Four-month change – accident ambulance swapped with a Swiss Alm

Alm instead of ambulance or goats instead of patients: 27-year-old qualified nurse Viktoria Würtinger from Aurolzmünster fulfilled a lifelong dream and swapped jobs for four months.

“There was no reason at all. It was a mix of fascination and challenge – and also a test for myself,” says Würtinger, describing her motivation. The qualified nurse had this dream in her head ten years ago when she visited her sister on an alpine pasture. “I must have done a summer on the mountain pastures once in my life”: This thought never left the 27-year-old’s mind.Sabbatical in the Bernese OberlandShe is used to dealing with animals from her parents’ farm anyway. “Division management and nursing management supported me, and colleagues were willing to temporarily take over a few hours,” says Würtinger gratefully. Last summer, her sabbatical took her to an alpine pasture in the Bernese Oberland at 1,800 meters above sea level. The beginning was all about excitement and some translation problems from Swiss German. At half past five I had to get up“After three weeks I really felt at home. It meant getting up at half past five every day and milking. In principle, the daily routine was very monotonous,” says the temporary dairymaid, who took a lot with her from the four months: “You need a lot less to live than you think or imagine. I’ve also noticed that I much prefer working in a team to working alone. And I’ve learned to improvise, you can’t just rush to the nearest supermarket.” She doesn’t regret her adventure in Switzerland for a second: “I’ve found inner peace now. If someone has an adventure in their head, they absolutely have to go through with it. Nobody takes the experience away from you anymore.”
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