A higher technical college of nursing offers you the opportunity to further your education to become a qualified nursing specialist HF and then find employment in the field of nursing and care for a wide range of people and illnesses. These can be children, adults, families, young people, long-term patients, mentally ill people, somatically ill people, people at home or in rehabilitation. Nursing professionals in the Swiss nursing professions can therefore be found in hospitals and homes for the disabled, in rehabilitation facilities and nursing homes, in old people's homes, psychiatric wards, outpatient facilities and care facilities outside of hospitals. You should decide on a specialization or field of work even before you start your training in HF nursing in order to receive targeted training.

The College of Nursing (HF Pflege) teaches the following course content in the advanced nursing training program:

• Nursing and nursing sciences
• Clinical expertise
• Human Sciences
• Work processes (care process, communication process, knowledge management, organizational process)

With these acquired skills, a qualified nursing specialist HF can take responsibility for the independent execution of the nursing process.

Both the HF and FH nursing degrees are at tertiary level. This also means that both nursing degrees impart knowledge in a very practical way and work closely with the world of work. The difference between HF and FH in the nursing profession lies in the:

• Admission requirements: While an EFZ or technical secondary school certificate is sufficient for the HF Pflege (Höhere Fachschule Pflege), a Fachmaturität, Berufsmaturität or gymnasiale Maturität is required for Pflege FH (Fachhochschule) as a university profession.
• Duration: It is the same for both full-time variants - namely 3 years. In the part-time form, the FH takes 4 to 4.5 years and HF only three to four years.
• Teaching structure: Compared to HF, FH teaches in-depth scientific knowledge (research, theory and control). HF, on the other hand, focuses on expanding practical knowledge - also through close exchange with the Swiss job market.
• Degree: The HF diploma is a federal diploma in the field of nursing called dip. Pflegefachfrau/Pflegefachmann HF. The FH degree is a bachelor's degree in nursing - i.e. Bachelor of Science (FH) in Nursing.
• Career prospects: Both degrees enable good placement in the job market - with HF in activities with practical, technical and management-related questions as a nursing specialist (possibly team leader or responsible learner) or with FH activities in the design, control and development of products and services, e.g. as a ward manager.
• Salary: The salary for nurses depends on qualifications, regionality, area of work and function. While the average salary range for nurses HF is CHF 5,300 to CHF 5,935 per month, the salary for nurses FH is between CHF 5,600 and CHF 6,699.

The difference between HF and FH in the nursing profession, as well as the right choice for yourself, therefore depends in particular on your previous education, but also on your later professional goals. Both degrees offer an opportunity for career changers in the nursing profession.

Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) in healthcare is currently possible to become an expert in surgery, an expert in cytodiagnostics, in biomedical analysis and laboratory management, as well as infection prevention in healthcare. In future, nursing schools will also offer federal examinations in nursing in the form of six Advanced Federal Professional Examinations (AFPE) and a new Federal Professional Examination. These are Federal Professional Examination in Psychiatric Nursing for People with a Mental Health Impairment, AFPE Palliative Care and Oncology Nursing with specializations, AFPE Nephrology Nursing, AFPE Maternal and Paternal Counselling, AFPE Geriatric and Gerontopsychiatric Nursing without specializations, AFPE Diabetes Specialist Counselling, AFPE Psychiatric Nursing for People with a Mental Health Impairment.

Continuing education, further training to become a qualified nurse CHE can be completed either full-time or part-time - as a part-time CHE nursing degree. The duration of study depends on the chosen model and is three years for a full-time course and three to four years for a part-time course, depending on professional activity and school attendance. However, the prerequisite is a workload of at least 50% in nursing. The College of Higher Education also offers the option of a shortened training period of two years for people with a Federal VET Diploma as a healthcare specialist (FaGe).

Some Universities of Applied Sciences offer an UAS Health Care degree course in Nursing that is aimed exclusively at qualified nurses with an UAS degree, while other degree courses are also open to graduates with a Federal Vocational Baccalaureate, Specialized Baccalaureate or Baccalaureate, as well as holders of specific UAS or AFPE degrees (such as Podiatrist UAS, Druggist UAS, Activation Specialist UAS, etc.) who have completed a nursing internship before starting their studies. Detailed admission requirements can be obtained directly from the relevant Universities via the contact form.