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This page was translated automatically. Only the German version is binding. German version
Well prepared for nursing
Tips for your path into nursing training: from the application to money and language to your first day on placement. Honest, understandable and with links to official sources.
How to make your application convincing
- Be honest: Tell us why you want to go into nursing. A personal experience says more than ready-made phrases.
- Short and clear: A CV with gaps is not a disaster. Write briefly about what you did during that time.
- Experience counts: Cared for family members, volunteered, worked in service jobs? That belongs in your application.
- Mention your languages: Any language you speak is a plus in nursing.
- Prepare questions: In the interview you may, and should, ask questions yourself, for example about placements and supervision.
Making good use of the time before the start
Do an internship
A few days at a nursing care service, a care home or a hospital show you what everyday work really looks like. Feel free to ask us.
Practise German
A little every day: news in simple German, podcasts, conversations. Technical vocabulary comes during the training.
Sort your papers
Certificates, ID, vaccination record: create a folder. Our checklist helps with that.
Refresh the basics
Some biology on how the body is built and percentage calculations for medication help you get started. School books or learning videos are perfectly sufficient.
Plan your daily life
How will you get to school and to your placements? Who helps with childcare during shift work? Planning early takes the stress out.
First aid
A first aid course is good preparation and gives you confidence in emergencies.
Learning that sticks
- Learn with cases: Connect theory with people you have met during your placement. Without names; confidentiality always applies.
- Flashcards: Technical terms in German on the front, the explanation on the back, also in your language if you like.
- Small portions: Study for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break. Better a little every day than everything at the weekend.
- Study group: Explain to others what you have learned. That way you quickly notice what is still missing.
- Collect questions: During your placement, write down what you did not understand and ask about it at school.
- Take breaks seriously: Sleep, exercise, and leisure are part of learning.
What you receive and what support is available
The most important basics. Whether a type of support applies in your case is always decided by the responsible authority. We show you where you can ask.
Training allowance
You do not pay school fees. Throughout the entire training you receive a training allowance from your provider of the practical training. Many employers pay according to a collective agreement. The exact amount is stated in your training contract.
Source: PflBG § 19, information: pflegeausbildung.net
Vocational training allowance (BAB)
If you do not live with your parents during the training, you may, under certain conditions, receive vocational training assistance (BAB) from the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit). Nursing training is eligible for this support.
Info and calculator: arbeitsagentur.de/bab
BAföG
For paid nursing training there is usually no student BAföG. For later further training, for example for a management role, Aufstiegs-BAföG may be an option.
Info: bafög.de and aufstiegs-bafoeg.de
Child benefit and housing benefit
Your parents can usually receive child benefit (Kindergeld) for you during the training until your 25th birthday. In some cases housing benefit (Wohngeld) is also possible if there is no entitlement to BAB.
Information: Familienkasse and the City of Dortmund Familienkasse (family benefits office)
Retraining and a fresh start
Are you already employed or looking for work? Then get advice from the employment agency or your job centre before you start. You also receive a training allowance as a retrainee.
Info: arbeitsagentur.de
Ticket for bus and train
With the Deutschlandticket you can travel by bus and train throughout Germany. Ask your training company whether it pays a subsidy.
Info: DSW21
German at level B2
Classes, documentation and examinations are in German. At least level B2 is usual for the start. You also need sufficient German skills for the later permission to use the professional title.
- Recognised certificates are available, for example, from the Goethe-Institut, telc and ÖSD. There are also examinations specifically for nursing.
- Courses are offered, for example, by the Volkshochschule Dortmund and other language schools. Job-related language courses may be funded.
- Our team speaks Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and other languages and will help you with any questions.
Info on job-related language courses: BAMF
Typical nursing words to start with
| die Vitalzeichen (vital signs) | pulse, blood pressure, breathing, temperature |
|---|---|
| die Mobilisation (mobilisation) | helping a person to move |
| die Übergabe (shift handover) | passing on information to the next shift |
| die Dokumentation (documentation) | writing down what you observed and did |
| die Prophylaxe (prevention) | prevention, for example of pressure ulcers or falls |
Arriving in Dortmund
The school location is on Oesterholzstraße in the Nordstadt district, close to the city centre and easy to reach by bus and train. A few tips to get you started:
- Start looking early: Rooms in shared flats and small apartments are in demand. Allow a few months in advance.
- Register your address: After moving, you register with the city's citizens' office (Bürgerdienst) within two weeks.
- Housing entitlement certificate (WBS): With a low income you can apply to the city for a housing entitlement certificate (Wohnberechtigungsschein) for subsidised housing.
- Getting around: Your placements may be anywhere in the region. Bus, train and Deutschlandticket help.
Info: dortmund.de
Your first day on placement
Nervous? That is normal. Nobody expects you to be able to do everything on your first day.
Clarify beforehand
When and where does it start, who is your contact person, is there a uniform? Better to ask once too often.
Watch and join in
At first you accompany experienced colleagues. Step by step you take on tasks yourself, with guidance.
Confidentiality
Everything you learn about patients and residents stays within the team. That includes chats and social media.
Hygiene
Hand disinfection is the most important routine in nursing. Short nails, no jewellery on hands and forearms.
Speak up about limits
Something feels uncertain or is weighing on you? Tell your practice instructor or us. That is what we are here for.
Training record
Have your placements and supervision sessions recorded and signed regularly. This is important for admission to the examination.
Key terms explained simply
- Generalist training
- One joint nursing training for all age groups and settings instead of the former separate trainings in general nursing, paediatric nursing and geriatric care.
- Provider of practical training
- The company with which you sign the training contract and which pays your training allowance, for example a nursing care service, a care home or a hospital.
- Nursing school
- The place for theoretical and practical classes. It has overall responsibility for coordinating school and practice.
- Practical instruction
- Experienced nurses with an additional qualification who supervise you specifically during your placement.
- Practice support
- Teachers from the nursing school visit you during your placements and support you and the company.
- Orientation placement
- Your first placement at your own training company, to settle in and get to know everyone.
- Mandatory placement
- Mandatory placements in acute care, long-term care, outpatient care, paediatrics and psychiatry.
- In-depth placement
- The longest placement, in the last third of the training, in which you specialise in one area.
- Areas of competence
- The five major subject areas of the classes, for example nursing processes or communication.
- Training record
- A booklet or document in which your placements and supervision sessions are recorded.
- Nursing process
- The cycle of gathering information, planning, carrying out and evaluating. This task is reserved by law for nursing professionals.
- Reserved tasks
- Tasks that under the Nursing Professions Act only qualified nurses may carry out, for example care planning.
- Basic care and treatment care
- Basic care means help with personal hygiene, eating and moving. Treatment care means medically prescribed measures such as changing dressings or giving medication.
- Interim exam
- An assessment of where you stand after two years. It does not decide whether you continue.
- State examination
- The final examination with a written, oral and practical part.
- State recognition
- The official approval a nursing school needs before it may provide training. Corpus Campus has not yet received it.
- PflBG and PflAPrV
- The Nursing Professions Act and the associated training and examination regulation. It contains everything important about the training.
- Level B2
- A level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. With B2 you can communicate well in everyday life and work.
- Extended certificate of good conduct
- An official document about criminal records, which you apply for at the citizens' office (Bürgerdienst) or online from the Federal Office of Justice.
- occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy
- Therapy professions for everyday skills, movement, and speech and swallowing. All three are available from Corpus Callosum GmbH.
Any more questions?
Write to us or call us. We are happy to help, including with questions that are not answered here.