Health - Broad support for Lauterbach's care law
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach 's (SPD) plan to grant nursing staff more rights and competencies has met with support from doctors and nurses alike. Both sides assured this on Tuesday after a top-level meeting in Berlin.
The necessity is not in question, emphasized Klaus Reinhardt, President of the German Medical Association. The President of the German Nursing Council, Christine Vogler, spoke of a "quantum leap towards upgrading the nursing profession". Lauterbach announced that he would be presenting a draft bill "in the next few weeks", which should be approved by the cabinet by summer 2024.
Doctors' president: relief for the medical profession
According to a key points paper, one of the plans is for nursing staff - depending on their level of training - to take on more responsibility for wound care and be allowed to prescribe nursing services, aids or even certain medicines independently. This should prevent the need to wait for a doctor's prescription for a urinary catheter or a special hospital bed, for example.
"This will save us an incredible amount of resources," said Vogler. Reinhardt sees the project more as a relief for the medical profession: in view of demographic trends, fewer doctors will have to treat a larger number of people in future. Lauterbach also assured: "Nobody will lose anything."
In view of the shortage of skilled nursing staff, the planned reform is intended to make the profession more attractive - also for workers from abroad. "Nursing is allowed to do less than it can - that's a huge problem," said Lauterbach. "This means we are losing potential nursing staff at all ends."
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Source: www.stern.de
