The company informs the international nurse in an audience-appropriate way about the current labour market situation for nursing professions in Germany and how they can find out more.
In 2019, nurses accounted for 29 per cent of the 5.7 million people employed in the health workforce as a whole.
The number of people in need of long-term care is likely to continue to rise as a result of an ageing society and largely constant probabilities of needing care. The Federal Ministry of Health most recently projected around 6.5 million people in need of long-term care covered by social long-term care insurance for 2050.
This goes hand in hand with a further rising need for nurses. Even if forecasts of the expected care gap vary, this represents a challenge for securing skilled workers in the future.
It is exacerbated by the fact that there is already a nationwide shortage of skilled workers among state-examined qualified nurses in almost all areas.
Demand for nurses will rise significantly in the coming years, mainly because of the increase in people in need of long-term care, according to forecasts to around 3.4 million. If today’s level of provision is projected into the future, around 517,000 qualified nurses will then be missing. Two effects of demographic change feed into this figure: rising demand for nursing services from ever larger cohorts of older and very old people creates clear expansion needs in the nursing professions; at the same time, age-related exits from the nursing professions will in future lead to increased replacement demand.
According to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) (BA), key indicators show that nursing professions already count among the “shortage occupations”: in 2016 unemployment in the health and nursing care occupations fell by 9.6% and the number of vacancies reported to the BA rose by 19.9% compared with the previous year
A vacancy reported to the BA for occupations in health and nursing care remained vacant for an average of 124 days (average for all occupations: 90) and there were 71 unemployed people for every 100 vacancies (average for all occupations: 399). For geriatric nurses the figures are even clearer: for every 100 reported vacancies there were only 38 unemployed people and they remained unfilled for an average of 153 days. Regional sector monitorings show that the shortage of skilled workers in the health and care sector, which includes hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, nursing and care homes and outpatient care services, varies greatly by region (Bieräugel et al. 2012, Lauxen/Bieräugel 2013, Lauxen/Castello 2016). The most acute shortage of skilled workers currently exists in urban areas of western Germany and in rural regions of eastern Germany.
To reduce the shortage of skilled workers in nursing, various labour-market policy approaches have been developed and trialled in recent years. These include, on the one hand, the attempt to attract more employees into nursing work by expanding training potential. This covers, for example, measures to improve the public image of the nursing professions in order to find more trainees among school leavers (Rodewald et al. 2006, Deutsches Institut für angewandte Pflegeforschung 2014: 34).
They also include post-qualification measures for which individual federal states have opened training to people with lower school qualifications. People with a Hauptschulabschluss can thus be given (staged) access to the skilled profession by allowing a shortened training programme leading to skilled status after the one-year helper qualification (e.g. Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz). In addition, more and more degree programmes are being developed in nursing in order to attract school leavers with a higher education entrance qualification into nursing as well. On the other hand, skilled workers in the so-called “silent reserve” are to be brought into employment.
Our nurses can obtain further information from the usual labour market portals. E.g.
The Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Employment Agency likewise publish articles on the current situation in the nursing sector.
Nursing professions in Germany count among the so-called “shortage occupations”.
This means that there are fewer unemployed people but an increasing number of reported vacancies in nursing. A statistic from 2016 shows the high demand for qualified nurses:
In future, up to 50,000 posts will therefore not be filled by qualified nurses.
So that hospitals and care facilities can continue to secure their provision in the future, nurses from abroad are therefore of great importance.
In 2019, nurses accounted for 29 per cent of the 5.7 million people employed in the health workforce as a whole, i.e. around 1.7 million people.
The number of people in need of long-term care will rise as a result of the ageing of German society. The Federal Ministry of Health most recently projected around 6.5 million people in need of long-term care covered by social long-term care insurance for 2050.
What this means for you as an international qualified nurse
Since there is and will be a shortage of skilled workers in all areas of nursing, you should think about:
- Where you see your greatest potential: as a nurse in
- a hospital,
- in a long-term care facility,
- in a rehabilitation facility etc.
- At which place of work you would like to work in the future
- Who your future employer should be
Where to find further information
You can obtain further information from the website of the Federal Employment Agency:
https://statistik.arbeitsagentur.de/
Of course our staff and the information on our website are also available to you.
The company informs the international nurse in an audience-appropriate way about the meaning of “regulated professions” and about “initial, continuing and further training opportunities” in nursing professions in Germany and how they can find out more.
Starting situation:
Our recruits already learn the German language for about 1 year at our international locations (currently: Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Gulf, Oman, Pakistan and India). During that time they receive from us, in addition to general information about living and working in Germany, a great deal of information about the nursing profession in Germany, about initial, continuing and further training opportunities, about income in Germany and much more.
At the outset they are referred to our own information sources for applicants on our websites www.carelend.de and internationally in English at gulf.carelend.de.
In addition to the information published on our homepage www.carelend.de we have created a “Support page” (https://www.carelend.de/support/), on which the nurse can find out in detail about life in Germany.
Each individual location of our company (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, India and Pakistan) has its own internet presence as well as a Facebook page, YouTube channel, Instagram account and Twitter.
Through these channels, each individual location passes on information to interested persons from the respective countries and is available for all questions that arise, of a professional or private nature.
We inform participants about “regulated professions” and about “initial, continuing and further training opportunities” in the following form:
What you need to know in order to work in a nursing profession in Germany.
As a recruiter for work in a nursing profession in Germany, we would like to inform you on the following pages about important aspects.
- What are regulated professions?
The term regulated professions describes in Germany professions for which the Federal Government has laid down specific qualification requirements and training standards.
These professions are regulated by laws (federal law) or ordinances. This regulation serves to ensure the quality and safety of services in certain occupational fields and to protect the interests of customers, patients or society as a whole.
Are you interested in working in a nursing profession in Germany?
In order to work in a regulated profession in Germany, it is necessary
- to submit an application for admission to the profession.
This application serves to demonstrate your training and thus your qualification for the specific profession.
- Admission to the profession is the prerequisite for being allowed to work as a nursing professional in Germany.
- If you completed your vocational training abroad, you must first have your qualification recognised in Germany.
- After recognition has been successfully completed, you are granted admission to the profession in Germany, which means you can officially work in a regulated profession.
Here are examples of regulated professions in which you can work after your professional recognition:
- Anästhesietechnische/r Assistent:in (anaesthesia technical assistant)
- Apotheker:in (pharmacist)
- Arzt/Ärztin (doctor)
- Diätassistent:in (dietitian)
- Ergotherapeut:in (occupational therapist)
- Hebamme (midwife)
- Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapeut:in (child and adolescent psychotherapist)
- Logopäde/ Logopädin (speech and language therapist)
- Masseur:in und medizinischer Bademeister:in (masseur and medical spa attendant)
- Medizinisch-technischer Assistent:in für Funktionsdiagnostik (medical technical assistant for functional diagnostics)
- Medizinisch-technischer Laboratoriumsassistent:in (medical laboratory assistant)
- Medizinisch-technischer Radiologieassistent:in (medical radiology assistant)
- Notfallsanitäter:in (emergency paramedic)
- Operationstechnische/r Assistent:in (surgical technical assistant)
- Orthoptist:in (orthoptist)
- Pflegefachfrau / Pflegefachmann (qualified nurse)
- pharmazeutisch-technische/r Assistent:in (pharmaceutical technical assistant)
- Physiotherapeut/in (physiotherapist)
- Podologe/Podologin (podiatrist)
- Psychotherapeut/in (psychotherapist)
- What initial, continuing and further training opportunities do you have in Germany?
Through your labour-related immigration to Germany into the nursing sector you have various opportunities for initial, continuing and further training. That means you can develop further.
In nursing you have a wide range of continuing and further training opportunities that enable you as a skilled worker to deepen your skills, specialise in particular areas and stay up to date with nursing practice. This also enables you to make a career in your profession.
Here are some examples of continuing and further training opportunities in nursing:
- Further training as a specialist in intensive care and anaesthesia:
- Further training as a practice mentor
- Further training in palliative care
- Continuing training in wound care
- Further training in gerontology
- Continuing training in psychiatric nursing
- Continuing training in paediatric nursing
- Continuing training in oncology
- Academic further training (a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing)
- Specific courses and certificates: (short courses and certificate programmes that focus on particular aspects of nursing, such as diabetes management, pain control, emergency nursing and more.)
- Where can you find further information?
You can obtain further information e.g. via www.pflegestudium.de or also via the website of the
Federal Employment Agency “Berufnet” (https://web.arbeitsagentur.de/berufenet).
Of course we are also happy to advise you on these topics.