Why African nurses are moving to Germany — and what happens next - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

With thousands of job vacancies in Germany, many African nurses are enrolling in language schools as part of their journey to emigrate. However, beyond this aspiration, those who are already in Germany often face discrimination and burnout in a system that seems to have let down some of its caregivers.

Transcript

00:00Meet Omolewa Eperopoulou, a nurse, a midwife, and a dreamer.

00:05But today, she's not wearing scraps.

00:07She's on a different kind of mission.

00:10Omolewa is on her way to the German language school,

00:13the first step in her goal of moving to Germany.

00:17Because I learned they need more health workers there.

00:21If I'm there, I'm going to expand myself educationally, culturally, and also otherwise.

00:27Germany faces a significant shortage of health care workers,

00:32largely due to its aging population and a decline in local workers.

00:36That's where people like Omolewa come in, young, skilled, and ready to step up.

00:41But it all starts with mastering the German language.

00:44The motive behind the establishment of this institute is just to make people internationally relevant,

00:49you understand, and also bridge gap between the African culture and also the German culture.

00:55And it's working. Dozens have already made a move.

00:59Faith Mutesi is one of them.

01:01At 23, she left Tanzania to follow her calling, to care for others.

01:06I wanted to become a nurse first, because the closest person to me was my grandfather.

01:11And I got to see him sick at a young age.

01:15And that's when I realized the importance of compassionate care.

01:19She is currently in the second year of her three-year nursing program.

01:23What Mutesi didn't expect when she moved to Germany

01:26was that some of the people she came to care for would reject her,

01:30not because of her skills, but because of who she is.

01:33I was with a friend, also from Africa, and we were supposed to help this patient.

01:38And our accents are not perfect, probably.

01:42And while we were about to help him, he said, stupid, Ausländer.

01:46And that was kind of bad.

01:50Most of the times you tell a nurse in charge or the head of the stations,

01:55you tell them and they talk to the patient about it.

01:59They confront it, like, they tell them this is not how it works.

02:04Ausländer, foreigner.

02:06This is a reality many foreign-trained nurses face.

02:09Studies show that nurses of color in European healthcare systems

02:13are more likely to face workplace discrimination,

02:16not only from colleagues, but also from patients.

02:20In Germany, over 60% of migrant nurses

02:23report experiencing discrimination or exclusion from patients.

02:27Fortunately for Mutesi, her colleagues at the hospital confronted a patient

02:32and told them that such behavior was unacceptable.

02:36Although she's training to be a nurse,

02:38nothing could have prepared her for the experience of losing a patient.

02:41The patient looked okay.

02:44And when it was time for me to take the food,

02:47I find him dead and I broke down.

02:49And it was emotionally challenging.

02:51But it was, I was lucky I was working with someone who

02:56kind of encouraged me and gave me advises on how to deal with these things.

03:01But sometimes, the emotional weight takes a toll

03:04and it's simply not possible to continue.

03:07After seven years in Germany's care system,

03:10Jafar Asadki has reached its limit.

03:12A recent survey of 200 physicians in Germany

03:15showed that 35% of them are likely to leave their jobs

03:19within five years due to stress and a huge workload.

03:24Nurses and care workers are struggling with heavy workloads too.

03:29The pandemic, a high demand for healthcare and labor shortage are to blame.

03:34The crisis has brought Asadki to his breaking point.

03:37Because in as much as there are many staffs,

03:41so the work, the load of the work will be less.

03:43But if there is less staff,

03:46definitely there will be much overload of work for many people,

03:50whereby stress will be higher.

03:53Saraki works at a retirement home in Hennef, Western Germany.

03:57Some months, he's on duty up to 20 days

03:59with shifts that require him to be up at 5 a.m.

04:03Even if I have a pre-day, sometime if I am free,

04:06so if someone falls sick, then you can receive a call.

04:11You understand that, please, you can come

04:13because so-so-so person is not there.

04:15Also, the salaries for nurses and care workers here

04:18are among the lowest in Western Europe.

04:20Despite the responsibility and pressure,

04:23compensation hasn't kept pace with inflation.

04:26That means many in the healthcare system

04:28are working more for less.

04:31And for Saraki, it's time to do something different.

04:34That is the reason which motivated me

04:38to obtain my bachelor's degree.

04:40So I'm hoping after an academy, that is attestation,

04:43so I'm switching to another profession.

04:46I am still in healthcare, but into management.

04:50Three journeys and three dreams.

04:52While Germany has a real need for healthcare workers,

04:56some like Jafar believe the country must do more

04:59to keep its healers.

05:04And the universe is a good way through the challenges.

05:10Now we are at the table like Jauer is a

Why African nurses are moving to Germany — and what happens next

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended