Plenty of Czech nurses work abroad

The Health Ministry estimates there are some 1,000 Czech nurses currently working abroad, but Prague needs more nurses, and healthcare workers in Moravia find it increasingly difficult to get a job.

Czech nurses work primarily in Germany and Austria, but also in Britain and the United States. Saudi Arabia has also shown great interest in Czech rehabilitation nurses.

Ruzena Wagnerova, vice-president of the Czech Nurses Association, says that Prague is in need of many more nurses, while many nurses in north Moravia or in Brno, south Moravia, are without jobs.

"They could come to Prague where there is a shortage of nurses but it is mainly older women who do not want to travel," Wagnerova said.

As of 01 January, the ministry had issued 570 professional certificates for Czech nurses who intended to work abroad, Health Ministry spokesman Tomas Cirkt said.

Because of the language barrier, many Czech nurses working abroad serve as low-level health personnel, often providing care for the elderly and in families.

The Health Ministry has also issued work permits for 2,180 foreign nurses from European Union countries who wanted to work in the Czech Republic.

"Nurses from Slovakia make up a large majority of foreigners from EU countries, and there are also many nurses from Poland working in the Czech Republic," Cikrt said.

Milan Kubek, chairman of the Czech Doctors' Chamber (CLK), said there were hospitals in the Czech Republic in which most of the personnel speak Slovak. The level of Slovak nurses' training is comparable to the qualification of Czech nurses and there is no language barrier, he said.

The ministry has registered 120 applications for work permits from nurses from non-EU countries; 30 have successfully passed professional tests.

In all, 132,000 health workers in non-doctor professions, including 94,560 nurses, have been registered in the Czech Republic.

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