Signite's Magazine

Berlin is introducing a specialised language test for nursing staff with foreign qualifications. This makes it the latest federal state to implement the law, which was passed years ago, albeit with a delay. The specialised language test at B2 level is intended to ensure that the necessary language skills are available to work competently and […]

There are a number of accounts on Instagram that you can use to learn or refresh your knowledge of your nursing profession. You already know everything? Great! Then you can use the posts to improve your German as a foreign nurse. Most of the information is very compact and covers a medical or nursing topic. […]

The number of occupations in short supply in Germany fell slightly in 2023, but remains at a very high level. This is the result of the annual analysis of the shortage of skilled workers by the Federal Employment Agency (BA), which has now been published. Shortages in filling vacancies are evident in 183 of the […]

Patient advocates and nursing associations in Germany have expressed alarm at the increasing shortage of staff in nursing homes. Christine Vogler, President of the German Nursing Council, emphasised: ‘In many places, nursing care in Germany is no longer guaranteed’.  In inpatient long-term care alone, there is a shortage of around 115,000 full-time professional carers. At […]

If you have decided to work as a physiotherapist, you want to actively help people so that they can live their lives without pain and discomfort. This brings satisfaction and is one of the main reasons for choosing this profession. There is currently a great need for physiotherapists throughout Germany, and there will be an […]

What is in store for you? Anyone who wants to work as a nursing professional in Germany in the future must, in addition to proving their professional competences (through a knowledge test or adaptation course), also take a compulsory language test. This means that a normal B2 language certificate (e.g. from the Goethe Institute or […]

The Federal Ministry of Health is currently working on a fundamental reform of the health care system. The focus is primarily on hospitals and their financing. But other ideas are also being discussed. One proposal is that there should be hospitals that are run entirely by nurses. Even if this would go very far, the […]

Since mid-March 2022, staff in care facilities and hospitals in Germany have had to prove that they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the Corona virus. This regulation also applied to staff in facilities for disabled people, doctors’ surgeries, emergency services or maternity facilities. Otherwise, there is the threat of a ban on […]

The German TV station “MDR” (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) has been broadcasting the documentary series “Die Pflegeklasse” (The Nursing Class) for a short time. You can also watch it on the internet, but unfortunately access is not possible from all countries. The documentary accompanies six young women from Magdeburg who have decided to train as nurses. In […]

In Germany, so-called lower staffing limits for nursing staff have been in force for some time in nursing-intensive areas of hospitals. In this way, the legislator wants to ensure that there are always enough qualified staff available in the departments where good care of patients by nursing staff is particularly important. These lower limits must […]

In Germany, a so-called facility-based vaccination obligation currently applies to all persons working in medical care. This means that hospitals, rehab providers and nursing homes, as employers, must ensure that staff are vaccinated against Corona with vaccines recognised in the EU. From October, even stricter rules for proof of immunity will also apply. But the […]

The Bertelsmann Stiftung study published on 29 August 2022 deals with the topics of participation, connectedness and belonging and provides interesting insights into how people with and without an immigrant background perceive living together in the German immigration society. A large majority of over 70 per cent of respondents, both with and without an immigrant […]

In future, nursing professionals will be given more competences in the care of patients. What is already part of everyday life in other countries is now also becoming more common in Germany. In future, qualified nurses will be able to care for people more independently and on their own responsibility if they have diabetes or […]

Good news: the German parliament, known as the Bundestag, passed a law on May 19 to pay a bonus for nursing staff in hospitals and care facilities. It is about 500 million euros each, which will be made available for hospitals as well as care facilities. These will then be paid to the nursing staff. […]

As of 1 April, the minimum nursing wages have risen slightly. Unskilled nursing assistants now receive a minimum wage of 12.55 euros instead of 12.00 euros per hour. Qualified assistants are now paid a minimum wage of 13.20 euros (previously 12.50 euros). Skilled nursing staff now receive a minimum of 15.40 euros instead of 15.00 […]

A nursing home in Hesse is allowed to release two employees who have not been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 from work. This was the decision of the local labour court in a summary proceeding. On 12 April, the competent court had rejected the applications of a residential area manager and a nursing specialist for employment with […]