Successful graduates: Fit for nursing celebrated in Andernach!

On January 5, 2025, the 13th year of the one-year qualifying preparation for the training of old people and nurses successfully completed the Caritas Association Rhein-Mosel-Ahr e.V.. Eleven women and two men have gone through the course and are now "fit for care". The closing ceremony took place in the Caritas Center St. Stephan in Andernach, where the specialist service manager Margret Marxen-Ney and Christiane Böttcher welcomed the participants.

During the celebration, Marxen-Ney quoted a saying about what the participants have taken. Teacher Theresa Rösgen praised the commitment and motivation of the graduates, while the social worker Jutta Ebert noted that some participants had already found a job. Lecturer Udo Klein emphasized the class community and learning from different cultures. At the end of the event, the participants received certificates and a rose and thanked the lecturers with gift plates that were filled with delicacies.

perspectives for the future

The graduates are now preferring to employment or training. Internships as part of the “Fit for Care” project provide insights into the professional practice of outpatient and inpatient facilities. This project aims to combat the shortage of skilled workers and create perspectives for the unemployed. Funding is carried out via activation and placement vouchers of the job center or the employment agency, and participation in the course represents a pre-qualification as a nurse or nursing assistant.

The entry into the qualification measure is now possible, and interested parties from the Mayen-Koblenz, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Neuwied or Koblenz district should contact your job center or the Federal Employment Agency. In addition, a two-month course for "everyday accompaniment / support assistance" starts in April, for which further information and invitations are available for an information discussion at the Integration of the Integration through Work, Caritasverband Rhein-Mosel-Ahr e.V. in Andernach.

In parallel to these pleasant developments, Caritas reports on the alarming skilled workers in the social professions. At a press conference in Berlin, Norbert Altmann, spokesman for the Caritas Side of the employer, expressed that 90 percent of Caritas companies report difficulties in obtaining skilled workers. Two thirds of Caritas service providers expect a lack of staff in the coming years. In 2022 there was no suitable specialist for every fourth place, and in the IAB company panel, 45.2 percent of the skilled workers in Germany remained vacant.

Caritas has increased the training opportunities significantly since 2020, especially in the elderly assistance by around 50 percent. Three quarters of the Caritas facilities train and in 2022 three quarters of the trained were taken over. The takeover rate of the trained specialists has increased by 12 percentage points since 2020. Altmann demanded practical framework conditions and stable financing as well as an improvement in the image of social professions by the media. Best practice examples from various Caritas facilities show how innovative approaches the training and working conditions for nursing staff can be improved, such as the “At Click training” project in Düsseldorf, which lowers the hurdles for nursing training.