Chemnitz_zieht_an_Magazin_2024_englisch

Hardly any other sector reflects Germany’s shortage
of skilled labour to the extent that nursing
does. There will be a deficit of up to 120,000 qualified
nursing assistants and carers in Saxony alone
in the coming years. The Federal Government’s
response has been to reorganise training structures.
The generalised nursing training programme
introduced at the beginning of 2020 now combines
the once separate areas of paediatric, nursing
and geriatric care. The government wanted this
reorganisation to increase the number of trainees
by ten per cent by 2023. Instead, it actually fell by
7 per cent nationwide in 2022 compared to the
previous year (Saxony: down 2 per cent).
“The fact that a total of nine years
of training experience is now being
crammed into three can be taken many
different ways”, says Jörg Ahner diplomatically.
However, a failure rate of around
20 per cent speaks for itself. Ahner is
the director of the Rembrandtstraße
nursing home for the elderly, one of the
many facilities run by the ASB (Workers’
Samaritan Federation) in Chemnitz
and the surrounding area. In addition
to providing care for the elderly across
three nursing homes in Chemnitz and
Burgstädt, the association also has
involvement in outpatient care services,
a residential care home for people with
severe physical disabilities, and rescue
services – from emergency rescue to
disaster management. The organisation
currently has 630 employees and 46
trainees, with people from 17 countries
working across the facilities, from the
laundry to the nursing homes. This impressive
number reflects the fact that
the ASB started looking at international
skilled workers at an early stage: “In
2010, it was not yet an issue in the care
sector, but it was definitely on our minds
by 2013. That was when it slowly became
apparent that many expert predictions
would come to fruition”, says Ahner.
To mitigate the shortage of skilled
workers, the ASB has been working with
BIP Chemnitz, the Berufliches Schulzentrum
für Gesundheit und Sozialwesen
(Vocational School Centre for Health
and Social Services) at the Markthalle,
and Medicampus Chemnitz since 2014.
The F&U gGmbH facility started training
young Vietnamese people to become
nurses in the same year. The practical
portion of the training is completed
with the local ASB branch, among other
organisations, where many of the trainees
also gain a foothold in permanent
employment after their training. “To
make integration easier, we regularly
organise trainee events. There are also
team building activities and team days
that can be organised by the individual
teams”, explains Katharina Busch, Central
Practice Instructor. To get students
in Germany interested in training in the
care sector at an early age, she partners
with schools, attends training fairs
and is active on relevant social media
channels. “However, most applicants still
find their way to us through recommendations
from friends or acquaintances.”
Thi Nhung Pham was one of those to become
aware of the career opportunities
at ASB through a tip from a friend. She
came to Germany in 2014 and completed
her nursing training in 2018. She
had previously undertaken a three-year
pharmacy apprenticeship in Vietnam
before working in a pharmacy there for
very little pay. “That wasn’t my future.
I wanted a better life”, recalls the now
31-year-old. The step into a completely
new environment was not easy for her,
and the biggest hurdle was the German
language. After all, a good knowledge
of German is extremely important for
carers as it enables them to communicate
well with people in need of care
or receiving inpatient treatment. With
good German language skills, carers
from abroad can support patients and
give them confidence and a sense of
security. In Saxony, language skills at
level B2 are a prerequisite for taking
up a position in the medical or nursing
sector. However, the German language
is not the only hurdle that needs to be
overcome in care facilities. As Ahner
explains: “In addition to the staff, our
care home residents, too, need to be
involved in the integration of international
specialists. This is a task that we take
very seriously, as different cultures and
ways of thinking come together here.”
In the event of problems, an integration
officer is always ready to listen to the
200 or so employees. Thi Nhung Pham’s
advice to skilled workers from abroad?
“Follow your path, be diligent and learn
German. Then many opportunities will
be open to you.”
WEITERE INFOS:
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund
Ortsverband Chemnitz und
Umgebung e.V.
chemnitz.jobs/asb
Our international specialists
come from:
Germany, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Eritrea, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Poland,
Russian Federation, Syria, Czech Republic, Ukraine,
Venezuela, Vietnam
Applications in German or English to:
bewerbung@asb-ov-chemnitz.de
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