Hof University of Applied Sciences, the Bamberg academies and the clinics and care facilities in Upper Franconia are creating a new, attractive route into the nursing profession with new courses starting in October 2025. In future, students will be able to complete a Bachelor’s degree directly after completing their A-levels and will also receive an attractive training allowance. “campuls-digital” spoke to Ilona Baumann, Director of Nursing at Bamberg Hospital, Prof. Dr. Matthias Drossel from Hof University of Applied Sciences and Academy Managing Director Michael Springs.
Mr Springs, Prof. Dr. Drossel, how did the cooperation between the Bamberg Academy and Hof University of Applied Sciences come about and what joint visions are you pursuing with this new place of learning?
MD: “The Bamberg academies approached us with the question of when Upper Franconia would finally be able to offer a primary qualification in nursing in this administrative district. At the time of the inquiry, the funding (training fee via PflStudG) had been promised by the government in draft form.
An initial meeting between our President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Lehmann, Dean (INWISS) Prof. Dr. Schmola and the Executive Board at the time, as well as the Director of Nursing and the Managing Directors of the Social Foundation, showed immediately that the parties involved would spare no effort to explore new avenues together. The best possible options and goals were discussed and then the appropriate resources were sought. The approach shows that you can have visions.
My vision is that we create an Upper Franconian alliance for nursing education and thus complement the landscape with the path of higher nursing education.”
Prof. Dr. Matthias Drossel
One thing is absolutely clear: one- and three-year nursing training is needed. Almost all local providers offer these themselves. But when it comes to the university, a new type of collaboration could succeed that brings together teaching staff, joint research and other ideas – even beyond the administrative district and step by step.”
MS: “The Bamberg Academies for Healthcare and Nursing Professions and the Bamberg Social Foundation have been pursuing the concept of training academic nurses since 2007, ideally in cooperation with colleges and universities. So it was ultimately only logical to pursue the plan further and with a university in Upper Franconia that is innovative and breaks new ground!”
IB: “Many years ago, we initiated a 10% quota of Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates in nursing. And, of course, we also need concepts for how skills and roles should be qualified, filled and developed. We are pursuing this path consistently and are gradually creating the staffing of nursing teams in such a way that our patients benefit from it. And the vision must be for nurses to take on further central roles and manage the care processes, hand in hand with the other professional groups in the healthcare system.
In order to be able to respond to and implement the future requirements of politics, society and, above all, our patients in the long term, it is essential to have a reliable and regional partner at your side who can bring the professional and organizational prerequisites to this cooperation.”
Ilona Baumann, Director of Nursing at Bamberg Hospital
As an Upper Franconian university with Prof. Dr. Drossel and Prof. Dr. Schmola, Hof University of Applied Sciences is our partner of choice for ensuring the academization of nursing staff in Bamberg and the surrounding area.”
What distinguishes the Bamberg Academy as a new place of learning at Hof University of Applied Sciences from other institutions in the health and care sector?
MS: “The Bamberg Academy has been a beacon of nursing education for many years. Whether it was pilot projects in nursing education or innovative learning concepts. Last but not least, we also have a skills laboratory, i.e. an area where ethically and morally correct practice can be carried out on simulators and training equipment, where students are allowed to make mistakes and train in order to ultimately gain confidence in their work with patients. Everyone benefits from this: practical learning without neglecting well-founded theoretical aspects.”
What innovative teaching and learning methods will be used in the collaboration between the academy and the university and who exactly will be taught there in future?
MD: “The modern infrastructure, such as the skills lab, but also the proximity to clinics, inpatient long-term care facilities and outpatient care, provides the ideal network for involving experts in teaching. But the orientation of teaching at HAW Hof is also pioneeringly modern and geared towards the learning needs of students by the Vice President of Teaching, Prof. Dr. Dietmar Wolff.”
Involving the Upper Franconian care landscape – in other words, involving everyone who wants to be involved – offers enormous potential. Having such a network and not having to laboriously build it up is one of the most important building blocks for good educational quality.”
Michael Springs, Managing Director of Bamberg Academies
How do you combine the practical relevance of nursing training with the scientific approaches of Hof University of Applied Sciences?
MD: “Sound nursing practice only works with sound theoretical backup. The best possible care for patients can only be achieved if the latest results from studies and projects are incorporated. And this is changing rapidly. Anyone who thinks that nursing care is just a matter of working according to scheme X and always looks the same is very much mistaken. After all, highly complex care situations in a society whose people are getting older and older and are therefore multimorbid, i.e. suffering from multiple illnesses, are incredibly challenging. And nursing care plays a central role in this.”
IB: “The practical relevance is supported by ideal supervision, including in practical assignments in each semester through qualified practical guidance. Optimal networking between theory and practice. The Bamberg Clinic has a very mature, well-trained, motivated and flexible practical guidance system. We already have academic nursing staff with a focus on practical guidance who will guide our future students.”
Prof. Dr. Drossel, how does the Academy help to prepare students for the challenges of modern healthcare?
MD: “Modern healthcare needs well-trained nurses at all qualification levels: From ward assistants, nursing assistants, in future nursing assistants, three-year nursing specialists to advanced nurses, bachelor’s and master’s graduates, but also the doctorate in nursing practice, i.e. a doctorate that focuses on a strong practical orientation, such as in medicine. This development of integrating qualified staff into patient care and always thinking about these qualification processes from a care perspective is a strength of the academies. By integrating xReality, robotics and digital systems that support everyday life, which are already being used on site, they show that they are also following modern and necessary paths.”
Mr Springs, what contribution can the collaboration with Hof University of Applied Sciences make to counteracting the shortage of skilled workers in the care sector?
MS/IB: “We have many people who are interested in an attractive offer in the university sector, as training is not necessarily the path they had previously considered. With this offer, we are addressing another target group who want to enter a healthcare profession via the university route. And of course it is also groundbreaking here that they are no longer at a disadvantage compared to trainees and receive the same monthly remuneration. This promises to be an important complementary piece of the puzzle. We need them all, as the demographic challenges are there. But we don’t want to moan, we want to offer modern and pioneering training concepts, as well as employment opportunities for all qualification levels. We have also been expanding our capacities in education for many years. Contrary to the trend that many are no longer able to recruit enough young people.”
What advantages does the cooperation offer the students at Hof University of Applied Sciences and how do the trainees at the Bamberg Academy benefit?
MS/IB: “The trainees have seen for many years that education does not end after 1, 2 or 3 years. They see that further training and studying are important. This presence of a university directly on site creates the incentive. The meeting of teachers, researchers and joint projects will stimulate everyone in everyday discourse. And discourse here means intellectual growth. The past has shown that a close local connection with a university can have a positive effect on cooperation. The university is in Upper Franconia and strengthens the people in our region in all directions.”
What role do digital technologies play in training and further education at the new learning location?
IB: “Digital technologies are used every day at the Sozialstiftung. Starting with patient documentation, robots that provide support on the ward and other robotic systems that assist with cleaning and waste disposal, for example, are omnipresent. We cannot avoid thinking about these interfaces in every module that is taught. At the end of the day, students need to be prepared in their mindset so that they want to get involved in this fast and rapidly developing topic. In the age of AI, training in digital technology is and will be a basic requirement in patient care and nursing. Many projects and networks in the digital and AI direction are already underway at the Bamberg Social Foundation. This must be further developed and followed up.”
MD: “With our nursing digital pope Prof. Dr. Wolff, we are bringing know-how and another potential network with us.”
What long-term plans do you have for the development of the cooperation and the expansion of the learning location?
MS/IB: “With the two variants of the nursing degree course, we offer something for everyone: For newcomers, directly after the (technical) Abitur from Germany and abroad or for people with three years of professional experience who come from another profession (at least 2 years) and acquire the university entrance qualification through this (e.g. MFAs, etc.). And also a monthly (training) allowance. Variant 2 is then also available for all our employees, but also for graduates of nursing training who want to start a nursing degree in order to study part-time while working – i.e. alongside their family, career and hobby. These two options give us hope that further certificate courses, Master’s programs and research can also be pursued together.”
MD: “Creating an environment in Upper Franconia for active healthcare research is important. Hof University of Applied Sciences is already considered to be strong in research in other areas. With Prof. Dr. Valentin Plenk, Vice President of Research, we have a person at our side who will always be looking for solutions to gain a foothold in this area. Prof. Dr. Wolff, Vice President Teaching, already has an innovative healthcare research group that can be perfectly integrated.”
