Guests from Six Countries at the TalentOrange Campus
International guests visiting: 30 professors and nursing science students from Tunisia, Namibia, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico came to Frankfurt for two weeks at our invitation. They teach or study at universities that educate some of their students for future professional careers in Germany. Strengthening relationships with these universities and giving something back to the countries of origin: that is the idea behind our first TalentOrange Summer Symposium, which took place from 7.7. to 18.7. at our language and nursing school campus.
The participants had the opportunity to learn about the German healthcare system while also discussing current research projects in nursing science. They found a visit to various wards of an acute-care hospital particularly interesting, including the emergency department. A student from Brazil said afterwards: “I thought Germany had a perfect healthcare system and was a perfect country overall. Now I see that there are problems here too, for example staff shortages. We are truly needed here. That is very different from Brazil: we have many fully trained nurses, but not enough jobs.”
Dr. Roland Jopp, Head of the Division for Securing Skilled Workers from Abroad at the Federal Ministry of Health, was able to quantify precisely how dependent the German healthcare system is on international skilled workers . He told the international guests that, according to figures from the IAB, staffing levels in Germany’s hospitals and nursing homes have grown over the past two years exclusively due to foreign skilled workers. A vacant position in elderly care remains unfilled for 252 days; in hospitals, it is still 196 days. “Today, around 20% of nursing professionals in Germany are international,” said Jopp. “We really need them, and I am delighted that you are all here.”
The program also included in-depth discussions with graduates from the participating universities who have already been working in Germany for some time. Some have pursued further training in intensive care or other specialties, others have become practice instructors, and others have completed a Master’s degree in nursing education and now teach at nursing schools. A professor from the University of Namibia in Windhoek said: “This week here really opened our eyes. Our graduates who are already working in Germany are happy here, and their strong training is appreciated. It is my first time in Germany, and in the past I didn’t know what to advise my students. Now I can recommend, in good conscience, that they go to Germany.”
In the second week of the Summer School, the students received an intensive German crash course, and there was also time for tourist activities. Some of them may decide after graduation to continue their professional and personal journey in Germany.