PH Embassy in Germany Assists Onboarding of New Filipino Nurses

Philippine Embassy in Germany Consul Catherine Rose Torres (center) with GP Care Solutions Managing Director Frank-Uwe Schneider (leftmost), Helios Klinik Leezen Managing Director Thomas Clausing (second from left), Helios Klinik Leezen Nursing Director John Green (second from right), and GigaMarie and Tandem Language & Training Center personnel Enrico Lobrigo (rightmost). (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 07 November 2019 — The Philippine Embassy in Germany, represented by Consul Catherine Rose Torres, assisted in the preparation for the onboarding of new Filipino nurses at Helios Klinik Leezen on 29 October 2019.

Situated on the banks of the Schweriner See in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Helios Klinik Leezen is a 240-bed hospital with one of the biggest intensive care units in Germany. It expects to welcome its first batch of 15 Filipino nurses in mid-2020, with another 25 nurses going to a sister facility across the lake in Schwerin.

Helios Klinik Leezen Managing Director Thomas Clausing, Nursing Director John Green, together with around 60 hospital staff, attended the orientation. It was a joint organization with the placement agency GP Care Solutions GmbH. GP Care Solutions managing director Frank-Uwe Schneider gave a presentation that touched on the history, geography, and demographics of the Philippines.

GigaMarie and Tandem Language & Training Center personnel Enrico Lobrigo offers German language classes in the Philippines for nurses preparing to work in Germany. He talked about intercultural learning and competence, drawing on his experience, having lived in Germany for 13 years before returning to the Philippines.

Consul Catherine Rose Torres delivered a presentation that highlighted the Philippines’ long history of providing nursing care around the world, including in Germany, where a few thousand Filipino nurses were deployed in the late 1960s under an intergovernmental arrangement. She likewise talked about current healthcare employment cooperation, cultural differences, and some concerns raised by Filipino nurses working in Germany with the Embassy.

The Consul underscored the challenges faced by the Filipino nurses in learning a new language and adapting to a new climate and culture and expressed the hope that the hospital staff will support them in their adjustment. END

Around 60 hospital personnel attends the orientation to prepare them for the onboarding of new Filipino colleagues. (Berlin PE photo)

For more information, visit  https://www.berlinpe.dfa.gov.ph,  https://www.philippine-embassy.de  or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGermany.