Nursing Practice Centre Freiburg

Partners at the PPZ Freiburg: University Hospital Freiburg, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Furtwangen University and Winkelwaldklinik Nordrach Betriebs GmbH

Since 2018, the Freiburg Nursing Practice Centre has been working on the testing and evaluation of innovative technologies in acute inpatient care settings.

The next step will be to investigate the use of telematics to overcome sector boundaries in nursing care. An outward-looking transfer is intended to allow other care facilities to benefit from the knowledge gained.

A buddy concept, which in Freiburg will focus on the sector boundaries between hospitals and rehabilitation clinics or home care, will serve this purpose.

New practice partner: Winkelwaldklinik Nordrach Betriebs GmbH

Winkelwaldklinik Nordrach Betriebs GmbH was founded in 1915 as a tuberculosis sanatorium and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015. Today, the facility is a specialist clinic for geriatric and oncological rehabilitation – situated in the idyllic Black Forest valley and the recognised climatic health resort of Nordrach. Geriatric rehabilitation includes, amongst other things, treatment following surgical procedures, strokes, neurological and internal medical conditions, as well as active therapeutic care and individually tailored therapy programmes. As part of an interdisciplinary team comprising doctors, nursing staff and therapists from various specialist fields, we support patients on their journey back to the greatest possible independence and quality of life. Our daily work is characterised by compassion, respect and expertise. A holistic approach to treatment, which takes equal account of physical, mental and social resources, is central to our work.

Geriatric and rehabilitative care at the Winkelwaldklinik is characterised by a friendly, supportive working atmosphere and a varied range of tasks, from taking care histories to wound and pain management and training in the use of assistive devices. Thanks to the rehabilitative approach to treatment and the shared goal of restoring patients’ independence as fully as possible, the work offers our staff a particularly meaningful environment. However, like many other healthcare facilities, the Winkelwaldklinik faces challenges in recruiting qualified nursing staff due to demographic trends and its rural location. Participation in the research project offers the opportunity to further develop work processes through digital support, to specifically reduce the workload on nursing staff, and to create new development opportunities in the use of innovative technologies. The aim is to sustainably enhance the attractiveness of the location for existing and future staff, as well as the quality of care provided.

The top priority in geriatric rehabilitation is to achieve a tangible and lasting improvement in our patients’ quality of life. A key foundation for this is the ongoing review and appropriate adaptation of our care provision. We see digitalisation as offering the potential to reduce the workload, particularly in the areas of organisation, communication and safety, which can free up time for our carers to focus on crucial patient contact, specialist rehabilitative care and complex tasks that require a high degree of concentration and time.

As part of the ‘Zukunft der Pflege’ cluster, the Winkelwaldklinik is contributing its many years of experience in geriatric rehabilitation to work alongside the Nursing Practice Centre Freiburg to select innovative digital solutions for nursing practice and to further develop the care of older people in a sustainable way. The digital transformation is intended to ease the burden on our carers, improve the quality of care and free up more time for looking after our patients. Technology should not replace human care, but support it – this is a key aim of our participation.

Contact
University Hospital Freiburg
Sven Ziegler
Phone: 0761 27019023
E-Mail: sven.ziegler@uniklinik-freiburg.de
www.ppz-freiburg.de