Nursing degree for people with an immigrant background is launching at Laurea University of Applied Sciences

The education is intended for people with an immigrant background who are living in Finland, and who have completed or have an unfinished degree in nursing outside Europe or in another EU country. The education will begin at Laurea in December 2021. 

The shortage of nurses is expected to worsen in Finland in the future as the population ages and the need for social and healthcare services increases. Work-related immigration and immigrants already in Finland form an important group for Finnish social and healthcare, and guarantee a robust labour force.  

The nursing education for people with an immigrant background living in Finland launching in Laurea in December is designed to meet this need. The education is designed so that the participants can gain a Finnish nursing degree in two years. From this education, 25 immigrants with a nursing background will be employed in Finnish healthcare. 

Supporting the development of language skills and integration into the Finnish work culture 

The aim of the education is for the participants to be employed in roles that correspond with their skills and training, and to support their integration into Finnish working life and society.  

The nursing education starts with organised Finnish language courses, which ensures the smooth progress of studies and the opportunity to succeed in future clinical internships. The studies will be conducted in Finnish, and English will be used as the study support language.  

The training promotes the integration of employees with a foreign background into Finnish work culture. This is ensured for example by individual assessments during the clinical nursing internships. Internships that promote professional skills related to studies are carried out in cooperation with the City of Vantaa. 

Each student is also assigned a personal tutor, with whom the student will have one to one discussions about competency development, career path, and professional growth four (4) times a year. 

Applications are made through TE services 

- It is great that Laurea has had the opportunity to start labour market training for nurses. Laurea has long had English-language nursing education and in recent years also international tailor-made education in nursing,” says Sanna Partamies, Development Manager at Laurea. 
- A large proportion of students in international nursing training have taken part in tailor-made education in order to obtain a European degree in nursing. This opportunity now opens up to immigrants already in Finland.

People with an immigrant background who have previously obtained a degree in nursing in another EU country or outside Europe can apply for education. You can also apply for the education if you have an unfinished nursing degree that was previously started abroad. 

Applications for the education can be submitted during the application period 1. - 31.10.2021 by filling in the electronic application form on the TE Services website. Alternatively, you can submit a paper application to the TE Office or the local municipality office. 

More information about the training is available on Laurea's website.

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