Why so many nursing trainees fail and what helps against it | NDR.de – News
As of: April 30, 2024 5:20 p.m
Work in shift system. Caring for old, sick and dying people. The job as a nurse is mentally and physically challenging. This is also evident in training.
The Indian trainee Elsa Philo Aloysius practices a bedside patient interview.
One in five nursing trainees does not pass the training exam the first time. That comes from one small request from the SPD to the state government at the end of March. According to the Ministry of Health, the rate is eight percentage points higher than in other dual training occupations. Even if the numbers on the second exam attempt only differ by four percentage points, nursing training is in a worse position. For comparison: In the classic industrial and commercial professions at the IHK, the rate of those who fail on the first attempt is around ten percent. In view of the advancing demographic change and an increasing shortage of skilled workers, the SPD sees a dramatic development in the numbers.
Why many fail the exam
According to the Ministry of Health, the fact that only 80 percent pass their exam the first time is due to the demanding specialist training. In addition, trainees are becoming increasingly different. Not just in age – they also have different learning and performance levels. According to the ministry, there are also fewer and fewer suitable applicants; some of them have inadequate school qualifications, language deficits and often lack maturity and social skills. This is also reflected in the failed exams.
The AWO states that personal circumstances of trainees can also play a role: family stress because they are caring for relatives or are mentally ill. Recruited trainees from abroad for whom German is not their native language also play a role. But German trainees also have problems with technical language or difficulty learning on their own.
The generalist nursing training, which combines nursing, pediatric nursing and geriatric nursing, has been in existence for four years. The first year of training will be completed in 2023. The requirements have increased due to the merging of the different areas of competence, says Birgit Walkenhorst from the Nursing Training Network Coordination Office. Not just for trainees, but also for the trainers. It is still a “learning process at all levels,” said Walkenhorst. This would also play a role in failing the final exam.
Teacher Elena Streck takes time in the learning studio for the new trainees from India.
The clinic manager of the Helios Klinikum Schleswig Johannes Rasche says that one should not draw the wrong conclusions and reduce the quality. It is also about critically reflecting on the quality of teaching.
Individual learning at the AWO educational campus in Preetz
At the AWO educational campus in Preetz, the rates are significantly better than the state average, says educational director Laura Gerbrecht. She attributes this to the individual support offers. It’s not just foreign trainees who are supported with German courses and encouraged with the help of targeted learning opportunities. All trainees also have the opportunity to take part in individual learning coaching. You can book up to ten sessions with learning coach Andreas Hermann. “The occasions are always different,” he says. “They range from test anxiety to learning blocks to motivation problems.” Since the pandemic, the offer has been increasingly used.
Learning coach Andreas Herrmann talks to a trainee who is afraid of exams.
With the help of the dates there should be fewer dropouts from training. 13 percent of nursing trainees drop out. This means that the rate in nursing is similar to that in other dual training occupations. If someone begins to doubt the training, the learning companions at the educational campus in Preetz start talking to them at an early stage, says Laura Gerbrecht. “We ask them what alternatives we can offer them.” Trainees are often offered the opportunity to first complete a one-year training course to become a nursing assistant instead of a three-year general training course to become a nursing assistant.
Trainees from abroad have a particularly difficult time
In order to help foreign trainees successfully complete their studies, there are German courses at many nursing schools in the country, including in Preetz. Five trainees from the Indian city of Kerala, home to 33 million people, have been learning there for six months. The language in particular is a challenge for you. Although they got their B2 certificate in German in their home country, they often reach their limits with their vocabulary in practice. In addition to language courses, there is also a learning studio in Preetz where they receive support.
Five nursing trainees from India have been learning at the AWO educational campus in Preetz for six months.
Teacher Elena Streck teaches there. She herself came to Germany from Chechnya 20 years ago to work as a nursing assistant and knows what trainees need in order to arrive well in Germany. In their tutoring offer, content is repeated and the trainees are prepared for exams. Reading, listening and understanding play a central role. Because as a nurse you need language in every situation. Indian trainee Grace Mariya Shaju also knows this. She says that in practice she has to understand all residents well. The lessons are therefore “very helpful”. Her colleague Elsa Philo Aloysius is confident that they will be able to complete their training with the support in Preetz: “I have hope,” she says with a smile.
Providers must be able to afford targeted funding
But the individual learning opportunities that they offer in Preetz are not all refinanced by the state, explains educational director Laura Gerbrecht. Learning coaching is a “luxury that we afford here”. Other schools, such as the Ludwig-Fresenius School in Lübeck, have not yet offered any support for trainees from Germany. This would require additional financial resources from the state and federal government, says nursing department manager Britta Magers.
According to social policy spokeswoman Birte Pauls from the SPD, who worked as a nurse for 25 years, the care of nursing trainees should be further improved. In her experience, trainees are highly motivated after successful completion, but quickly feel the economic pressure after training in the institutions. The state government also wants to continue to work towards better working conditions in nursing in order to make the job attractive for new trainees. It refers to a number of funding programs as well as training and further education opportunities.
The educational director Laura Gebrecht is convinced of her concept.
At the AWO educational campus in Preetz they would be happy to receive more financial and personnel support. The individual learning opportunities seem to be paying off there. In Preetz, only about one in 20 trainees fails the first exam. Significantly less than the national average, which is one in five.
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