There were 27 people in need of care per 1,000 inhabitants in Munich in 2017. According to an evaluation by the Association of Carers in Bavaria, there will be 31 people in need of care by 2027. And, as everywhere, there is a shortage of skilled workers. In Munich alone, according to the health department, there are more than 2,000. That’s why the city has put together the “Care in Munich I” package of measures to improve the situation in the city. This will cost the city 7.5 million euros between 2024 and 2027. The innovations were presented publicly on Friday.
In January 2022, at the request of the SPD, the Left and the Greens, the city council decided on a care steering group and a care task force. The package is the result of many discussions in the parliamentary groups, but especially with those involved in the nursing sector such as nursing professionals, clinics, facilities and nursing schools. And a joint collaboration between the Health and Social Department as well as the Department for Education and Sport and the Department for Labor and Economy. Stefan Jagel, left-wing parliamentary group leader and member of the steering committee, sees this as a “first milestone”.
How can more trainees be enthusiastic about the nursing profession? What can the working conditions look like to make the job more attractive? How can bureaucratic hurdles be reduced? Third Mayor Verena Dietl (SPD) emphasized that it was crucial in the discussions to collect the factors why so many no longer take up the nursing profession or abandon their training. Almost 30 percent would do that at the moment, says Dietl. They specifically asked what the nursing staff really needed, what was absolutely necessary in order to find solutions for the city.
Verena Dietl, Third Mayor of Munich, in her office.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
There will be a cross-agency and community center for adaptation measures, which will be available at the Munich Clinic Schwabing from June 2024. Here, for example, the professional licenses of nursing staff from abroad should be checked more quickly and applicants should be helped more quickly to collect all documents. According to the health department, it currently takes an average of two and a half years until a professional license can be issued. That is far too long, says the deputy health officer, Susanne Herrmann. The center is funded as a pilot project for three years.
In addition, more school social workers should be deployed at nursing schools in order to better implement the trainees’ wishes, but also to provide individual support for their professional careers. This, says social officer Dorothee Schiwy, is a “very important component” in promoting young talent.
A municipal homepage brings together information
From June 2024 onwards, providers and companies will also be able to find information and contacts on the topics of housing, mobility, kindergartens and language support for nursing professionals on a municipal homepage. The idea behind it: faster networking. A “pilot app” is also intended to help nursing professionals. Here you can find out what requirements you need for certain nursing areas, what you have to do to apply and where there are currently job offers.
The package also includes strengthening psychosocial support for nurses. The job comes with so many challenges, says Dietl. Mental support is urgently needed.
Dietl says that nurses are primarily not interested in more money, but in recognition, support and working on an equal footing. In the future, doctors and nurses should have one goal together: to take care of people. In order to promote this commonality, the package of measures is an important first step, says Verena Dietl.