Three areas – one training program
To the 1. January of this year, a law came into force that reorganizes training in the nursing professions. With the start of the new training year in september, the new regulations are already in force. In order to meet this challenge, 60 partners have now joined forces and established a training association. Because it transcends county and even state borders, this solution is considered by those involved to be a particularly successful one.
The challenge was to unite the former professions of geriatric nursing, pediatric nursing and nursing to form a new occupational profile. In the future, anyone who graduates as a nursing specialist can be employed in all three areas.
"These new developments involve a great deal of organizational effort for both the schools and the training providers. Our common goal was therefore to provide a good atmosphere for the start of generalist nursing training in the coburg region on 1 january 2009. The challenge was to establish a training network between the gemeinnutzige gesellschaft fur soziale dienste mbh (GGSD) vocational school in coburg, the regiomed vocational schools in coburg and lichtenfels, and the practical training providers of inpatient acute and long-term care and outpatient care by september 20, 2020", explains constanze scheibl, head of the health region plus coburg.
Since the headquarters of the participating vocational schools for nursing is located in the region of coburg, the business office of the health region plus coburg offered itself as a neutral platform for the cooperation of the vocational schools for nursing among themselves, but also with the training providers of the region. The health region plus office thus forms the interface in the newly created network.
It is an important goal of the district to make it possible for citizens to receive care close to home, emphasized district administrator sebastian straubel (CSU). Good training in the new nursing profession, which also takes place locally, is correspondingly important.
Rough number of partners
The training alliance secures cooperation between care providers and training centers through contractual agreements. Coburg, in addition to the three vocational nursing schools of the GGSD and regiomed-kliniken gmbh in coburg and lichtenfels, with 584 training places for nurses, also belongs to 1. September, 57 bavarian and thuringian training providers with 94 facilities also participated. The network includes institutions from the counties of coburg, bamberg, habberge, hildburghausen, kulmbach, kronach, lichtenfels and sonneberg.
Exemplary beyond the region
Ute kick, managing director of the GGSD, sees a major challenge for the future in an aging society, also outside the major cities. With the alliance now in place, she sees the region as exemplary in meeting the challenge: "i can say that coburg has succeeded in doing what other regions in bavaria are still struggling with." the solution found could be a model for interdisciplinary cooperation.
"For us as a major healthcare provider, this training alliance is a blessing", emphasized alexander schmidtke, managing director of regiomed-kliniken gmbh. He stressed the importance of good nurses for a health facility: "it determines the social temperature." that training in this area is more important than ever, he says, is shown by the number of applicants who apply for vacancies. It has been declining for some time. For him, the now broad, quasi generalist training as a nursing specialist is a real introduction to the diverse world of nursing professions. With expanded competencies – nurses will in future also be allowed to do things that were previously the preserve of doctors – the significance and attractiveness of the profession will increase.
For CSU member of the state parliament martin mittag, it is not self-evident to bring so many partners together under one roof, who are basically also in competition with each other.
Respect also with michael busch, member of the state parliament of the SPD. Many had been of the opinion that the changeover would not be completed by 1. September to create. In other regions it had not yet succeeded either. But now it is not only a matter of improving the value of the nursing profession, but also of improving pay.
Coburg’s third mayor, thomas nowak (SPD), emphasized the cooperation between the city and the county as proof that the often-invoked competition between the two is not insurmountable after all.
