🏥 Health care worker and care assistant

The job and the demand

A health care worker (helsefagarbeider) helps people who need care in everyday life: washing, dressing, meals, medicines and keeping an eye on their health. Most work for the municipality, in nursing homes or in home care, where you drive or walk from one client to the next. Without a trade certificate you can often start as a care assistant (pleieassistent or assistent), especially as an extra shift worker or summer temp.

According to NAV's 2026 employer survey (Bedriftsundersøkelsen), employers in Norway are short of about 33,750 people. Health and care is the area with the biggest shortage, about 9,200 people. Health care workers top the list with roughly 3,650, ahead of nurses with 1,850 and other health occupations with 1,350.

For you this means that municipalities need people all year round. At the same time many positions are part-time, so it pays to ask for a bigger percentage and to say yes to extra shifts at the start.

Requirements and qualifications

Health care worker is a regulated profession. The usual route is two years at school (Vg1 and Vg2 in health and childhood/youth studies) and two years as an apprentice in the health care trade. After passing the trade test you get a trade certificate (fagbrev) and can apply to the Norwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet) for authorisation. The authorisation is listed in the Health Personnel Register, where your employer can check it.

As a care assistant you don't need authorisation, but you work under the guidance of nurses and health care workers. Many municipalities offer short courses, for example in first aid, infection control and patient transfers. If you are going to hand out medicines, the employer requires separate training first.

In municipal health and care services you usually have to hand in a police certificate (politiattest) before you start. Norwegian is decisive: the employer looks at whether you understand instructions, can write in the patient record and talk confidently with patients and relatives.

Foreign qualifications and routes in

If you trained as a health care worker or something similar in another country, you apply to the Norwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet) for authorisation via Altinn. It is Helsedirektoratet, not HK-dir, that handles these applications. With an education from the EU/EEA there is no formal language requirement for authorisation, but the employer expects you to know enough Norwegian to work safely.

With an education from outside the EU/EEA there are additional requirements. You must document Norwegian at B2 level, for example with Norskprøven (B2 in all parts) or Bergenstesten, and pass a course in national subjects (kurs i nasjonale fag). The language requirement has to be met first, and all additional requirements must be completed within three years.

If you have no formal education but long experience in care work, you can take the trade certificate as a praksiskandidat (experience-based candidate). You then take the trade test after documented, varied experience in the trade, often around five years. The county authority (fylkeskommunen) handles the application, so check the requirements there. Many places also offer «Fagbrev på jobb», where you take the certificate while employed.

How to find a job

Most positions are advertised by the municipalities, both on the municipality's own website and on NAV's arbeidsplassen.no. Also search on finn.no and at private and non-profit nursing homes. Feel free to call the ward manager and ask about extra shifts: many get a permanent job after working as an on-call temp for a while.

Staffing agencies (bemanningsbyrå) hire out health personnel to municipalities and hospitals. This can give you experience quickly, but be careful. Read the contract, check that you get supplements for evening, night and weekend shifts, and that the agency is in the Labour Inspection Authority's register of staffing companies. Never pay to get a job.

In your application, mention experience with elderly people, dementia or disabilities, courses you have taken and your Norwegian level. If you have a driving licence, say so: in home care it is often a requirement.

Working conditions and rights

In the municipalities the main collective agreement between KS and the unions applies, while Oslo municipality has its own agreement. The agreement sets the minimum wage by seniority and education, supplements for evenings, nights, weekends and public holidays, and overtime. With a trade certificate your minimum wage is higher than for unskilled workers. Check the collective agreement or Statistics Norway's (SSB) wage statistics for current figures.

Most people work a rota (turnus), with day, evening and night shifts and work every second or every third weekend. The Working Environment Act limits working hours and requires rest between shifts. Overtime gives an overtime supplement.

Health and safety (HMS) is a big part of the job: heavy lifting, infection, and sometimes violence and threats from confused patients. Use aids such as patient lifts and slide sheets, and file an incident report (avvik) when something happens. Fagforbundet and Delta organise many health care workers, NSF organises nurses. As a member you get help if you run into problems with your employer.

Language at work

In practice you need at least B1 to work as an assistant, and many employers want B2. You have to understand the spoken report at shift handover, read care plans and write short, precise notes in the record system, for example Gerica, Profil or CosDoc.

Typical situations: you explain what you are going to do before personal care, you ask about pain, you call the nurse when something is wrong, and you talk to relatives on the phone. With people with dementia, short sentences, a calm voice and one question at a time help.

Learn fixed phrases such as «Jeg observerer at …» (I observe that …), «Hun klager over …» (She complains of …) and «Han har spist halvparten» (He has eaten half). Write what you see, not what you think. If you are unsure about an instruction, repeat it: «Skal jeg altså måle blodtrykket klokka to?» (So I should take the blood pressure at two?) That is completely normal and makes the work safer.

Sources: nav.no, helsedirektoratet.no, lovdata.no, altinn.no, arbeidstilsynet.no, ks.no, ssb.no.