We are always happy to follow the professional development of our talents. And we are particularly pleased about this news: Klécios Eufrasio Xavier, who arrived from Brazil as a nurse in 2020, is now responsible for recruiting international employees in the Nursing Directorate at Düsseldorf University Hospital!
“I'm very happy that I'm now the one who welcomes the new colleagues, who prepares everything for them and finds a ward where they feel comfortable,” says Klécios. “The process is not so easy, because of the language, the different culture. But I've experienced it all myself and I'm well placed to help. I'm happy that I can do this now.”
This is the first time that the UKD has had a foreign employee as a project manager in the Directorate of Nursing. Klécios also sees this as an encouragement for international colleagues: “Germany is a very open country. There are many positions that a foreign specialist can achieve after a few years of work experience or further training.”
At the beginning, he was told that in Germany, nurses were mainly needed to work directly with patients. “But I realized that you can also continue your education as an international specialist. Anyone can develop professionally here. Foreign colleagues will always start by working at the bedside. But there are no limits to your career here. If someone works here at the UKD, makes an effort and is qualified for another position, anything is possible.”
Klécios studied nursing science in his home country until 2016, spent time abroad in Canada and then completed a master's degree in nursing education. He learned German in São Paulo with the TalentOrange program. Even before that, learning foreign languages was his hobby: he speaks fluent English, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Before joining our program, he had worked as a teacher at a nursing school.
After arriving in Düsseldorf, he completed his accreditation as a nursing specialist by 2021. Immediately afterwards, he moved to the surgical intensive care unit, where patients are cared for after major surgery. “At the beginning, I was told that I might be overqualified because I already had a Master's degree, but that was only partly true. In Brazil, I had done more theoretical work. Here, I wanted to work at the bedside and look after patients. Now I'm very happy that I was able to apply my knowledge and continue learning on the intensive care unit.”
This new step also means a lot to Klécios. And again, there are a lot of new things for him to learn: coordinating the official process up to recognition, communicating with the ward managers, organizing the knowledge test courses, recruiting from inside and outside the EU. He is currently being trained by the long-standing Deputy Director of Nursing, who will soon be retiring.
Klécios is not the only one of “our” talents who has already made a career in Germany: Raquel Haak has trained as an intensive care nurse and practical instructor at Frankfurt Bürgerhospital. She came from Brazil in 2016. Carolyn Valle, also from Brazil, worked as a nurse at Münster University Hospital for six years. She studied nursing education while working. She is now a teacher at our nursing school! Laura Camila Murcia Aristizabal, who came from Colombia in 2020, works at the Sana Klinikum in Offenbach. There she trained as a practical instructor and is now coordinator of the integration team, so she has a similar role to Klécios. We are proud of you all!