Polish nurses, gender and salary

Hello,

I have some questions regarding nurses in Poland. I assume that a bachelor's degree is needed (?) to be working in the field.

So, what I wonder is, does anyone know how common it is for men to be taking that education? Like 1 in 10, or 3 in 10.

And, does anyone know what wage the nurses can expect in a normal job (e.g. a hospital)? A ballpark figure would do just fine, but if you have better knowledge of the subject than that would be super.

Thanks.

A bachelors isn't necessary, and as a rule nurses have a lower professional status than nurses in the UK. Partly this is due to the enormous oversupply of doctors who got on the medical course too easily and can get away with lower professional standards. There are some excellent nurses in Poland however they are hampered by other people working as nurses who don't have the same standards or level of ability.

They are all sadly very underpaid, which doesn't encourage applicants for the work and those few - and I mean few - who are truly professional nurses have to reconcile themselves to having the same professional status as people who fall very far short of the professional standards that the best of them have. Most earn less than £400 per month.

In which Polish cities do they offer a BSc in nursing? (if anyone has college/university names than that would be super)

Here's some info about whether or not a BSc is required ("All nurses now (since 2001) have to complete a 3 year BSc education in a medical university." polishforums.com/archives/2009/work-study-43/are-nurses-graded-poland- typical-salary-31010/ Title: "How are nurses graded in Poland and what is their typical salary?")

Can anyone weigh in about the wages? (kind of differing answers)
Joo Woo: "I was recently speaking to a qualified nurse here in Poland, who works in a local leather factory. She says the pay is better, at 1300 PLN a month, than the wage of a newly qualified nurse!"

jacob_89: My mother is a nurse and she earns about 3500 zł brutto nowadays.
normski: "Nurse salaries range from about GBP400 to GBP800 per month depending on position"

Does anyone know anything about this:
uncle betty: 2. Is the Nursing High School Diploma a recognised EU standard, that would allow the holder to register as a nurse in another EU country ?

mafketis: (From talks I've had with people in nursing (warning: this is all second hand information) 2. I don't think so. The Polish government purposely tried to make it as hard as possible for Polish nursing qualifications to be recognized outside of Poland for fear of hastening emigration by nurses. Basically, most of the people in nursing training programs now don't really intend on working in Poland anymore than they have to, nursing is what you might call an 'emigration degree'. That said, Polish nursing training does not suffer in comparison with training in Western Europe and when they can learn the local language Polish nurses are in demand across Western Europe.

SzwedwPolsce This [a BSc] is the minimum requirement to work as a nurse in Sweden.I know some Polish nurses with shorter education that wanted to go to Sweden to work, but could not.

That's alll from this forum. The reality is that it is as hard a profession as in the UK however due to the oversupply of doctors, many of whom do stuff that doctors elsewhere wouldn't need to do there is less scope for nurses to do the interesting stuff and a lot more of the donkey work for nurses. The better ones try to get specialised jobs,though that is hardly unique to Poland.

many of my nurse friends in Krakow had to get masters to keep their jobs in a hospital. they make between 2000-3000 zl, depends on experience.

try Instytut Pielęgniarstwa i Położnictwa UJ in Krakow.

gender doesn't matter.

The reason gender matters to me is that men actually are more often flexible when it comes to working e.g. 2 weeks abroad, than 4 week holiday - repeat. (that type of work will - of course - me beneficial to the economy in Poland, because they don't spend while they work, and they come home with plenty -- whereas those who simply migrate don't leave much money at home, they just leave with an education...).

Women more often have little children to care of at home, so they are more reluctant to do such work. So, that's why I wonder if there are many men who take the education. E.g. if it's 1/10 or perhaps more/less.

My wife is half way through her masters degree, in Krakow, about a third of the nurses in her year went onto the two year additional years of study after the BSc. Most do it part time (work five days, study at weekend). Some do the Master degree full time and can get a grant. Student grants for the Bsc degree course are between 300-1000 per month - dependent on exam results.

It would seem that all the students obtained jobs immediately after leaving their degree course locally in Krakow, 2200-2500pln the starting salary. A Masters degree is worth a few hundred more, the main reason to do it is not financial, they seem to like the achievement.

The Nurses course in Krakow is UK RCN approved and requires a English modules, so its internationally recognized, not that seems to be used much by the Nurses. I think there was one at least male nurse in my wifes year. They are welcome, because they have the physical strength that many of the 45kg nurse lack. The course is hard as it requires practice interspersed by study with few breaks and no sickness (no long student holidays), if you become ill you will probably fail


There is a constant demand for nurses world wide as the population is ageing. I find it unlikely that doctor would 'lower' themselves to become nurses and I doubt they are qualified anyway, they become doctors for ego reasons. Seven years study and not use their qualification? Crazy. The nurses all seem to love their jobs, how long that will last I'll have to wait and see, but 'hard' is not a description I've heard


I don't think any of that is relevant. The number of men is low and very few (well, one to Sweden - out of 200) of the nurses have migrated. Males nurses have boyfriends at home they will want to return home to, so not much differance there, although children are less likely.

I think children would be highly unlikely.

IVF agreements with female couples is not unusual.

I suggest you read your post.

Thank you for great input peterweg!


Good point. I think they are welcome too. They do bring something to an (often) female dominated workplace.

"they become doctors for ego reasons" Ohh yes, I agree.

I agree, it's very common among male nurses to be gay. But that's fine really. If the male nurse (gay or not) does have children, he often have a partner who takes care of them at home (man or woman). I think females aren't so keen on leaving their children at home with their man, going abroad to work. At least that's how it is at home. At the fishing boats (which is a huge industry) there are barely females, even in the gender neutral positions like stewards who cook all the food. In the oil industry also, it's common for males to work a couple of weeks offshore, long holiday - repeat. But females want to quit that work once they have babies.

I see it's not that super rare for men to be nurses in other countries (perhaps it'll change in Poland as well?). Here's some gender data.

United states, 14% of the nurses are male.
Israel, 13% are male.
Italy, 27% are male.
Mexico, 9% are male.
Norway, 10% are male (other source)
Sweden, 10% are male (other source)

(from "Method", 2.1. Participants, "Comparisons of American, Israeli, Italian andMexican physicians and nurses on the total andfactor scores of the Jefferson scale of attitudestoward physician-nurse collaborative relationships")


I know it's from this forum. That's why I posted the link to this forum. It's an archived thread, so it couldn't be bumped.

3 males started the nursing course, all failed, out of 60 One male joined later and passed.

Merged: "NURSE and PARAMEDICS competence" in Poland

Hello, please is anybody here, who is able to provide me any information about regulated professions as nursing and paramedic is? I have just started wrote my diploma thesis and looking for this information for example: Nurse is eligible to do this and this. she can injected into a vein or not and things like that... And please, what type of law is that. (number, the year ect.)

Hi czech republic, look in Ustawa o zawodzie pielegniarki i poloznej :)

Also interested in that as of now. Back in 2010, the average monthly wage in Poland was €825. But for nurses it varied, depending on qualifications and experience, from just over €350 to 775, according to the OZZPiP. Is this still the case? Are nurses paid that bad still? Do they get paid less than an entry level office worker in a multinational?

I don't agree with the gay thing. I'm straight, I'm just too old at 32 to start an MD so I'm looking for shorter degrees in healthcare as there's demand. I'm open to other suggestions btw, ones that are more appropriate for straight men (physical therapist, pharmacist?)! Up to 4 yers please!

As for dating, one thing I learned from my economics colleagues and parents is to avoid dating an Economics/finance/business graduate/student gal. One person with a bad degree is enough in a family and my parents constantly fight about money. Is there a surplus of business/economics degree graduates in Poland as well?

Now statistically they earn over 5000 PLN. In reality, about 3200 net unless they work very long hours.

I know a Georgian girl in Warsaw,who makes over 8000 Pln a month netto driving Uber,but she drives in night and for 12 hours 6 days a week.

Yes, with such long hours, one can earn 8000. If she likes it, she can even last a few years in it.

During my working days I use to work almost 18/19 hours 7 days,never any holiday esp like Xmas,New years eve,July4th etc and all weekends for almost 2 decades and I am just fine.Thx God we are healthy enough to enjoy it.Ha Ha and I use to smoke like a pig.

So it`s just like me. But at least I always have holidays etc. :):)

Oh ok aren't there wealthy families in Poland in need for a driver or a butler?

Well I cannot even last 8 hours in an office job.

Tell me about it , last stay in hospital a nurse told me I was lucky she didn't kill me just because I was waiting for an operation that meant every time I was moved while my bed was changed I went into agonising spasm due to bones that required surgery to rejoin, but of course she had no idea , I was just in the way of her coffee and donuts, god help you all in Polish hospitals.

What about hospital administrators then? Can one becone one without an MD?

Yes, but you need to have a good grasp on a lot of things and be versatile. And it is a stressful job.

Hie I would like to ask about the bachelor's degree in Poland, if anyone can assist, is it recognized internationally like if I finish studying can I be able to work in any country with better salaries? I am looking for a better country with affordable fee structure to do my studying. Currently in SA

Sorry the nursing degree I mean

It depends on the country and its own regulations so you need to enquire in your desired destinations specifically. . But Polish nurses are welcome in European countries within the EU law.

If they speak the local language.

Or at least English. In case of Norway, for example.

Maybe when they arrive, but they need to learn Norwegian ASAP..... sick people don't want to have to speak a foreign language with nurses/doctors when they're in their own country (I've known a couple of people who've worked in healthcare there and English alone is not enough - especially when dealing with patients).