Author: Renate Heese
Pictures: Victoria Otto

For the third time, the Practical Guidance Day of the Saxony Nursing Training Advice Center was held at the HSZG on Postplatz in Görlitz on 5.5.2026. The main topic of the symposium was psychosocial stress in nursing trainees. The topic met with great interest among the practical instructors in the Görlitz region. After a short time, all the places were fully booked. The symposium was organized by the Beratungsstelle Pflegeausbildung Sachsen, the Ausbildungsverbund Pflege im Landkreis Görlitz e.V. and the Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz and the Professorinnenprogramm III.

At the symposium, more than 60 practical instructors exchanged ideas on how to provide pedagogical support for trainees who are struggling with mental health challenges. A group of students from the Master's degree course in Health Management at the HSZG also took part. The aim of the symposium was to sensitize practice instructors to the psychological situation of trainees in nursing and to support them in providing good guidance to trainees in challenging psychological stress situations.

The keynote speech addressed the relevance of the topic for the pedagogical work of practical instructors and focused on the distinction between normal developmental requirements in adolescence and the onset of mental disorders. In addition, it was discussed which observable behaviors of the trainees should prompt practical instructors to initiate measures. The presentation also highlighted the specific tasks of practice supervisors in this context and made it clear when trainees should be referred to the psychological school counseling service or, in the case of students, to the psychological student counseling service.

In the three workshops that followed the keynote speech, the participants were able to discuss the following topics in greater depth: "Self-care and tasks of PALs when dealing with trainees with psychosocial stress", "Collegial case consultation and discussion on dealing with trainees with psychological stress" and "Specifying and optimizing tasks in work and learning assignments (ArLAs)". The workshops were professionally supported by the staff of the Saxony Nursing Training Advisory Center. The breaks were also used for lively discussions.

We would like to thank the staff of the Beratungsstelle Pflegeausbildung Sachsen and the Ausbildungsverbund Pflege im Landkreis Görlitz e.V. for the inspiring cooperation that made the symposium possible and look forward to the next joint event at the HSZG in Görlitz. We would like to thank the participants for coming and hope that they were able to take away many ideas for their educational work with trainees and students from the event.