Nursing Schools and Programs in Ukraine

Nursing Studies in Ukraine

Kontraktova Square, Kiev

Nursing students learn to assess patients, plan and give care, prepare patients for tests and procedures, give emergency care, and support patients and families from prevention to palliative care. In Ukraine, nursing is taught at several levels, from a college qualification to a PhD, at medical universities and their colleges. Ukraine is under martial law, so international applicants should check their own government's travel advice and the current situation at the university before applying.

SpainExchange lists two universities in Ukraine with nursing: Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU) in Chernivtsi and Lugansk State Medical University, which now gives its address in Rivne.

How nursing education is organised

Ukrainian medical education is built as a ladder: professional junior bachelor, bachelor, master and PhD. At BSMU, nursing (specialty 223) is taught at all four levels. The professional junior bachelor is trained at the university's college. The Bachelor of Nursing is a first-level degree of 60 ECTS credits for students who already hold a junior bachelor (or junior specialist) diploma in nursing: it takes one year full time or two years by distance learning, and graduates can go on to a master's degree.

The bachelor's programme covers, among other things:

• Nursing assessment and the nursing process, including palliative and hospice care
• Preparing patients for diagnostic tests and taking samples for the laboratory
• Emergency care in acute conditions, in peace and in war
• Family-medicine care, rehabilitation and health promotion
• Leading and managing a nursing unit

National exams

All students in the health branch of knowledge take the Unified State Qualification Exam (USQE), run by the Testing Board of Ukraine's Ministry of Health. Students at the vocational pre-higher education level take the Krok M exam after the theory part of their programme, and bachelor's students take Krok B in their final year. Under martial law, students staying abroad can take the tests on computer at designated sites near them, and students of universities in occupied territories or hostility zones can take them at universities in other regions.

Admission and language

Universities admit international students directly, and fees are paid under a contract with the university. At Lugansk State Medical University, a foreign applicant first receives an invitation to study and then applies to the Ukrainian embassy for a study visa; documents must be translated into Ukrainian and legalised, and foreign school diplomas must be recognised under Ukrainian law. BSMU teaches in Ukrainian and in English for foreigners, but the programmes it lists for foreign applicants are medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, so applicants interested in nursing should ask the university directly about the language of instruction and the entry route. BSMU's 10-month preparatory course includes the Ukrainian language and the natural sciences.

Careers and recognition

According to BSMU, a Bachelor of Nursing can work, for example, as a nurse, head nurse, nurse anaesthetist, emergency nurse or nurse supervisor, in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Nurses trained in Ukraine who want to work in another country must have their qualification recognised there; the rules vary by country, so check with the nursing regulator or ministry of the country concerned before enrolling.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a nursing bachelor's degree in Ukraine?

At BSMU, the Bachelor of Nursing is a 60-credit programme of one year full time (two years by distance learning) for students who already hold a junior bachelor diploma in nursing.

Can international students study nursing in Ukraine in English?

It depends on the university. BSMU teaches foreign students in English, but its admission pages for foreign applicants list medicine, dentistry and pharmacy only. Ask the university about nursing before applying.

Which exams do nursing students take in Ukraine?

The national Krok exams of the Ministry of Health's Testing Board: Krok M at the vocational pre-higher education level and Krok B in the last year of the bachelor's degree.