Nursing professions form the largest group in the healthcare sector in Germany and the demand for qualified nursing professionals is very high.

One of the two most common reservations that our candidates see in the adventure of coming to Germany is the German language as well as the nursing tasks in Germany. Here in Germany, the profession of nursing is defined differently and considered more all-encompassing compared to other countries.  It includes both basic care and treatment care. The philosophy behind this is that the focus of nursing is on patient orientation and patients have as few contacts as possible.

The nurse is comprehensively responsible for his or her patient – from hospital admission to discharge – and knows the patient’s medical history very well. Also, nurses are not seen as assistants to physicians, but as a fully-fledged professional group.

Our candidates are particularly positive about the flat hierarchy and the career opportunities offered by the numerous specialized training courses in nursing.

Further information on labor migration to work in the nursing sector in Germany

The profession of a midwife and maternity nurse is highly regarded in Germany.
As with nursing professionals, the activities of midwives and maternity nurses turn out to be somewhat different than in other countries. Since midwives and maternity nurses have a wider range of activities in Germany, they work more independently (e.g. carrying out U1). This usually requires a somewhat longer training period at the beginning, but since they also have a greater scope for decision-making, this is perceived as a great appreciation overall. According to midwifery law, for example, a midwife can conduct a normal birth on her own (doctors are only allowed to deliver without a midwife in emergencies). This obligation to consult, i.e. that a midwife must be present at the birth, only exists in Germany. From our experience, many of our candidates also rate this cooperation with the doctors as positive, since there is less hierarchy between doctors and midwives in Germany and they meet more at eye level. At the same time, the German doctors also comment very positively on the cooperation with the southern European midwives because they have a sound background knowledge and are extremely motivated and cooperative in their work.

Many candidates also report that births in Germany can be more multifaceted due to more birth options (ball, bathtub, acupuncture, etc.) and fewer C-sections (no instrumentation here), and that the expectant mother is also more involved in the birth process.