Nurse responsible for general care

Nurses are typically employed within the health care sector with the focus on care of individuals and families. They work to ensure that patients receive the right care and are often the ones who see to the individual’s entire care process.

How to apply

If you are educated in Sweden

 If you have completed a Swedish nurse degree you can apply for a license.

 The application fee is 990 SEK and the processing time is approximately three weeks. Your application can be submitted either digitally or by post and must include:

  • Your diploma

More information on the application process and the documentation required can be found at The National Board of Health and Welfare's website.

 Qualification in an EU Member State or EEA

If you are qualified to practice as a nurse responsible for general care in another EU Member State or EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland) and want to work as such in Sweden, you need to apply for a license with the National Board of Health and Welfare. To obtain a license, you are also required to have sufficient language skills in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian and have a swedish personal identity number or coordination number.    

The application fee is 990 SEK and the processing time is approximately three months. Your application can be submitted either digitally or by post and must include:

  • Your diploma         
  • A certificate from the competent authority proving that you have not been prohibited from pursuing your profession, such as Certificate of Good Standing or Certificate of Current Professional Status. If there is no register from where you can obtain such a certificate, a certificate with information from the country's criminal register shall be provided. 
  • A document from the school or university where you were trained describing which courses you have taken, including the course content and their duration.       
  • A copy of a certificate or diploma attesting to your language skills in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. 
  • A copy of a valid ID document (e.g. a copy on the first page of your valid passport or a copy of a national ID card.         

 More information on the application process and the documentation required can be found at The National Board of Health and Welfare's website.

European Professional Card (EPC)

You can also apply via the European Professional Card (EPC), which is an electronic certificate proving your professional qualifications if you are going to work in another EU country. Read more and apply at the website Your Europe: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/professional-qualifications/european-professional-card/index_sv.htm 

If you are educated outside of the EU and the EEA 

For those educated outside of the EU and the EEA, there are different ways to obtain a license to practice as a nurse responsible for general care in Sweden. This can be done either through a proficiency test and clinical training or by enrolling in additional education. To complete these steps, you need to be able to understand and communicate in Swedish.

Once the above steps are completed, you can apply for a license. A certificate or diploma attesting to your language skills in Swedish, Danish or Norwegian must be submitted together with your license application. 

The application fee is 990 SEK. As the application process contains several different steps, it is not possible to give an estimate of the total processing time. 

More information on the application process and the documentation required can be found at The National Board of Health and Welfare's website.

Nurse responsible for general care is a protected professional title. I.e. professionals who wish to use nurse responsible for general care as a professional title in Sweden must have a license. The license is issued by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).

Registration and supervision

The National Board of Health and Welfare maintains a register of all licensed health and medical care personnel (the HOSP register). The Swedish Health and Social Care Inspectorate (www.ivo.se) supervises all licensed health and medical care personnel.