Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony

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The Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber is the Lower Saxony chamber for the health professions in nursing . As a corporation under public law , it is supposed to represent the statutory tasks on the basis of the Chamber Act for the Medical Professions in Nursing (PflegeKG) for around 90,000 nursing professionals . According to the law, members are nurses , nurses , child nurses and geriatric nurses .

Office of the Lower Saxony Care Chamber in Hanover

history

The establishment was decided on December 12, 2016 by the parliamentary groups of the SPD and the Greens against the votes of the CDU and FDP members in the Lower Saxony state parliament at the initiative of the Lower Saxony state government and came into force on January 1, 2017. According to § 2 PflegeKG, members of the healthcare professions in nursing are compulsory members of the Landespflegekammer if they practice their profession in Lower Saxony and have to pay a membership fee for this. This also applies to management staff in nursing or to those nursing staff who are currently performing educational and administrative activities. This makes the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber the third German Nursing Chamber after the Rhineland-Palatinate State Chamber of Nursing and the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Nursing Professions .

For more than a year, a committee appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the establishment committee, prepared the work of the Lower Saxony Care Chamber by registering the members, carrying out the election and setting up the office. With the constituent meeting on August 8, 2018, the establishment committee concluded its tasks and handed them over to the first chamber assembly.

The office of the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber was opened in September 2017. The registration of the members began in October 2017. The establishment committee adopted the registration and information regulations, the electoral regulations, the budget and cash regulations, the chamber statutes, the fee regulations and the contribution regulations.

On January 16, 2019, Jens Nacke , the parliamentary managing director of the CDU state parliamentary group, and Volker Meyer , its socio-political spokesman, announced to the public that the CDU, as the ruling party in the Weil II cabinet , which was constituted in November 2017, was committed to the coalition agreement confess with the SPD. This presupposes the activity of a nursing chamber as a fact, but also provides for an evaluation of the chamber by 2020. In this coalition, however, the CDU continued to question compulsory membership and saw an urgent need for action in the work and usefulness of the care chamber.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced that due to the ongoing criticism, the evaluation was brought forward and the company Kienbaum Consultants International had been commissioned. In November 2019, the state government announced that the contributions for the nursing chamber would be taken from the budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and that the nursing chamber would be exempt from contributions in future.

In January 2020, three out of seven board members resigned. Immediately afterwards, the head of the Nursing Chamber's office gave notice. While the spokesman for the Nursing Chamber blames "the long-standing discussion about the chamber itself and the enormous amount of work for the volunteer workers", a chamber employee in the Hanoverian “Neue Presse” made President Mehmecke responsible for the resignations. "You act like a dictator and draw all decisions to yourself". Mehmecke stated that she would face a vote of no confidence at the Chamber Assembly on February 19, 2020 . In this vote of no confidence, which is not provided for in the Nursing Chamber's statutes, 14 to 13 members of the chamber assembly voted against Mehmecke. Despite the defeat, the president declares that she will stay in office. At the same time, the Chamber Assembly decided that it would accept the financial resources of the state government in order to make 2018, 2019 and 2020 exempt from contributions, but that it would continue to adhere to the obligation to contribute and that it would decide annually about contributions and their amount from 2021 onwards. In doing so, the Nursing Chamber opposed the state government, which had previously decided to make membership permanently exempt from membership fees, which caused great displeasure among the state parliament members. As a result, the government factions of the SPD and CDU openly questioned the continued existence of the nursing chamber and called for the resignation of the chamber president Sandra Mehmecke. In addition, the state government decided to conduct a full survey of nursing staff, in which the members should decide whether they want a non-contributory nursing chamber or whether this should be closed. The SPD parliamentary group leader Johanne Modder said: "Our patience is at the end and now the nurses decide for themselves how to proceed". According to Social Affairs Minister Carola Reimann, the survey should begin in mid-March. The company commissioned for this, Kienbaum Consultants, is due to present the results at the end of April. Due to the resignations and the ongoing criticism of the President, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs sent the Nursing Chamber a notice to call an extraordinary meeting. At this closed chamber assembly on March 7, 2020, Chamber President Mehmecke announced her resignation. In the elections for the Chamber Board, Nadya Klarmann was elected as the new President and Nora Wehrstedt as her deputy with 15 out of 24 votes. On June 3, the online survey commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs on the continued existence of the nursing chamber started. This was stopped again on June 8th after nurses discovered irregularities in entering data that could have manipulated the survey results. While Minister of Social Affairs Reimann said that "questionnaires may have been manipulated by nurses", other sources assume a data breach. On June 17th, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Heiger Scholz, announced that the online survey should be restarted quickly and completely after the “serious bug in the software”. The question criticized in the first survey should also be revised.

Definition of the term "nurse"

The Lower Saxony Chamber of Nursing belongs to the term "nursing specialist", geriatric nurses , nurses and nurses as well as nurses and pediatric nurses . Of the people who work in an inpatient facility in which treatment care takes place (in addition to other activities) , only members of the professional groups mentioned are compulsory members of the care chamber. Nurses who have earned less than 9,168 euros in the past calendar year are not exempt from the obligation to become a member of the nursing chamber, but are exempt from the obligation to pay membership fees.

purpose

The Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equal Opportunities declares it to be the responsibility of the Nursing Chamber to

1. to perceive common professional interests of the chamber members in accordance with the interests of the general public,
2. to promote the quality development and assurance of the professional practice of the chamber members, in particular through the development of recommendations,
3. to regulate the professional duties of the chamber members, to their fulfillment monitor and advise the chamber members in questions of professional practice,
4. regulate the further training of chamber members,
5. work towards the settlement of disputes between chamber members and between them and persons who have joined voluntarily or between them and third parties that have arisen from the practice of the profession ,
sixth in all matters relating to the profession of chamber members,

a) to submit reports to authorities and courts or to appoint experts,
b) to advise and support authorities in their administrative activities and in questions of legislation,
c) to inform and advise people who have voluntarily joined as well as third parties,

7. To support the public health service in fulfilling its tasks. The Nursing Chamber is intended to complement the work of trade unions and professional associations.

In December 2018, the Lower Saxony Chamber of Nursing published a “report on the situation of the nursing professions in Lower Saxony”, which contained “for the first time valid figures, data and facts”. Only knowledge of this allows, according to the Nursing Chamber, “to be able to make well-founded and sustainable decisions in the interests of the carers and those to be cared for”. What is remarkable about this statement is that the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber expressly describes it as its task to also take care of the concerns of caregivers. The Nursing Chamber sees it as the greatest challenge to counteract “career exits already during or shortly after training, but also those of experienced nursing professionals long before their regular retirement age”. "Young people must be won over to the nursing professions and the large reservoir of 'potential re-entrants' of already trained nurses [must] be used."

financing

According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Care Chamber, all medical professional chambers finance the implementation of their tasks through the contributions of their members. However, the state government of Lower Saxony decided on November 26, 2019 to make membership in the Lower Saxony care chamber permanently free of charge. The cost of the exemption from contributions is to be included in the budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs in the future. Due to this, the contribution and notification procedures from 2018 and 2019 were stopped and the reimbursement of membership fees already paid was promised.

Chamber assembly

The election to the Chamber Assembly takes place every five years. Members of the Chamber Assembly work on an honorary basis; one member at a time represents around 2,500 chamber members. The chamber assembly elects the board of the regional care chamber, sets up committees to work on the content and makes budgetary decisions. The Chamber Board consists of seven members.

The election for the first chamber assembly took place from June 13-28, 2018. 224 members ran for the 31 seats in the Chamber Assembly. The turnout was 30.3% of the almost 47,000 registered as eligible to vote at the time. The constituent meeting was held on August 8, 2018. The work of the establishment committee ended with the first meeting.

The Federal Association for Free Chambers criticized "a terrible lack of transparency". The 2018 budget and the minutes of the Chamber Assembly had not been published by mid-January 2019, and there were threats "in the event that" not all of them shut up ".

Criticism and protests

Protest against the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber on March 23, 2019

There were early objections to the introduction of the Nursing Chamber in Lower Saxony. The criticism is directed primarily against the compulsory membership of all nursing staff, the calculation basis for contributions, the intensification of the pressure exerted on nursing staff by the new law and the determination of the group of people affected.

Even before the law came into force, the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services eV (bpa) complained that

  • The Nursing Chamber is neither responsible for professionally motivated association-political tasks nor for questions of collective bargaining policy and collective bargaining as well as for lobbying in favor of the nursing staff, and is therefore actually superfluous,
  • nevertheless every specialist in a nursing profession must become a member of the nursing chamber,
  • Due to the obligation to pay contributions, the difference in disposable income between skilled workers and auxiliary workers in the care sector will decrease, which is a false incentive,
  • the nursing chamber could be used as an instrument of repression by regulating and controlling the work of nursing professionals even more strongly than before, i.e. not relieving them, but burdening them; Stricter training obligations would interfere with the leisure time of employees, which makes nursing professions even less attractive than before.

The service union Ver.di argues in a similar way : “A professional code obliges employees without giving them the means and skills to influence or even change the framework conditions. It increases the pressure on the nursing staff instead of relieving them and giving the responsibility where it belongs: to employers and politics. ”Compulsory membership is out of the question, it must remain a free decision.

Protest against the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber on February 2, 2019 on Opernplatz in Hanover

Numerous protests arose from the sending of a letter from the Nursing Chamber to all members in December 2018 , in which it was announced that they would have to pay 140 euros per half-year in contributions if they did not prove by the end of January 2019 that they were less than 70,000 euros earn in the year. This insensitive behavior was also reprimanded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs. An online petition to dissolve the Lower Saxony Care Chamber was signed by more than 40,000 people by the end of 2018.

On February 2, 2019, around 3,000 nurses protested against the nursing chamber in Hanover. The aim of the demonstrators is to abolish the chamber. On March 23, 2019, 1,300 care workers protested again. Following a rally on Waterlooplatz , Lower Saxony's Minister of Social Affairs, Carola Reimann, was given a list of around 51,000 signatures for the online petition. On November 26, 2019, representatives of the state government announced that, due to the ongoing protests, the contributions for the care chamber will be taken over from the budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and the care chamber will be exempt from contributions in future. However, the compulsory membership continues to exist, against which there were continued protests. On December 9, 2019, hundreds of nurses demonstrated again in front of the New Town Hall in Hanover and in front of the state parliament against compulsory membership and the nursing chamber in its existing form.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Who is a member of the Nursing Chamber // Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony. Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  2. ^ German professional association for care professions eV: Press release: Lower Saxony third state with a care chamber. Retrieved December 13, 2016 .
  3. ↑ CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament: Press release from January 16, 2019: Nacke and Meyer: Prepare evaluation of the nursing chamber now - take protests by nurses seriously. Retrieved January 17, 2019 .
  4. ↑ CDU Lower Saxony - The care chamber cannot function like this! Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  5. ↑ NDR - The care chamber is being scrutinized. Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Lower. Ministry of Social Affairs - Evaluation of the Nursing Chamber begins. Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  7. ^ A b Klaus Wieschemeyer: Lower Saxony Chamber of Care becomes free of charge: Tax-financed emergency brake. Osnabrücker Zeitung, November 28, 2019, accessed on June 28, 2020 (comment).
  8. ↑ Nursing Chamber, three board members run away. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  9. ↑ President wants to stay despite the vote of no confidence. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Can the Lower Saxony care chamber still be saved? Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  11. ^ Resignation requests to the President of the Nursing Chamber at KMA Online. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  12. ↑ care chamber row with coalition relies on a comprehensive survey on evangelisch.de. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Nursing Chamber: Politicians are slowly lowering their thumbs. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Nursing Chamber: New tour for the Nursing Chamber. Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
  15. ^ Nursing Chamber: Klarmann is the new President of the Nursing Chamber. Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Nursing Chamber Survey: Restart after suspected hackers. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Sweep up the pile of broken pieces. NWZ comment on the care chamber. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  18. ↑ A quick restart planned for the nursing chamber survey. Retrieved June 17, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Doctors newspaper online: Criticism of the nursing chamber is having an effect. Retrieved January 17, 2019 .
  20. ^ Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equality: Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony. Retrieved January 17, 2019 .
  21. ^ Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony: Report on the situation of the nursing professions in Lower Saxony. Retrieved January 18, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Membership information. Retrieved January 9, 2019 .
  23. ↑ SPD Lower Saxony - What does the exemption from contributions mean for me? Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  24. ^ Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony - Current information on membership fees. Retrieved January 12, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Results of the election to the chamber assembly // Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony - Nursing Chamber of Lower Saxony - Establishment Committee. Retrieved August 27, 2018 .
  26. ↑ bffk helps the Lower Saxony Chamber of Care in matters of transparency on the jumps , Federal Association for Free Chambers , January 17, 2019
  27. ^ Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services eV (bpa): Full of risks and side effects: The planned care chamber. Retrieved January 18, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Sylvia Bühler: "Stand up for care": The nursing chamber myth - can it be the solution? April 12, 2016, accessed January 20, 2019 .
  29. ↑ More than 30,000 people against care chamber. January 3, 2019, accessed January 6, 2019 .
  30. ↑ 30,000 people form against the care chamber. January 2, 2019, accessed January 6, 2019 .
  31. ^ Dissolution of the Lower Saxony Nursing Chamber and termination of the compulsory membership of nursing staff. December 23, 2018, accessed January 10, 2019 .
  32. ^ Johanna Stein: Against the Nursing Chamber: Around 3,000 nurses demonstrate at the opera , Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , February 3, 2019
  33. ↑ Demonstration against the nursing chamber in Hanover: nursing staff protest , Braunschweiger Zeitung , 23 March 2019
  34. ↑ Hannover: Another protest against nursing chamber , Ndr.de , March 23, 2019
  35. ↑ Lars Laue: Further protest against care chamber. Nordwest Zeitung, December 7, 2019, accessed on February 17, 2020 .