DBfK launches “Manifesto of the Nursing Professions”

04.05.2015 19:20

Manifesto motif DBfK campaign 2015Just in time for Labor Day tomorrow, the German Professional Association for Nursing Professions (DBfK) is launching a new campaign “Manifest of the Nursing Professions” today and is calling for a significant improvement in working conditions. The manifesto - as an instrument of political communication - shows what nurses do and achieve - and what they therefore expect and expect in their profession

“In recent years, professional nurses have been treated poorly by politicians and many employers. Their strong sense of responsibility was sometimes criminally exploited. For economic reasons - the financing system in hospitals creates false incentives, private operators expect returns - more and more work was distributed among fewer and fewer shoulders. The intensification of work and the pace of work have now reached dimensions that are no longer affordable. Violations of applicable law are also so common that they become normal and hardly seem to be noticed anymore. Sickness rates are alarmingly high in nursing professions, and the high growth rates in stress-related mental illnesses are a particular cause for concern. Nursing – an actually wonderful, fulfilling, versatile profession with great prospects – was almost ruined,” explains DBfK President Prof. Christel Bienstein about the background to the initiative.

Nurses form the backbone of care in nursing homes, hospitals and home care. Your work is a central factor in value creation in the healthcare system. Nursing has never had so much knowledge and so many good concepts as it does today. Knowledge and concepts that can provide answers to pressing questions about health, need for care and illness. However, under today's conditions, this potential cannot be realized. “Nurses demonstrated, lay on the ground across Germany, initiated vigils and protests - none of it helped. The situation has become more precarious every year. Many have now left their jobs, others have taken refuge in part-time work - many have also mentally resigned and become jaded in order to be able to endure all of this. This must finally end now!” demands Bienstein.

With the “Manifesto of the Nursing Professions”, the DBfK wants to show nationwide the disproportion between what nurses (could) achieve and what is offered to them in terms of general conditions and link it to concrete demands. To this end, six core statements are formulated, explained and linked to clear expectations of politics and the decision-making level of the institutions:

• I am a performance factor and not a cost factor. … I want the value of my performance to be recognized.
• I ensure dignity in old age – if I am given the chance. ... I want there to be more time for caring for the individual.
• I ensure sustainability – if you let me. ... I want others to benefit from my knowledge.
• I use my knowledge, but not for a dumping wage. ... I want my work to be recognized with good working conditions and appropriate remuneration.
• I bring full professional commitment – in service. … I want respect to be shown to me too.
• I train the next generation of professionals - this is the only way nursing has a future. ... I want nursing training to become more attractive. The DBfK is now calling on all professional nurses to stand up and say publicly, confidently and very definitely, what they can and achieve - and what they therefore expect and demand in their profession. Because they have a lot to offer. This is formulated in the manifesto with central statements - at www.dbfk.de/manifest/ you can sign and thus give weight to the demands. There is also a manifesto poster and a six-part postcard series. The nursing professions must become unmistakable in Germany, up and down the country and at all levels of politics and sponsors it must be clear: the situation is serious - and those responsible would do well to finally take these voices seriously!