3 years in French (diplôme d’État); limited access for foreigners * - Université Paris Cité – Baudelocque School of Midwifery Paris
Midwifery: only after a selective first year of PASS/LAS; in French *
🇮🇹 Italy
- University of Milan Milan · €1.1k–4.3k/yr
12 school years; Italian B2 (English B2 for English programmes); programme tests; income abroad: fixed fee by country group - University of Bologna Bologna · €1.2k/yr
English programmes: B2 (some B1), selection by SAT, TOLC-E or CEnT-S; 12 school years. Non-OECD citizens: €1,157 a year - Sapienza University of Rome Rome · €700/yr
12 school years; B2 in the language of study; pre-selection for English programmes, test for medicine. Russia is band B: €700 a year
🇪🇸 Spain
- University of Barcelona Barcelona · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; many classes in Catalan; non-EU €30/ECTS * - Complutense University of Madrid Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 required (DELE/SIELE/CCEE); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - University of Navarra Pamplona · €11.8k–20.4k/yr
Private: own admission process; year 1 €11,750–20,400 (medicine); bilingual/International tracks available
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc · €0–14k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams); in English: Medicine €12,500, Dentistry €14,000/yr
Things to know
🩸 Blood and medical procedures🌙 Night shifts and on-call
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