Nursing internship

☝️ The most important information in brief

• Objective: To gain insight into everyday life in a hospital, patient care, and your own career orientation.
• Location: Completed in a state or state-approved hospital in the inpatient ward.
• Duration: 90 days in total.
• Division: Sections of at least 30 days are possible.
• Contents: The internship covers basic care as well as observation and assistance with medical treatments.

If you want to study medicine in Germany and prepare for the Physikum, you must complete a nursing internship. The official name is Krankenpflegedienst (nursing service), but most people simply call it Krankenpflegepraktikum (nursing internship) or, even shorter, Pflegepraktikum (nursing internship). The idea behind this is to give you a real insight into the daily routine in hospital wards and help you understand what working in the nursing sector really entails. Even before you officially start your studies, you will have the opportunity to come into direct contact with patients, observe the interaction within the hospital team, and learn the basics of nursing work. It is a great way to gain practical experience that will certainly be useful to you in the course of your studies and your future career.

Your three-month nursing internship is an essential part of your medical training before you take the Physikum, your first major exam after two years of medical school. Your nursing internship is therefore a fundamental step on the path to becoming a doctor. This three-month placement is one of your first practical experiences in the medical field, which you will gain before or during your medical studies. Here you will gain insights into the daily operations and practices of a nursing facility. You will immerse yourself in the everyday life of nursing practice and become part of the nursing team. You will have the opportunity to learn about basic nursing activities and the organization of work in the clinic and to carry them out under supervision. Your tasks will include assisting with patients' personal hygiene, measuring health/vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature, helping with eating, and assisting with mobilization. You will also learn how to admit patients, prepare for examinations, and make beds. In addition, you can assist with rounds—similar to a nurse. In addition, you will have the opportunity to observe or perform nursing tasks such as wound care and possibly even simpler medical procedures such as blood sampling under supervision.

The aim of the nursing internship is to give you an understanding of patients' needs, strengthen your social skills, and give you an impression of the work and challenges involved in nursing. It is an opportunity to develop empathy and communication skills that will be essential for your future work as a doctor.

Measuring blood pressure will be one of the tasks in your nursing internship.

Even if you don't need a nursing internship to start your medical studies, the time immediately after receiving your high school diploma is perfect for gaining this valuable experience. Alternatively, you can also complete your internship during the semester break or during a semester off from your studies. However, this is not possible during school hours.

The nursing internship must have a total duration of 90 days. This means that you must work in a hospital or similar institution for a period of at least 90 days in order to meet the requirements for the nursing internship for your studies.

In addition, the nursing internship must be completed in blocks of at least 30 consecutive days and can be divided into up to three internship sections. Weekends and public holidays are included in this framework. If you are absent due to illness, you must make up for the missed days.

The nursing internship must be completed in a hospital ward with at least 30 beds or in a rehabilitation facility with a comparable level of care in order to comply with the provisions of the licensing regulations. The field of activity is also important, as some facilities, such as the emergency room, anesthesia, operating room, outpatient clinic, or dialysis unit of a hospital, as well as preventive care facilities, cosmetic treatment centers, group practices, and outpatient dialysis centers do not meet these requirements. In psychiatric or psychosomatic departments/clinics, service in acute wards is fully recognized, while in other areas only 50% is recognized, unless basic care was predominantly provided. In rehabilitation clinics, the internship is recognized for 90 days if the facility confirms that comparable nursing activities to those in a hospital were performed.

Even within a hospital, you are not allowed to work in the following areas during your internship: nursing and care homes, facilities for the disabled, mobile social services, doctors' offices, rehabilitation clinics, health resorts, addiction therapy, dialysis.

There is no mandatory payment for nursing internships. Payment varies greatly between clinics, and in most cases, internships are unpaid. Despite the lack of payment in some cases, nursing internships offer valuable personal experience and provide you with valuable insights and skills.

At travel4med, you have the opportunity to gain insights into nursing practice abroad. The same requirements apply at state or state-approved hospitals as in Germany. We offer not only a successful experience, but also unforgettable memories and the opportunity to make new friends. Sharing accommodation with students from Germany and Austria, you will discover a foreign country and its people, try new dishes, and exchange experiences. Our reliable transport partners ensure that you can get around safely during your stay. We also assure you that our partner clinics are fully recognized by the state examination boards. This means that you don't have to worry about the recognition of your nursing internship in Germany.