Diversity Management in Nursing - DIM-Pflege

Diversity Management in Nursing: Securing Skilled Workers through the Integration of Recruited International Nurses and Nurses with a Refugee Background.

Care facilities in Germany are suffering from such a massive shortage of skilled workers that they are urgently dependent on international staff. While strategies and measures for recruiting international nursing professionals have since become professionalized, little importance has been attached to the successful integration of these employees into the work process until now.

Studies show that many foreign specialists experience their initial arrival as positive, but numerous problems arise as they proceed, for instance as a result of language barriers, bureaucracy, a lack of induction, overwork, workplace discrimination, and a lack of social, family, and migrant networks. Comprehensive diversity management is therefore essential for sustainable integration, ensuring good teamwork and securing a high quality of care.

There is need for operational solutions, that ensure diversity, participation, and inclusion, as well as equality and equal opportunities in nursing, and that translate their protential into corporate success. While diversity management is now frequently installed in large corporations, care facilities often lack the time and financial resources, as well as the necessary expertise.

The goal of this project is therefore to structurally establish diversity management in nursing, translate it into a strategy, and anchor it in processes, so that a culture of diversity develops within the company as a result.

As part of the INQA Experimental Space (see below) "DIM Pflege", diversity management is being designed and tested for all outpatient and inpatient care facilities of the Prot. Altehnhilfe Westpfalz (PAW). Sustanability and the transfer of project results and insights are of the highest importance. Therefore, at the end of the project, the innovative solutions will be made accessible to all care facilities in Germany, including through a practical guide and high-reach transfer formats.

Background: INQA Experimental Spaces

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, as part of the Initiative New Quality of Work (INQA), supports companies and administrations that develop and test innovative work approaches in Experimental Spaces (EXP). Those who want to find creative solutions for change must dare to try something new. What works is continued; what doesn't work is changed or discarded. The goal of INQA-EXP is to open up spaces for shared experimentation, learning from one another, and transferring the insights gained into practice.

Further information at www.inqa.de/exp.

About INQA

The initiative New Quality of Work (INQA) accompanies companies and organizations through the changing world of work. It specifically supports small and medium-sized enterprises on their way to a future-oriented corporate culture - with practical knowledge, consulting, self-checks, networking opportunities, and project funding. In this way, INQA helps businesses and their employees position themselves for the future and find and retain skilled workers. INQA was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and is supported by strong partners.

Further information at www.inqa.de as well as in the INQA Explanatory Video.