In Austria, nursing professions are legally regulated. Therefore, qualifications obtained abroad (such as degrees or certificates) must be validated as being equivalent through the process of nostrification.
For nursing professionals who wish to work in Austria, nostrification is required if their education was completed in a third country (meaning outside an EU member state, an EEA (European Economic Area) member state, or Switzerland).
Individuals with a degree from a third country who are authorized to practise the corresponding nursing profession in an EU member state, an EEA member state, or Switzerland but who have worked in that profession for less than three years must also submit an application for nostrification.
Nostrification involves assessing whether the education completed by the applicant abroad is equivalent to the Austrian education, taking relevant professional experience into account in terms of ECTS/duration, contents, and acquired competencies. If there are gaps in equivalence, supplementary examinations, training, and/or internships (compensatory measures) must be completed.
In addition, nurses and nursing assistants (level 1 and level 2) in Austria have the opportunity to carry out the corresponding activity for training purposes for a limited period of time after an approval procedure at the office of the provincial government concerned.
Depending on the nursing profession, nostrification procedures are carried out either by Austrian universities of applied sciences or by the local offices of the regional government responsible for such matters, as follows:
- Education equivalent to a degree in Health and Nursing Care: Austrian universities of applied sciences
- Education equivalent to a nursing assistant level 2: Office of the provincial government concerned
- Education equivalent to a nursing assistant level 1: Office of the provincial government concerned
The Guide directs you to the relevant authorities and helps you differentiate between nostrification and recognition.