In the region of Fulda, there is a considerable shortage of staff in elderly care and prognostically also in nursing, which is to be overcome, among other things, by recruiting international skilled workers or training foreign workers. The research results of the Fulda University of Applied Sciences on the integration of international nursing professionals in German nursing facilities show that there are considerable challenges at many levels, e.g. in the recognition of professional qualifications acquired abroad, the teaching of foreign and specialist language skills or the overcoming of differences in qualification levels, nursing understanding and nursing organisation. In most countries of the European Union and in so-called third countries, nursing is usually trained at an academic level and there is usually no professional training equivalent to German geriatric nursing training. In many countries, on the other hand, there are special features of nursing care even in inpatient facilities that are unknown in Germany, such as the care of patients by relatives or through differentiated positions for assistant staff.

Based on the available research results and together with the regional partners, needs-based and effective concepts for the integration of international nursing staff are concretised, implemented, practically tested and evaluated.

In the first step, the integration concepts and forms practised in the facilities of the participating regional partners as well as the experiences made with them are to be collected in actual analyses. These analyses refer to all aspects of integration processes that appear relevant - from the international nursing staff's previous experience with care in their home contexts to questions of concrete introduction into the facilities, support with language training or with questions regarding the law on the recognition of foreigners and professions or the management of possible intercultural conflicts in the facilities. In the process, "best practice" models for individual phases and aspects of the integration process are collected as well as unresolved challenges identified. The former can be used as a model by those responsible for integration in other institutions for their own concepts adapted to their particular circumstances; for the latter, solutions are to be developed in workshops with those involved in the project and, if necessary, other external experts, which will then be implemented and evaluated on a pilot basis.

Two different perspectives are adopted in the as-is analyses:

• With case studies in the facilities of the project partners, the integration of international nursing staff will be examined from an organisational and overall perspective. As many aspects of the integration process as possible will be analysed in relation to the specific requirements and organisational characteristics of the facilities.

• Thematic cross-sectional analyses will be used to survey and compare individual aspects of the integration process, such as the form of acquisition of international staff, the type and scope of support in language acquisition, the preparation of existing staff for the integration of foreign colleagues, or how the facilities deal with the different previous experiences of internationals in nursing and their organisation.

Depending on the results of the actual analyses, moderated workshops are held in the facilities for concept development and evaluation of the trial.

The country dossiers listed below are being compiled as part of the IntIP project. The selection of countries is primarily based on the countries of origin in which the project's practice partners expressed interest. The dossiers provide an overview of nationally different training systems, the professional situation of nurses in their countries of origin as well as existing recruitment programmes and experiences with the recognition of professional qualifications from the respective country of origin.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (January 2020)

Brazil (January 2020)

Bulgaria (January 2020)

Mexico (August 2020)

Northern Macedonia (August 2020)

Philippines (August 2020)

Serbia (August 2020)

Spain (January 2020)

Vietnam (August 2020)

Further dossiers are in progress.