Competence and career paths in professional nursing

With funding from the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, Klinikum Stuttgart is introducing a grant for specialized nurses to strengthen tumor medicine. This was announced today by the hospital and foundation at the oncological care symposium in the Stuttgart hospital. The scholarship supports registered nurses from the Stuttgart Clinic who work in the care of patients with tumor diseases. It includes, among other things, a mentoring program and individually determined additional qualifications. The Klinikum Stuttgart is the largest hospital in Baden-Württemberg and, as a maximum care provider, has a comprehensive range of subjects. Approximately 3,000 nursing staff and over 1,000 doctors care for more than 90,000 inpatients and over 600,000 outpatients, including 100,000 emergencies a year.

More than 50,000 operations annually and the therapy of a large number of patients with rare and serious diseases are medically responsible here. An outstanding and growing focus is the interdisciplinary and interprofessional care of people with malignant diseases in the Stuttgart Cancer Center Eva Mayr-Stihl Tumor Center.

In nursing, the Stuttgart Clinic is a regional leader, has bucked the trend in recent years and has been able to further increase the number of registered nursing staff and qualifies over 1,000 trainees. Nevertheless, care remains the limiting factor in many departments, so that the higher demand for treatments cannot be met without waiting lists, prioritization and hardship in individual cases. This is particularly critical for the rapid and successful therapy of patients with malignant diseases.

In addition to reliable working conditions and the level of salary, appreciation and qualification opportunities for nursing staff are regularly emphasized as important factors. With these goals – qualification and appreciation – the Klinikum Stuttgart created the “Eva Mayr-Stihl Nursing Grant”. In the pilot phase, the scholarship will initially support 20 registered nurses from the Stuttgart Clinic who work directly in the care of patients with tumor diseases, for example in oncology, in the operating theater or in radiation therapy. The funding includes joint further training for the scholarship holders, a mentoring program and individually determined additional qualifications in the form of specialist training.

The scholarship program was made possible by the generous support of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, which has been heavily involved in the Stuttgart Clinic for years. The long-standing support of the Stuttgart Cancer Center - Tumor Center Eva Mayr-Stihl, for example in personalized medicine and precision medicine, is thus being expanded once again.

The chairman of the foundation, Robert Mayr, praised the concept: “The scholarship program qualifies nurses who do something special, take on responsibility and make health possible. This valuable initiative of the Stuttgart Clinic supplements our previous funding in an important area and is intended to express great appreciation for the performance of the nursing staff.” The director of the clinic, Prof. Jan Steffen Jürgensen, thanked the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation: “That is outstanding. Good medicine is teamwork. With the scholarship program, we are strengthening nursing and promoting the prospects of nursing staff – also for the benefit of our patients.”

Klinikum Stuttgart
Klinikum Stuttgart is the largest maximum care hospital in Baden-Württemberg and includes the Katharinenhospital, Bad Cannstatt Hospital and Germany's largest children's hospital, the Olgahospital. 7,000 employees, including almost 3,000 nurses and over 1,000 doctors, treat around 90,000 inpatients and more than 600,000 outpatients every year, including 100,000 emergencies. More than 3,600 births and more than 53,000 operations are attended to at the Stuttgart Clinic every year. The Katharinenhospital is currently being rebuilt for over €800 million. In the summer, the topping-out ceremony for the 14,000 square meter next building is celebrated, in which the most modern infrastructure for the Stuttgart Cancer Center - Tumor Center Eva Mayr-Stihl offers attractive working conditions for clinical teams and the best treatment options.

The number of training positions in nursing with excellent training opportunities was increased to more than 1,000 at the Stuttgart Clinic. Staff apartments for around 500 employees in plus-energy houses in Bad Cannstatt are to be completed before the end of this year. The number of daycare places was also increased again with the opening of the new company daycare center in 2021.

Klinikum Stuttgart promotes job tickets, offers deferred compensation for cheap e-bike leasing and is already intensively promoting the further qualification of nursing staff. Those returning to work are systematically prepared in courses for easy re-entry. Integration officers are available for international skilled workers to help with the recognition of equivalent qualifications. On May 25, the board of directors of the hospital approved allowances for nursing staff, which are granted in anticipation of required collective agreement improvements.

Recruitment of nursing professionals
Throughout Germany, the lack of skilled workers in care is seen as a major challenge, which is increasing with demographic change and the increasing number of people in need of care. The Institute of German Economics and other institutions predict that the shortage of nursing staff will continue to increase significantly. At the same time, current analyzes of potential show that many well-qualified specialists can imagine returning to work or increasing the existing weekly working hours if the general conditions continue to improve. A sufficiently high number of colleagues is given priority in order to avoid overload, but appreciation, salary and qualification opportunities also remain relevant factors (https://www.iat.eu/aktuell/veroeff/2022/becka_evans_kokott_schleicher02.pdf).

Foundation portrait
The Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation. It was founded in 1986 by Eva Mayr-Stihl and Robert Mayr. The foundation's work focuses on science and research, medicine, art and culture.

Board of Directors: Robert Mayr, Michael von Winning

Contakt:

Klinikum Stuttgart
Corporate Communications,
Stefan Möbius, Phone: 0711 278-32146, E-Mail: s.moebius@klinikum-stuttgart.de
Internet: www.klinikum-stuttgart.de

Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation
Katharina Edlinger, Phone: 07151-96633-14, E-Mail: edlinger@stihl-stiftung.de
Internet: www.eva-mayr-stihl-stiftung.de