The first nursing apprentices could start in Salzburg as early as spring

2023-10-03 09:20:05

“We are expecting ten to twelve apprentices by the turn of the year.”

Lena Fritsch

Head of the apprenticeship in the WK Vorarlberg

Seven nursing apprentices started in Vorarlberg in September. “We expect ten to twelve by the turn of the year, we are quite satisfied with the demand,” explains Lena Fritsch, head of the apprenticeship position at the Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce.

To date, all training centers have been senior care facilities or residential and nursing homes for the elderly.

Apprentices also complete their service in the hospital

So-called training associations are stipulated in the training regulations, so that the apprentices also complete parts of the dual training in hospitals, among other places, says Fritsch. In the first year, lessons at the vocational school will be blocked in April. This will enable other interested parties to start their first year of training by then. The young people can either train as a nursing assistant for three years or as a nursing assistant for four years; the teachings are permeable.

Director: Better off in a school context

Helmut Bitschnau, director of the Caritas technical school for social professions, is not convinced of the social benefits of nursing teaching. “I believe that this age group is much better off in a school context.” With accompanying subjects for personality development, the young people receive a “strong foundation” that “will later enable them to withstand the high personal demands of the nursing profession.”

High default rate in Switzerland

The high drop-out rate is a point of criticism that nursing teaching in Switzerland is confronted with (see comment below). Nursing apprentices have been trained there since 2004. School director Bitschnau also doubts that there is enough demand. He has installed a new school branch that has a strong focus on nursing.

Key question: How high will demand be?

However, the number of students is only distributed differently internally, but the bottom line is that it hasn’t increased. What speaks for the teaching is that teenagers earn money, while in private schools like those run by Caritas they have to pay school fees: in this specific case, 215 euros ten times a year.