Cabinet approves the introduction of a new nursing assistant training program
Agreement on uniform nationwide training from 2027
September 04, 2024
In future, nursing assistants and nursing assistants are to undergo standardized, appropriately remunerated training throughout Germany. This is the aim of the draft law on nursing assistants, as passed by the Federal Cabinet today. Nursing assistants are to be better qualified and able to take on more responsibility. Their training period will be set at 18 months across the country, replacing the 27 different nursing assistant and care assistant training courses regulated by state law. This will also simplify the recognition of foreign nursing staff.
With this law, we are improving and standardizing training for nursing assistants. This will make it easier to enter the nursing profession. We can inspire more people to enter the profession, relieve the burden on nursing staff and make the nursing market more attractive for foreign nursing staff. The reform complements a number of legislative initiatives in the care sector, with which we are preparing for the fact that more and more people will need care in an ageing society. Care needs good training, good pay, more responsibility and good working conditions. We will ensure this.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach
The standardized training for nursing assistants is coming – and that is very good news for everyone who cares, is cared for or will one day have to be cared for. With this draft law, the federal government is creating another strategic building block for professional care following the Act to Strengthen Nursing Studies. In the competition for skilled workers, we can only get people interested in the nursing profession if we offer attractive training conditions. We have now created these conditions. Instead of 27 different training courses in 16 federal states, there will in future be one standardized national training course. This will reduce bureaucratic hurdles and make nursing professions more attractive. We are also accelerating the pace and creating more flexibility in order to better meet the demand for more nursing staff. For example, training will generally last 18 months. However, there are options to shorten it, especially for people with particular professional experience.
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus
Essentially, the new training program provides for the following:
The training leads to the professional title of “nursing assistant”, “nursing assistant” or “nursing assistant person”.
The duration of full-time training is generally 18 months. Part-time training is possible. Extensive shortening options are available, for example to 12 months or less, particularly for people with professional experience.
The basic requirement for training is a secondary school leaving certificate. At the same time, admission without a school-leaving certificate is possible if the nursing school gives a positive prognosis for successful completion of the training.
The training includes compulsory placements in the three major care areas of inpatient long-term care, outpatient long-term care and inpatient acute care. The structure of the training follows the model of the Nursing Professions Act and enables a shortened qualification as a nursing specialist. Conversely, training that has been discontinued under the Nursing Professions Act can also be taken into account for the acquisition of a qualification as a nursing assistant.
Trainees are entitled to an appropriate training allowance. To date, only around half of trainees have received remuneration.
Attractive training conditions
The new, remunerated training will make the profession more attractive in order to attract more people interested in training. In future, graduates will be able to work in all areas of nursing care throughout Germany. This will create a diverse, attractive and permeable education system in nursing – from assistant training to vocational specialist training to university qualifications at Bachelor’s level – and in the future also at Master’s level.
More efficient distribution of tasks in nursing care
The introduction of a new, standardized skills profile for nursing assistants will allow tasks to be better distributed between nursing specialists and nursing assistants in the future. In future, nursing assistants will be able to perform more tasks that are currently still partially carried out by nursing professionals. This will significantly reduce the workload of nursing professionals. The draft law therefore makes a significant contribution to securing the personnel basis for good care.
Uniform financing
The bill also places the financing of training on a uniform basis. Funding will be based on the model of the Nursing Professions Act. This will create a reliable and cross-sectoral financing basis for the training institutions and nursing schools and enable high-quality training with appropriate training remuneration for the trainees. The use of the proven procedures of the Nursing Professions Act ensures rapid implementation.
Background
Professional care in Germany is provided by trained specialists and assistants as well as semi-skilled helpers. A total of 1.7 million nursing staff work in Germany. 62 percent or 1.1 million of them have a nursing qualification. 30 percent or 515,000 employees are care assistants, of whom around 343,000 are currently trained as care assistants or assistants or in another profession.
There are currently 27 different training paths offered in the federal states for the nursing assistant or care assistant profession. The duration and content of training vary considerably. This is problematic because the qualifications are not comparable. On this basis, it is only possible to assign more responsibility to assistants and set a suitable staffing ratio for assistants in care facilities and hospitals to a very limited extent. The great potential of care assistants cannot be sufficiently utilized. In addition, the different requirement profiles make it difficult to recognize foreign nursing staff. This is another reason why the number of recognitions for these nursing staff is relatively low. In the years 2016 to 2022, there were only 3,000 new applications for state-regulated nursing assistant and care assistant professions. By comparison, 72,000 new applications were submitted for nursing specialists in the same period.
A standardized job description that is internationally compatible and the simplifications of the Skilled Immigration Act that came into force this year should change this. The new Specialist Assistant Act also makes it easier for those interested to enter the nursing profession, as the generalist nursing specialist training builds on the now generalist nursing assistant training and the specialist training can be shortened if a qualification as a specialist assistant is already available. Conversely, people who drop out of specialist training can more easily obtain a qualification as a nursing assistant. This will enable more nursing staff to obtain a qualified professional qualification and significantly simplify bureaucratic procedures when switching from one training course to another.
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