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Career · Medicine and health

Nurse

Cares for sick people, helps the doctor and keeps an eye on how patients are doing.

Career overview

What a day looks like

A nurse checks vital signs, carries out the doctor's orders and helps patients with everyday things. They calm people down and notice changes in how patients are doing.

Try it yourself this week

  • 35 minutes

    Make a home first-aid guide from a reliable source

    1. Choose three everyday situations: a cut, a burn from hot water, a nosebleed.
    2. Find out what to do from a reliable source: a school textbook, the Red Crescent website or a clinic's website. Don't take advice from comments.
    3. For each situation, write 3–4 short steps and one line: “when to call 103 or 112 urgently”.
    4. Show the guide to an adult and ask if everything is clear. Note which part was harder for you: working it out, or imagining blood and pain.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you're interested in how the body works and how to help someone — and how you feel about the unpleasant side: blood, pain, responsibility.

  • 30 minutes

    Make a care guide for a pet or a plant

    1. Choose a pet or houseplant that you or people you know look after.
    2. Watch it for 15 minutes and write down what it's doing, what it eats or drinks and how it looks.
    3. Ask the owner: what does it need every day, and what once a week?
    4. Make a guide for someone who'll look after it while the owner is away: what to do and what to watch out for.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you like caring for those who depend on you and noticing small signs that something is wrong.

What you can do next

  1. Next 3 months

    • Practise caring for others

      Do the task about a care sheet and learn to notice small signs that something is wrong.

  2. In six months

    • Learn first-aid basics

      Find a first-aid class through medical organisations or at school, and take it together with adults.

  3. In a year

    • Talk to someone who does this job

      Through people you know and together with your parents, find out what a working day looks like and what helps them cope with hard moments.

What it pays

Pay varies by region, experience and employer. The figures below are approximate ranges from public sources.

Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.

In Kazakhstan

  • All levelsofficial data

    292,800 ₸ per month

    data: Q2 2024 · checked: September 2026

    Средняя зарплата медсестры общей практики, с доплатами (Минздрав).

    Source: tengrinews.kz (opens in a new tab)

Where to study

Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.

Colleges

You can apply after grade 9 or 11 — you get a profession faster than at university.

Universities

You apply after grade 11, based on your UNT results.

The UNT, if you apply to university

Required subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy, Mathematical Literacy. Profile subjects for this career: Biology + Chemistry.

Programme group: B084 Сестринское дело. Checked: September 2026.

Source: National Testing Centre list (opens in a new tab)
How to get into college

College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.

  • Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
    Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
    Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
    Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university

The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.

  • The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
    Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)

Courses and opportunities

Courses

This selection has no free courses with verified sources. Paid ones are listed for reference — check the price and terms on their website.

Can you work before you turn 18?

Under Kazakhstan's Labour Code, teenagers can work, but with limits.

History of the career

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Well-known people in this field

No verified information is available in this section yet.

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