Last year, around 4,000 fewer people than in 2021 concluded an apprenticeship contract in nursing. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this is a decrease of seven percent according to – albeit preliminary – figures.

While 56,300 new nursing training contracts were concluded in 2021, there were only 52,300 in 2022. A total of 146,500 people were training to become nurses last year.

More women than men

According to the information, 76 percent of the trainees were women. Among the new trainees last year were 13,500 men and 38,800 women.

Training to become a nursing specialist has been offered since 2020. At that time, the previously separate training courses in the professions of health and nursing nurses, health and pediatric nurses and geriatric nurses were combined.

However, there are still data gaps, the full figures are expected to be available in the summer, it said. While Bremen, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony, among others, assume that there will be no major deviations between the preliminary and final results, there are still considerable uncertainties with the results in some other federal states.

The standardization of training as a nurse turned out to be a flash in the pan, said Eugen Brysch, board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection. In view of the decline in training contracts, he spoke of a depressing sign that previous efforts had not been sufficient to make the nursing profession attractive.

“Adequate wages are not enough here”

“It is also questionable how many trainees decide to care for the elderly. After all, the earnings in hospitals are significantly better,” said Brysch. In addition, everything must be done to keep the next generation in the job in the long term. “Appropriate wages are not enough here. In addition to reliable working hours and a good work-life balance, those starting their careers must also be given more responsibility,” said Brysch.

Bernd Meurer, President of the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services (bpa), described the introduction of general nursing training as a serious political mistake. “It is high time to talk to the supporting associations about solutions to secure and further develop the training structures that finally take the needs of long-term care appropriately into account,” he said.

The federal working group of senior citizens’ organizations (BAGSO) meanwhile called for the implementation of the reforms in care that had been agreed in the federal government’s coalition agreement. More than four million people are cared for at home, most exclusively by relatives. “It must not be the case that relatives are left alone with the double burden of work and care or even have to retire from working life in order to be able to provide care at home,” said BAGSO chairwoman Regina Görner.

The need for caregivers will increase significantly in the coming years: At the end of March, the Federal Statistical Office assumed in a calculation that the number of people in need of care in Germany would increase by 37 percent by 2055 due to increasing aging alone.