Two prospective health and nursing staff describe the grievances in their training, such as a lack of financial resources and the impairment of learning success due to a lack of staff. A demo follows.
The problems in nursing meanwhile even affect the trainees in the various branches. Lack of financial support, appreciation and apprenticeship positions as well as internships in which the students also suffer from the lack of staff. That’s enough for the trainees! You will therefore take to the streets in Vienna on Tuesday. They are calling for far-reaching reforms under the motto “Health collapse – and the federal government is watching”.
Students feel left alone with worries
“The young colleagues feel alone and left behind with their worries and now finally want to see action,” says Roman Brunner, Federal Youth Secretary of the vida union. One of these concerns is primarily financial. “It is really difficult to get through the training financially,” says Heidemarie Haslinger, who is studying health and nursing at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences. The 30-year-old is a career changer and previously worked in the care of the handicapped. And it still is now – at least to a minor extent: “Without this income, it would be impossible to complete the training,” says Haslinger. But it is exhausting – 40 to 50 hours of internship per week, plus learning, exams and the part-time job.
Many drop out of their studies because of a lack of money
“In our year, many dropped out of their studies or had to take a year off because they didn’t have enough financial means. Younger people move back to their parents, others need support from their partner or family, ”says Christopher Kleinlein, who is also studying at the FH. He is also a career changer, before that he was an office clerk and is therefore fortunate to have secured a scholarship. But not everyone is lucky: In the field of nursing assistants, at some institutes there is only “voluntary pocket money” of 91.60 euros per month for all those who are not entitled to additional funding.
Training suffers due to a lack of staff
In addition to the lack of financial support, the trainees are already suffering from the lack of staff at the stations. “During the internships we are often deployed as full strength. There are also no practical guides available or they don’t have time because they are on the job themselves, ”says Haslinger. “If we don’t have the opportunity to learn properly, how are we supposed to know later how to react in certain situations? We are the future of care, ”she emphasizes.
“We don’t just wash the patients”
In Kleinlein’s courses, students are already worried about the future. “The greatest fear is suddenly being alone on the ward because no one else is there. But then there is imminent danger, ”he says. The appreciation of the profession is also a point of criticism: “We don’t just wash the patients,” emphasizes Kleinlein. And the trainees warn: “If things continue like this, there will soon be no more nursing staff.”