Healthcare worker CV in Norway: example and tips

What employers look for in a healthcare worker

Employers want to know whether you can work independently, notice changes in a patient and speak up in time, and work well with nurses and other staff. Healthcare workers provide basic nursing care, help with hygiene, dressing, meals and activity, document in electronic patient records and use welfare technology such as safety alarms and medication dispensers. Your CV should show that you have done this, where and for whom.

Many municipalities use applicant tracking systems that look for words from the job ad. Use the same words in your CV when they describe what you have actually done, and have a look at our guide to an ATS-friendly CV. These are words that often appear in Norwegian ads for healthcare workers, translated:

• Trade certificate and authorisation as a healthcare worker.
• Basic nursing care, personal hygiene and nutrition.
• Observation, reporting and documentation.
• Dementia, palliative care, rehabilitation, mental health and substance use.
• Activities and day to day support, especially in supported housing and day centres.
• Welfare technology, for example safety alarms, medication dispensers and remote monitoring.
• Rotating shifts, weekend work and a category B driving licence, which many home care services require.
• Good spoken and written Norwegian.

Trade certificate, authorisation and police certificate

Healthcare worker is a protected title in Norway, and you need an authorisation from Helsedirektoratet, the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Make both your trade certificate and your authorisation clear on your CV, for example “Trade certificate as a healthcare worker, 2023” under education and “Authorised healthcare worker, Helsedirektoratet, 2023” under certificates. Employers must check that your authorisation is valid in the Health Personnel Register (HPR) before hiring you, so your HPR number is useful to include.

If you have just completed your trade certificate, you apply for authorisation yourself in Helsedirektoratet's online application portal once your diploma is registered digitally. This has been the process since 27 May 2026. The fee is NOK 750, and approval normally comes a few seconds after payment. If you are waiting for it, you can write “Authorisation applied for, October 2026”.

Everyone who provides municipal health and care services must present a police certificate, whichever patient group they work with. You do not attach it to the application. The duty applies once you are offered the job.

If your health education is from another country, you must apply to Helsedirektoratet for approval before you can use the title in Norway. State on your CV where your case stands and your level of Norwegian, ideally with the test you have taken.

Example summary

The summary at the top is three to five sentences about who you are and what you can do. Rewrite it for each type of job. If you apply to a home care service, it should be about working independently and having a driving licence, not about the hospital ward you worked on ten years ago. Here are two made up examples. You will find more tips in our guide to writing a CV summary.

• Example, experienced healthcare worker: “Authorised healthcare worker with eight years of experience from nursing homes and home care. Confident with personal care, nutrition and observation of older people with dementia, and used to working alone in the evenings and at weekends. Named contact for six service users and the go to person for welfare technology in the district. Holds a category B driving licence and is looking for a permanent position in home care.”
• Example, newly qualified healthcare worker: “Newly qualified healthcare worker with a trade certificate from 2026 and an apprenticeship at a nursing home with a secure unit for people with dementia. Confident with personal care, patient handling and documentation in Gerica, and completed Demensomsorgens ABC, a widely used dementia care course, during the apprenticeship. Calm and clear when talking to relatives. Looking for a position with regular shifts and the chance to take further education at a vocational college.”

Bullet points that show responsibility: weak and strong

Under each job, write the job title, workplace, unit or district, dates and the size of the position as a percentage of full time. Then add three to five bullet points with strong verbs in the past tense. Show scope and results where you can: how many service users, which measures and what improved. The examples are made up:

• Weak: “Personal care for residents.” Strong: “Provided daily personal care for eight residents on a secure unit, and adapted the support to each person together with their named contact and the nurse.”
• Weak: “Worked in home care.” Strong: “Visited 12 to 16 service users per shift in home care, gave medication under delegation and reported changes in health to the nurse the same day.”
• Weak: “Responsible for activities.” Strong: “Started a regular walking group twice a week for residents, which gave more residents daily activity and calmer evenings according to the evening staff.”
• Weak: “Training.” Strong: “Supervised four apprentices and six summer temps in routines, patient handling and documentation, and wrote a simple checklist for their first shift.”
• Weak: “Used welfare technology.” Strong: “Acted as the go to person when the district introduced digital medication dispensers, trained colleagues and followed up service users in the first weeks.”

Skills, courses and common mistakes

List concrete skills and courses, not just personal qualities. Courses from the municipality or your employer count as long as they are relevant to the job you are applying for. Vocational college education should be listed with its name, institution and year.

• Skills: patient handling, wound care, measuring blood pressure and blood sugar, nutrition screening, observation and reporting.
• Systems: electronic patient records such as Gerica, CosDoc or Profil, and welfare technology.
• Courses: CPR, medication courses, Demensomsorgens ABC, patient handling courses and training on the use of coercion and force, which is common in housing for people with intellectual disabilities.
• Vocational college: for example elderly care, mental health and substance use, cancer care and chronic illness, or welfare technology.
• Common mistake: calling yourself a “care assistant” when you are authorised as a healthcare worker. Use the correct title.
• Common mistake: leaving out your driving licence when applying to home care.
• Common mistake: unexplained gaps in the CV. See our guide to gaps in your CV for how to present them honestly.

Advice for new graduates and experienced healthcare workers

If you are newly qualified, your apprenticeship is your most important experience. List it as work experience with the place, unit and dates, and say what you were responsible for towards the end. Summer jobs and weekend shifts also count. If you took your trade certificate as an experienced practitioner (praksiskandidat), say so, and list the years you worked before the certificate as experience. Our guide to a CV for new graduates has more advice.

With many years of experience, highlight roles such as named contact, professional lead, go to person or supervisor for apprentices. Cut older jobs down to one line each. If you plan further education at a vocational college or a nursing degree, you can mention it in your summary. If you are thinking of becoming a nurse later, see our guide to a nurse CV.

Also check the pay before you accept an offer. The salary check uses figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) and is free.

The application, and an honest check of your CV

The cover letter can be short. Say which job you are applying for, show that you meet the requirements, and give a concrete example of how you work with patients or service users. See our guide on how to write a cover letter.

Before you send it, you can get an honest review of your whole CV with CV score in Selja. The first one is free. If you want to see whether your CV matches a specific job, the ATS score shows which words from the ad are missing.