Care partnership

Nursing staff: support from India

The province of Burgenland and the dioceses of Eisenstadt and Kanjirapally have signed a declaration of intent to recruit 50 nurses from southern India every year. This measure is intended to take a further step towards counteracting the impending nursing shortage.

Nursing staff from Eastern Europe have been an important pillar for years in preventing the impending nursing shortage in Burgenland. Currently, the nursing positions in Burgenland's hospitals and social institutions are largely filled. According to forecasts, however, there will be a shortage of up to 1750 nursing staff in the state by 2030. The province already brought 30 Filipino nurses to Burgenland last year. In future, the aim is to recruit up to 50 fully trained nurses from India every year, explains Provincial Councillor Leonhard Schneemann, as the efforts made so far in the area of training alone will not be enough to meet the demand.

Training and German course in India
A partnership between the state and the dioceses of Eisenstadt and Kanjirapally should make this possible. The nursing staff will be trained in India and will also learn German there, Schneemann announced at the signing of a letter of intent. Details of the new nursing partnership will be contractually agreed in the coming weeks. "We can assure you that we are sending well-trained nurses who see their work as a vocation and will do it wholeheartedly. They will certainly be a great asset to Burgenland," said the Bishop of the Kanjirapally diocese, Jose Pulickal.

Partnership for 43 years
Diocesan Bishop Ägidius Zsifkovics also explained that the cooperation would extend the 43-year partnership between the two dioceses to include the country. It will therefore increasingly benefit the people of Burgenland.