Ten percent more trainees

The Concerted Action for Nursing sets binding targets for care training in "Nursing Training Offensive".

In order to contend with the impending shortage of skilled workers in nursing, significantly more nursing specialists are to be trained than previously. The target is a ten percent increase in trainee numbers by 2023. Increasing the number of nursing training venues likewise by ten percent by 2023 is also the aim. Working Group 1 of the Concerted Action for Nursing (KAP) prepared the corresponding agreement which was adopted today by the KAP partners.

Federal Family Minister Dr. Franziska Giffey:

As a future occupation, nursing is protected from digitalisation but has conditions which must be improved. We are bringing the training up-to-date and making it more attractive with the introduction of the new nursing training on 1 January 2020. In Germany, tuition fees will no longer have to be paid. All trainees will receive an appropriate training remuneration. Today we are taking the next step. We are launching the "Nursing Training Offensive" (2019 - 2023) which we developed in Working Group 1 of the KAP under the chairmanship of my organisation in cooperation with our partners. This involves 111 specific measures aimed at inspiring more people to enter this profession, and improving the training conditions. In addition to a large-scale information campaign, it is also about ensuring training companies and nursing colleges are properly prepared and using targeted career advice to recruit people of all ages to nursing. We are launching this now.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn:

In order to recruit more nurses we must improve their training and working conditions. Our decisions today are helping in this. The Ministry for Health will also play a role in supporting the training. In future, care assistants wanting to train as nurses should be able to continue to receive the care assistant salary. The training package presented today represents the initial results of the concerted action. This is a start to making nursing more attractive. The overall package is due to follow midway through the year.

Federal Minister of Labour Hubertus Heil:

It is good that we are addressing the challenges in nursing together. Without good working conditions and fair wages, a crisis situation is inevitable. I am therefore delighted that several employers from the welfare sector are currently working on establishing an employer association which is open to all members. This is necessary for concluding collective agreements at a national level and therefore ultimately for being able to achieve improved remuneration for care workers. I am calling on all involved to implement this plan as soon as possible. It is a key step towards our goal of meeting the demand for skilled workers in Germany.

Content of the "Nursing Training Offensive"

The participants in the concerted action have agreed on a total of 111 initiatives. These include

  • Provision of a sufficient number of training and further training positions as well as college and university places; the plan is, by the end of the training offensive in 2023, for the number of training organisations and trainees to increase across Germany by an average of 10 per cent compared to 2019.
  • A national information publicity campaign for the nursing profession to be implemented by the Federal Ministries for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) together with partners
  • Enabling nursing colleges to adequately reflect digital developments in the occupational field of nursing in their teaching
  • Hospitals and care organisations utilising the future funding opportunities within the Care Personnel Consolidation Act to help combine care, family and work, to promote occupational health and to support investment in digitalisation and training
  • The Qualification Opportunities Act will allow improved support for care assistants training as care specialists
  • Care organisation associations will provide at least 5,000 further education and training positions for the second-chance training of care assistants

The goal of the Concerted Action for Nursing is to make tangible improvements to the everyday work and working conditions of care workers, to reduce the workload on care workers, and to improve training in the care industry. Specific measures are to be developed by summer 2019 together with the federal states, caring profession associations and training associations, nursing and hospital associations, churches, nursing care and health insurance funds, relevant associations, the employers' liability insurance association, the Federal Employment Agency and social partners.


Source: bmas.de (website of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs), revised by iMOVE, June 2019