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How Much Do Nurses Earn in Germany?

Dusseldorf With a critical shortage of nursing technicians, training as a nursing specialist is almost a guarantee of jobs today. Because the work is considered future-proof, especially in the field of aged care due to demographic developments.

Until 2004, the profession of nurse was still referred to as nurse or male nurse. Depending on the task, there was talk of health workers and nurses, hygiene and pediatric nurses or geriatric nurses. However, since 2020, people in the professional group are referred to as nurses, nurses, or nurses.

Nursing staff salaries vary according to employer and field of application, and also between old and new federal states. Differences in application domains are considered to be justifiable due to different workloads. The difference between East and West is intended to compensate for future tariff increases.

At a glance: What is the salary to expect for a nurse in Germany.

How Much Do Nurses Earn in Germany?

According to the Stepstone employment platform, the average annual salary of a nurse in Germany is 38,500 euros. This means that the annual salary of nurses is lower than the total median salary in Germany in 2023 of 43,842 euros. According to Stepstone, the annual salary range for nurse nursing professions is between €33,200 and €46,100.

According to Stepstone, the average salary for a nursing specialist is €37,100 per year, with a salary range between €32,900 and €43,500. The data shows that the income is slightly lower than that of “Nurse”. One reason for this is that the job description has only been called a nurse for a few years, so Stepstone’s calculations are based more on starting salaries.

What is the starting salary for a nurse?

Starting salaries for nurses vary by employer.In some cases, the federal government is also decisive, as separate wage agreements are drawn up for different areas of collective bargaining – such as the wage agreement with Caritas employees, as in Association’s Tariff Guide.

Nurse

Nursing specialists in hospitals are usually paid under a collective agreement.

Career starters in the public sector are paid differently based on collective agreements.University hospital staff paid at TV-L rates start at around 3000 gross profit per month (Status: December 2022).The starting salary for anyone working in a municipal clinic in the public sector is approximately €2,932 (Status: April 2022).

This roughly corresponds to the wages stipulated in the guidelines developed by Caritas Germany in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria from April 2022. In eastern Germany, Caritas has paid an increase since January 2023 to 2,976 euros per month. Young professionals in Hamburg can even earn a gross income of 3,005 euros. According to the collective agreement, at the German Red Cross the starting salary for a nursing staff is around 2,923 euros per month.

How much does a nanny earn per month?

The gross monthly salary of a public sector nurse is around €3183 to €3751 (as of December 2022), depending on professional experience. Anyone receiving under the public service rate will receive between €3,108 and €3,654.

The same values ​​apply to certain customs territories in Caritas facilities. In Hamburg and East Germany, the salary increases to more than 3700 EUR per month with more than eight years of professional experience at salary level 6 . According to the collective agreement, the gross monthly income of German Red Cross employees is approximately EUR 3098 (level 3) to EUR 3653 (level 6).

Where are the highest paid nursing jobs?

Employed nurses receive a monthly stipend when working in particularly demanding nursing areas or in high-risk populations. An intensive care nurse specialist earns around 100 euros per month.

ICU

Nurses in intensive care units receive a monthly stipend.

Anyone working with high-risk groups, such as immunocompromised patients, receives a monthly subsidy of around €46 to €60, depending on the collective agreement.

In addition, there are allowances for shifts, shifts and night shifts according to collective agreements. However, on-call and on-call shifts also bring in more pay at the end of the month.

How can I improve my salary as a nurse?

Those paid under a collective agreement earn higher wages as they gain professional experience. The longer the service, the higher the level within the salary group, and the salary will gradually increase. According to collective agreement, the highest level within the pay group is reached after eight to 15 years.

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In addition, further training or management positions may lead to classification into higher paid groups and thus higher salaries. For example, nurses who have undergone professional training as hygiene specialists and carry out corresponding activities are classified in TVöD salary group P 9. There, their minimum income is around 3,734 euros. The salary at the highest level is approximately 240 Euros (approximately 3,974 Euros) per month.

Nursing Salary: and Personnel Responsibilities

Wages in the nursing profession could increase substantially if nurses took on the responsibilities of employees. For example, an employee in the public sector who is a group or team leader and reports to a maximum of 9 employees is classified as pay group P 9 to P 11. The total monthly salary is already about 3,734 to 3,757 euros. With experience, salary group P 9 can earn up to 3,974 EUR and P 11 up to 4,485 EUR.

As a Ward Manager, you are placed in the P12 or P13 pay group. Starting salaries there range from around €3,969 to €4,182. With sufficient professional experience, P13’s income will increase to almost 5,000 Euros per month according to the collective agreement.

Nurses in management positions can also increase the salaries of Caritas and the German Red Cross. For example, a senior nursing staff at DRK can be expected to be paid up to approximately EUR 4,973 per month in salary group P 13. Ward managers at Caritas earn up to around €5,097, depending on the customs territory – and have appropriate professional experience.

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