Strengthening top care
The Klinikum Stuttgart supports ambitious nursing trainees and top performers in the nursing field with a training or part-time degree programme. Over the past two years, selected nursing staff have received support for qualified postgraduate courses from the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation as part of a nursing scholarship.
More than 100 nursing staff at Stuttgart Hospital have already completed a corresponding degree programme, and a further 60 are currently studying. ‘Klinikum Stuttgart is promoting the academisation of nursing,’ emphasises Nursing Director Oliver Hommel. This is because: ‘Nursing staff with a degree, for example in applied nursing science, can raise nursing care in hospitals to a new level, for example by establishing quality assurance measures or integrating the latest nursing science findings into everyday working life.’ Klinikum Stuttgart is a pioneer in the academisation of nursing care. ‘The knowledge of the nursing experts arrives at the bedside. We experience this every day. Our patients benefit directly from this,’ continues Hommel.
The part-time study programme is particularly demanding. This is where a nursing scholarship comes in, which has benefited selected students over the past two years thanks to the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation. Prof Jan Steffen Jürgensen, CEO of Klinikum Stuttgart, emphasises: ‘Studying while working brings with it many challenges, both in terms of time management and the costs of tuition fees and teaching materials. We support students during the examination phases, for example, with more flexible work schedules. Thanks to the scholarship, we have now also been able to relieve the financial burden on many of them.’ A part-time degree programme usually lasts two to three years.
The Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation has been supporting the Klinikum Stuttgart for many years. One focus of the annual funding, which currently totals seven million euros, is on cancer medicine. Michael von Winning, Chairman of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation: ‘In 2022, the foundation has prioritised strengthening nursing care. After all, without highly qualified nursing care, any high-tech medicine will come to nothing. The nursing scholarship at Stuttgart Hospital is intended to help raise the profile of this profession and convey its important value.’
Theresa Holz is a nurse in the emergency department at Stuttgart Hospital. She is one of the scholarship holders and has benefited from the support provided by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation: ‘I had already started my studies when I found out that I was one of the scholarship holders. This really helped me to concentrate on my studies alongside my work in the emergency department. We can apply what we learn during our studies directly in practice. That's why I think it's great that my employer and the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation are actively supporting the academisation of nursing.’
The 30 scholarship holders who have benefited from the nursing degree programme over the last two years have had all their tuition fees reimbursed by the Eva Mayr Foundation. This corresponds to between 5,000 and 10,000 euros per scholarship holder over the entire funding period. The foundation provided a total of 200,000 euros for the nursing scholarship.
Klinikum Stuttgart will continue to actively support the strengthening and academisation of nursing. In particular, the offer to start a degree programme in parallel to training has been very well received. Numerous offers and projects developed by academic nursing staff at Klinikum Stuttgart have been recognised as best practice by renowned institutions and professional associations, for example for the prevention of delirium, the care of stroke patients or the structured induction of new colleagues in nursing. Ultimately, everyone benefits: the nursing experts with new qualifications and career paths, the Klinikum Stuttgart with strong nursing services and high employee satisfaction and, last but not least, above all, the patients.
Stuttgart Hospital Centre
Klinikum Stuttgart comprises Katharinenhospital, Bad Cannstatt Hospital and Germany's largest paediatric clinic, Olgahospital. 9,000 employees, including over 3,000 nursing staff and over 1,000 doctors, treat around 90,000 inpatients and more than 600,000 outpatients every year, including 100,000 emergencies. 14,000 cancer patients, well over 3,000 births and more than 60,000 operations are treated at Stuttgart Hospital every year. The Katharinenhospital is currently being rebuilt at a cost of over €800 million and is creating state-of-the-art infrastructure for patient care.
Stefan Möbius Press Spokesman Klinikum Stuttgart Corporate Communications Phone: +49 (0)711 278-32 146 E-mail: s.moebius@klinikum-stuttgart.de Web: www.klinikum-stuttgart.de
