A Filipino nurse’s journey to Germany

Maria Karen Viola works as a Neurosurgery Nurse at Universitätsklinikum Freiburg. She graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which is a 4 year course including Theory Lectures and Related Learning Experience or On-the-Job Training. Once graduated from College, she took the Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE Board Exams). The Exam covers a wide range of subjects, such as Foundations of Nursing Practice, Maternal and Child Health Nursing, Community Nursing and Communicable Disease Nursing, Nursing Care of Adolescents, Adults and Aged, and Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing. She came to Germany in 2017 as part of the Triple Win Project (TWP). The German Federal Employment Agency’s International Placement Services (ZAV) and German International Cooperation (Gesellschaft für international Zusammenarbeit, GIZ) have established the joint project for the placement of qualified nurses with German companies. Until now (September 2019), more than 2,600 nurses have been placed with German employers. We spoke with Maria Karen Viola about her motives to come to Germany, the situation in the Philippines and her new life in Freiburg.

FES: What were your personal motivations to move away from the Philippines to Germany?

Apart from wanting to be able to work in a more ideal setting. My main motivation is my son. As a single mother, I am very willing to work outside Philippines if it is the only way I could provide better for him. I can choose another Job that can earn more but being a nurse is who I am. And for me, it is the profession I am built for. I know that there are other countries that also offer nursing jobs like Canada, Australia, America, and New Zealand. But I have decided to work particularly in Germany because of the good benefits workers receive in this country. I also considered the fact that since Germany is in the middle of Europe and as an Overseas Filipino Worker, I would prefer to work in a country where I could also enjoy my time doing vacations and doing tours, because it isn’t always about work.
 

Why do so many Filipino health care professionals work abroad?

Maria Karen Viola: The overall situation of the Nurses in the Philippines is what makes Nurses work abroad. The Government and Private sectors lack provisions of decent paygrade or wages, safe Nurse-Patient Ratio, Employment benefit packages, access to basic Health care facilities, Job openings, etc. In addition to economic instability, there is lack of opportunities offered for Nurses and there is still a big place for improvement in terms of the working conditions of Nurses. There is a major challenge to ensure adequate availability of Healthcare services within the country, The Philippines. However, it has been known that the Philippines produces top Quality Nursing Professionals and a good recruitment of Nurses for foreign markets result in the decrease of Country’s most experienced and well-qualified nurses, potentially wearing away the quality of Healthcare in the country.

There are many recruitment agencies in the Philippines providing overseas nursing jobs. You participated in a German recruitment program called “Triple Win Project” (TWP) to come to Germany. Why did you choose that program?

I chose the “Triple Win Project” because I know that this program is very safe since TWP is a government to government program of both the Philippines and Germany.  In the Philippines, there may be a lot of different recruiting agencies offering overseas jobs but not all of them can guarantee safe and legal process. There had been a lot of proven illegal recruitments happening in the Philippines, and I don’t want that to happen to me. And for the last 6 years, TWP has been proven still the best way to Germany. I believe overall there are more or less 900 nurses from the Philippines sent by TWP. But just to be fair, there are also already hundreds of other Filipino nurses from Private Agencies that are now working here in Germany like me.

You are part of the Filipino Diaspora support network. What are you doing exactly and how?

In January 2017, 6 Months before I was deployed to Germany, I created this Social Network Closed Group for my fellow Nurses who will also then be deployed to Germany in the same year. We used that group page to connect and interact with each other and we found it very useful as we were able to help each other with simple problems, like how to apply for a bank account in Germany, how to overcome first day anxieties at work, how to improve our German language. And moreover, we provide each other some sources for reviewing and continuous learning (nurse care and language). I also post informational videos that I create through Youtube and I think, it has helped nurses who are already here and is still helping more aspiring nurses. As time goes by, this group grew to 10,000 members. I think it is now considered as one of the main sources for news, support forums, and all other information that is related to the overseas working nurses in Germany. Members include those who are already working as nurses here in Germany, aspiring nurses who are interested to work in Germany, Review Center pages, and those who are currently in the process of working in Germany.  We also have group chats for social support and free language tutoring for learning nurses.

You have been living in Germany for more than 2 years now. What challenges do you face living in this country?

At first it was very hard. There are a number of challenges that I went through and still going through up to now. Cultural integration, the German language, work culture, meeting expectations from colleagues, and most especially homesickness. I think I would not have been able to overcome most of these challenges if not for the support of my fellow Filipino nurses, those of my German workmates and of course, my family back home. The culture has been one of the challenging parts of the whole integration. Cultural differences taught me to be more open-minded. Since Germans are more serious, straight forward and disciplined. Us Filipinos are more enthusiastic but timid, and very persevering. After 2 years of living here in Germany, I think these challenges have reduced to a few like homesickness and the German language. These two will always be there, I guess. Filipinos are very Family-oriented and that is why homesickness will always be part of the challenges living here. The German language is the most challenging of them all, even after 2 years of living in Germany, I still find speaking the language very difficult. I continuously learn finding the right words, speaking with the correct grammar and understanding other people. Luckily, my employer offers free language assistance for foreigner workers like me. I am currently studying the C1 level during my free time.

Do you wish to stay in Germany forever? Even obtain German Citizenship?

Honestly, I still do not know if I want to stay here in Germany forever. Yes, Germany is a very ideal country to live in. If I will be able to live here with my child, YES. But in my situation, being a single mom, I still do not know how exactly I will be able to get my son here and how it will actually work for single mothers like me. If there is a chance I could get my kid easily then I would want to stay here for a very long time. I hope there will be support also for foreign nurses like me in terms of family reunion, and special exceptions for single parents like me.

Obtaining a German Citizenship would be a good idea but a very hard decision to make. A person must consider lots of factors before deciding to switch citizenship. There are things that must be given up and things that must be accepted. Right now, I do not think I would decide on obtaining a German Citizenship. I would first want to be a Permanent Resident then I can decide later on what I want in the future, of course, with my son with me.

The interview was conducted in context of a focus group evaluation workshop with nurses from the Philippines, Tunisia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, organized by FES and Ver.di in cooperation with the German Federal Employment Agency’s International Placement Services (Zentrale Auslands und Fachvermittlung, ZAV) and German Coperation for International Cooperation (Gesellschaft für international Zusammenarbeit, GIZ).