Three Brazilian nurses talk about their experience in the European country. A shortage of skilled labor forces German hospitals to look for professionals abroad: while nursing professionals in Brazil sometimes wait years to find a job, in Germany there are only 33 unemployed skilled workers for every 100 vacancies in the sector. But that’s not the only reason why Brazilian nurses are looking for a new life abroad: working conditions also play an important role.
Thaiana Santos, from Rio de Janeiro, for example, soon realized she no longer wanted to work in Brazil. “For financial reasons, I worked in two or three hospitals at the same time,” says the 29-year-old. Despite this, the salary, according to her, was not even enough to travel on vacation. “I was overworked, tired and just working to pay my bills,” she recalls. After talking to friends working in Germany, she decided to emigrate.
Jaqueline Piccoli Korb also experienced a similar situation. You worked in Ijuí for four years before deciding to come to Germany. “I was still young, I was no longer very satisfied with my job and I wanted to gain life experience,” the nurse says. In Germany, she had hopes that she could save more and have a better quality of life.
Luiza Moraes, on the other hand, has never worked in Brazil. After her studies, she prepared to go directly to Germany. “I’ve always wanted to go abroad,” she says. Through a third-party service company, she obtained a position at the University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, where she has been working since October 2020.
A bridge between nurses and clinics
To recruit professionals from abroad, some German hospitals use companies, which take care of the entire recruitment process, from recruitment to entry into Germany. This includes German lessons while still in Brazil and visa application. Since the service providers are paid for by the hospitals themselves, language courses, for example, are free for professionals. Santos is among those who arrived in Germany like this. In your case, this process took two years.
But the paths to Germany are different. In Brazil, Korb met Michael Stalp, director of the two Helios Klinik hospitals in Mittelweser, Lower Saxony. Coincidentally in the countryside at the time, Stalp ended up closing a partnership with a hospital in Ijuí. The director says that the opportunity to attract specialists from southern Brazil arose precisely through personal contact and cooperation.
According to the doctor’s evaluation, the project was a success. According to Stalp, in two visits a year to Ijuí, 20 to 25 professionals were recruited, who work in different units of the Helios hospital in Nienburg, Cuxhaven and Leipzig. In Nienburg, where Korb works, there is another Brazilian and ten more professionals from the country should arrive in the coming months. These will be the first arrivals from the long-term project in this unit. I am currently in Brazil finishing a German course.
full time job
Upon arrival in Germany, professionals must take a revalidation course, which also includes German lessons. At Helios Klinik, this course also includes integration lessons. At the end of the process there is also an oral test and a written test, the successful passing of which finally guarantees the desired nursing record.
Korb is happy that he came to Germany about two years ago. “It was difficult at first. I couldn’t understand everything. But now it has improved a lot and I can talk well with patients,” says the 30-year-old, who she also says feels very welcome.
Santos has also adapted well in Germany and today has his own apartment in Berlin. Previously he lived in an apartment made available by the Rainha Elisabeth Herzberge Evangelical Hospital, where he works. His German has also improved a lot: “I’m just a little scared to talk on the phone,” he says, admitting that he still has to get used to some things.
Differences between working in Germany and Brazil
The work and education of nursing professionals in Germany and Brazil are different. All three nurses received nursing degrees. Korb’s training, for example, lasted five years.
The attributions are also different: “In Brazil, for example, family members take care of a lot, they bathe relatives,” says Moraes.
Santos also had to adapt first. In Brazil, his role did not involve preparing or administering drugs, tasks that, along with bathing, were performed by other employees. He describes his work in Brazil more as a sort of sector manager. “We have more authority and more freedom there,” he says. At first, this was cause for some frustration, he recalls, adding that he’s still afraid of doing something wrong. “What’s right in Brazil can be wrong here.”
Despite this, he has no plans to return to Brazil. “The quality of life [aqui] it’s better, I have holidays, I can travel and enjoy my free time”. Even in Germany she is not afraid to walk alone on the street, like in Brazil.
Moraes also has no plans to return to Brazil. The 27-year-old is currently taking a course to support international nursing teams. “In Germany, I wanted to have perspective and security, so it’s a perfect situation.” He admits that he missed his family, but when he made friends in the European country, his daily life became easier.
Korb also does not regret coming to Germany. “I’d do it all over again,” says the 30-year-old.
Nurses want more understanding
The three nurses welcome the German government’s plan to bring in more nursing professionals from Brazil.
For Santos, however, it is important that foreign professionals receive some kind of support in their search for accommodation. He would also like there to be a greater understanding of Brazilian nurses’ skills and previous knowledge of procedures in Brazil from German colleagues. “I was lucky, but I know a lot of people who weren’t well received by their colleagues,” he says, adding that he has heard cases of Brazilians having panic attacks.
Moraes has a similar opinion. After all, even if the situation, at the beginning, is similar to that of interns, “we are not interns”. He points out that misunderstandings often occur not because of a lack of skills, but because of initial language barriers.
Source: Terra
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