Care bonus decided: Nurses receive one billion euros as a corona bonus
Created: 03/31/2022, 13:17
By: Felix Busjaeger
A care bonus beckons in 2022 in geriatric care.
The special payment is intended to honor the difficult working conditions in the Corona crisis.
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
One-time payment for nursing staff: The federal government has decided on a nursing bonus because of Corona.
The funding is one billion euros.
Berlin – The Corona bonus for nursing staff is coming.
Because of their work during the corona pandemic, nursing staff in Germany receive a graduated nursing bonus.
This emerges from a draft law passed by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD).
While the care bonus will cost the government one billion euros in 2022, not all caregivers should benefit equally from the special payment.
This is reported by kreiszeitung.de.
Corona bonus for nursing staff: There is criticism for the nursing bonus
According to the responsible ministry, the money should be distributed in stages.
The amount of the Corona bonus should be based on the intensity of the care.
Even if the sum provided by the government is considerable, criticism hails: The German Foundation for Patient Protection criticized the care bonus as insufficient.
Corona bonus: Nurses and geriatric nurses will receive the 2022 care bonus
The idea that nursing staff should receive another corona bonus for their work during the pandemic has been around for a long time, but Lauterbach has now made it concrete.
The Federal Minister of Health explained that the corona bonus for nursing staff was a thank you for the “special effort” during the corona pandemic in Germany.
"Even in times of tight budgets, this is an important sign," explained the SPD politician about the Corona bonus for nursing staff.
According to the draft law, trainees, those doing voluntary service, helpers in the voluntary social year and temporary workers should also receive the care bonus.
Nursing bonus: When will the 2022 Corona bonus for nursing staff come?
500 million euros each for nursing and elderly care
Meanwhile, the omicron variant of the coronavirus, which can cause specific symptoms, continues to rage in Germany.
While the distribution of the Corona bonus for nursing staff is highly controversial, the date when the Corona bonus 2022 for nursing staff is to come into force as a law has been set: According to the draft, it should be ready at the end of June.
It is also clear who will receive the care bonus.
According to the draft law, 500 million euros each should be earmarked for nurses and geriatric nurses.
A corona bonus for care had already been provided for last year.
Corona bonus 2022: who gets the care bonus?
Hospitals receive 500 million euros
According to information from the German Press Agency, hospitals that treated a particularly large number of corona patients last year who had to be ventilated are to receive 500 million euros of the Corona Bonus 2022.
In order for a nurse to receive part of the nursing bonus, she must have been employed at the clinic for at least three months.
According to the ministry, this should apply to a total of 837 hospitals in Germany.
While care can expect a corona bonus, citizens in Germany should receive a tank discount, which is part of the 2022 relief package.
Nursing bonus 2022: Intensive care workers will receive a higher corona bonus
As reported by the dpa news agency, among others, intensive care workers should receive a corona bonus that is 1.5 times higher than nurses on wards with beds.
As can be seen from information from the ministry, the individual amount of the 2022 care bonus also depends on the total number of those entitled to the bonus in the hospitals.
For many other employees, the chance of a Corona bonus 2022 will expire at the end of March.
Amount of the care bonus for geriatric nurses: The maximum rate is around 550 euros per person as a corona bonus
The draft law for geriatric nurses also provides for a corona bonus of 500 million euros.
The care bonus is to be paid to geriatric nurses who worked in a home for at least three months between November 2020 and the end of June 2022.
Here, too, a staggering is to be applied: According to information from the German Press Agency, full-time geriatric nurses in direct care and support will receive the highest care bonus in 2022 of up to 550 euros.
Employees who spend at least 25 percent of their working hours looking after or caring are to receive up to 370 euros.
Corona bonus: sharp criticism comes from patient advocates for the care bonus 2022
"There is little to be seen here of the Federal Government's appreciation," said Eugen Brysch, Chairman of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, criticizing the Federal Government's care bonus for 2022.
His criticism of the Corona bonus: Other employees who work in the care of cancer, stroke or heart attack patients would get nothing.
Lauterbach, on the other hand, sees the Corona bonus for nursing staff as a clear sign of appreciation and announced that in the future it would also work to achieve significantly better working conditions and pay for nursing staff.
(with dpa material) * kreiszeitung.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
