Training at a glance

Nursing Specialist is a nationally regulated training course in vocational schools for nursing as well as in hospitals and care facilities.

The training lasts 3 years and leads to a final state examination.

If a corresponding advanced training has been agreed in the training contract, trainees can decide for the last third of their training to continue the training they started as a nurse or to reorient the training towards a qualification in health, pediatric nurse or geriatric nurse.

It is also possible to complete nursing training as part of a university degree.

Typical industries

Nurses find employment mainly

• in hospitals, specialized practices or health centers
• in retirement homes and nursing homes
• for ambulatory care services
• in acute care facilities
• in the hospices
• in dormitories for disabled people

They also find a job

• in hospital wards or in hospitals on board ships

A - Salary and earnings as an apprentice nurse

General training to become a nurse is often paid according to collective agreements. During the first year of training, trainees receive on average 1 100 euros gross per month, 1 150 euros the second and 1 250 euros the last year of training. The amount you earn depends on the federal state, but also on the clinic or institution where you complete your training. You don't have to pay tuition fees.

B - Entry requirements

I - Technical prerequisites

1. Access to training

Usually, a college diploma or Secondary School Leaving Certificate is required as part of successfully completed vocational training, for example in health and illness or geriatric care assistance.

In addition, for example, access to training is required:

• medical certificate of fitness for health
• if applicable, certificate of good conduct
• possibly pre-study internship

2. Previous school knowledge

Important school subjects
A thorough knowledge of the following school subjects is a good prerequisite for a successful training:

Ethics:
Care is characterized by ethical principles. A good sense of ethical issues is important in this training.

Biology:
Illness and healing are biological processes. Knowledge of biology therefore makes it possible to better understand the facts of medicine or nursing in training.

Chemistry:
To understand how drugs work, you need to know the biologic-chemical relationships and the principles of pharmaceutical action. Knowledge of chemistry is therefore useful.

German:
Budding nurses follow nursing and operational protocols during their training and explain nursing measures to patients. A good knowledge of German is required for this.

Mathematics:
Budding nurses need math skills, for example, when it comes to billing for nursing services.

II - Personal requirements

1. Health aspects

a. Characteristic physical requirements

The practice of the profession may involve the following physical demands. The information does not necessarily have to apply to every job profile or every professional opportunity.

• Resilience of the spine, legs, arms and hands (e.g. patient transfer)
• Physical strength (e.g. lifting bedridden people; moving various aids such as pull-out beds)
• Physical endurance (for example, long-term stress when caring for patients)
• Robust health (for example, risk of infection in infectious patients)
• Functionality of arms and hands (for example, putting on bandages and splints)
• Fine motor skills of the hands and fingers (for example, drawing syringes, drawing blood)
• Ability to speak undisturbed (for example, counsel patients and their families on healthy behaviors)
• Near vision - also corrected (e.g. cleaning and wound care)
• Color vision (for example, distinguishing between drugs)
• Auditory and vocal comprehension (for example, understanding instructions for exams or surgery)
• Intact sense of touch, intact temperature perception (eg, sensing and recognizing temperature, skin changes or injuries)
• Healthy and resistant skin of hands and arms (eg constant contact with rubbers, detergents, care products and disinfectants as well as various allergenic substances)
• Healthy airways and lungs (for example, working with a face mask; inhaling disinfectant fumes)
• Resilient cardiovascular system (e.g. sometimes heavy and arduous physical work)
• Resilient (intact) nervous system (for example, accompanying and caring for the dying; caring for the sick and injured)

Note: This information does not form the basis of legal action and should not be understood as meaning a medical fitness assessment. Actual physical fitness should be determined in each individual case by medical examination.

b - Health restrictions at work

The following health restrictions could cause problems in the practice of the profession. The information does not necessarily have to apply to every job profile or every business opportunity. There are also more and more possibilities to compensate for restrictions, for example with technical aids.

• Limited load capacity of the spine, legs, arms and hands (e.g. transfer of patients)
• Muscle weakness, lack of muscle strength (for example, lifting bedridden people; moving various aids such as pull-out beds)
• Lack of physical stamina (for example, prolonged stress in patient care)
• Susceptibility to infections, chronic infectious diseases (for example, risk of infection in infectious patients)
• Limited functionality of arms and hands (for example, putting on bandages and splints)
• Altered fine motor skills of the hands and fingers (for example, drawing syringes, drawing blood)
• Speech disorder, speech abnormalities (for example, informing patients and loved ones about healthy behaviors)
• Uncorrectable visual impairment due to proximity (for example, cleaning and treating wounds)
• Color vision disorders (for example, differentiation between drugs)
• Hearing loss, hearing loss, deafness, hearing loss, chronic ear problems (for example, understanding instructions for exams or surgery)
• Disturbed sense of touch, disturbed temperature perception (eg, sensing and recognizing temperature, skin changes or injuries)
• Chronic or allergic skin diseases or insufficient resistance of the skin of the hands and arms (e.g. permanent contact with rubbers, detergents, care products and disinfectants as well as various allergenic substances)
• Chronic or allergic respiratory and pulmonary diseases (eg working with a face mask; inhaling disinfectant vapors)
• Chronic and performance-reducing heart and circulatory diseases (e.g. sometimes heavy and arduous physical work)
• Severe vegetative or nervous diseases (for example, accompanying and caring for the dying; caring for the sick and injured)
• Drug-related illnesses (for example, great responsibility to the patient; access to drugs and addictive substances)
• Metabolic diseases (for example, stress related to shift work)
• Chronic diseases of the stomach or intestines (eg. Shift-related stress)

Note: This information does not form the basis of legal action and should not be understood as meaning a medical fitness assessment. Actual physical inadequacy should be determined in each individual case by medical examination.

2 - Interests

The following interests are important and useful for learning and practicing this profession. The interests are ranked in order of importance. For each area of interest, the activities are given for illustrative purposes.

• Interest in social counseling activities
  • For example, instructing parents and other caregivers in nursing and care duties
  • for example, care advice for parents and other caregivers
  • for example, sensitive treatment of patients
• Interest in administrative and organizational activities
  • for example documentation and invoicing of maintenance measures
  • ex. writing care reports
• Interest in practical and concrete activities
  • For example, helping patients to wash or bathe, wash their hair, stand up and walk
  • for example, treating wounds, putting on bandages and splints
• Interest in theoretical and abstract activities
  • For example, recognize and analyze patient sensitivities when creating care plans

3 - Social / Professional behavior

Some characteristics of work and social behavior are also relevant for all occupations and are therefore not mentioned separately. These include: reliability, punctuality, honesty, critical faculties and good manners. In addition, the following job-specific characteristics are required to be able to practice this occupation.

• Willingness to work and to work (for example, persistent, committed and voluntary implementation of basic care measures for people in need of care)
• Due diligence (e.g. accurate and error-free work in documenting medical data; careful treatment of patients)
• A sense of responsibility and a willingness to assume responsibility (eg. Precise and prescribed administration of drugs to protect the life and health of the patient)
• Decision-making ability (for example, making quick decisions about appropriate nursing actions for patients)
• Independent working mode (for example, independent planning and coordination of care measures)
• Confidentiality (for example, keeping the patient's personal and medical data confidential)
• Mental resilience (for example, staying efficient and friendly when working in the emergency room)
• Mental stability (for example, face-to-face behavior and simultaneous professional distance when supporting the dying and their loved ones in the grieving process)
• Communication skills (for example, informing relatives and patients of the course of treatment, answering their questions)
• Willingness to contact (eg. Quick and easy establishment, deepening and maintenance of patient contact)
• Ability to manage conflict (for example, appropriately treating confused or aggressive patients in psychiatry)
• Self-control / self-control (for example, remaining calm in the face of impatient and difficult patients)
• Empathy (for example, showing a feeling for the fears and needs of sick people and their loved ones)
• Friendly and winning nature (e.g. activating and motivating patients to promote therapy success)
• Assertiveness (for example, convincing the patient with arguments about the need for treatment care measures).

4 - Skills

Skills

• About an average general intellectual performance
• Almost average linguistic thinking (for examples, see Knowledge and skills)
• Accuracy of observations (for example, early detection of disease symptoms)
• Remembrance (for example, remembering names and individual characteristics despite frequent changes in the person to be treated)
• Capacité d’adaptation (par exemple, changement rapide entre les activités, par exemple dans les situations d’urgence)
• Manual dexterity (for example, performing physical measurements, such as inhalations or radiation)
• Ability to plan and organize (e.g. prepare for health measures such as exams, operations)
• Teaching skills (for example, instructing and occupying sick children while playing)

Note: the expression levels are for people with intermediate education.

Knowledge and skills

• The understanding of verbal expressions (for example, understanding the wishes sometimes indistinctly expressed by sick people)
• Oral expression (for example, informing patients and relatives about healthy behaviors)
• Reading comprehension (e.g. reading and understanding medical instructions)
• Written expressiveness and confidence in spelling (for example, writing treatment reports)