Are you looking for a fulfilling role? Do you have empathy, passion for your dream job, and talent?
Then you've come to the right place! We have so much to do and look forward to receiving your application as

  • Medical Assistant / Medical Assistant
  • Nurse/caregiver
  • Care assistant
  • Medical students (m/f) as extra shifts

Please send your complete written application documents by email to:

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel, Pain Clinic Kiel, Heikendorfer Weg 9-27, 24149 Kiel, Tel. 0431-20099-150, e-mail: stelle@schmerzklinik.de

Below you will find an interview with nurses/medical assistants:

Interview with: Kathrine (56), Ulrike (46), Yvonne (29)

You work as a nurse and medical assistant in the nursing team at the Kiel Pain Clinic, caring for patients who often have decades of suffering behind them. How do you prepare yourself to interact with these people?

Yvonne: There's no set formula; you're trained by your colleagues and gradually grow into the role. Initially, we simply shadowed the doctors on their rounds and listened to the conversations the head doctor had with the patients. He sometimes asks…

Kathrine: … “Sister Kathrine, on how many days per month can a migraine patient take a painkiller?”

Yvonne: Exactly. There's a distance learning course that qualifies you as a "pain nurse," but we have our own exclusive in-house training program. For example, there are the lectures by our senior physician, which the patients really enjoy attending. When we have time, we do too. Our doctors also frequently attend conferences and keep us up-to-date on the latest developments. We read the relevant books and all have extensive professional experience. A certain understanding of human nature is also essential. And we have regular continuing education courses at the clinic, which are attended by doctors from all over Germany and abroad. Of course, we participate in those as well.

Ulrike: We all come from traditional acute care hospitals, so it was quite an adjustment at first that basic care isn't the top priority here – things like taking pulse and temperature, making beds, applying bandages, asking about bowel movements, and taking patients to the toilet…

Is this what you've been missing?

Ulrike: Yes, that's how we learned it.

Yvonne: That's just part of it.

Kathrine: Here, patients can and should get up and be active themselves most of the time. Following the motto: "Get up, take your bed and walk..."

Ulrike: In acute care hospitals, the focus is on the diseased organ, but here with us, the psyche and the whole person play a much larger role. We listen and try to address each individual's needs. As a nurse, you have to be passionate about this; otherwise, you're in the wrong place. In other hospitals, it's a strict rule that pain medication should only be given as needed. Patients have to come and "ask" for pain relief, chasing after the pain and reinforcing passive behavior. Here, we've learned that you prevent pain from arising in the first place, anticipating it so that it doesn't occur at all. No one has to ask for medication as needed. If something is required, patients receive it at their bedside so they can decide for themselves when to take it. And we reinforce the abilities of patients who have managed to cope with their pain themselves.

Kathrine: We also pamper the patients, as we say in Northern Germany, we look after them. If they've been taking their medication incorrectly for years and have to take a break from painkillers, they might be very ill and suffering for eight days. Then we're there to encourage them and say, "You can do it too!"

Do you need more patience with patients here than in other hospitals?

Ulrike: The prerequisite for patience is, first and foremost, having time. And we have that here.

Yvonne: We are a specialized team of nurses. Compared to the number of patients and to typical hospitals, we are well-staffed. That's why we can take the time for each patient.

Kathrine: That's another thing: the psychologists are in the house from 8:00 in the morning until 17:00 in the afternoon – but we can be approached as early as 6:00 in the morning and stay until 20:30 in the evening.

Does someone with a broken leg behave differently than someone with chronic pain?

Ulrike: A leg breaks, it gets repaired, and after a few weeks everything is fine again. But our patients have a history of suffering spanning 15, 20, or 30 years. That shapes them. Not only them, but also their families, their entire environment. I believe they are much more focused on themselves than patients who have just broken a leg. They are more aware of their bodies, and their experiences and behavior change.

Yvonne: Many are withdrawn; they've been through a long odyssey from doctor to doctor, from hospital to hospital, and they know the feeling of being quickly dismissed with the attitude: "You've exhausted all treatment options, don't come back!" I think some of our patients initially have little hope that we can truly help them, but rather see us as just another stop on this odyssey. They're very skeptical of us at first. In my experience, this is what distinguishes chronically ill people from others.

Kathrine: The skepticism starts with the common perception that every type of opioid painkiller is a drug. The fact that it can simply eliminate pain without turning you into an addict is something we have to convince people of.

Ulrike: The patients ask a lot of questions, some of them very detailed…

Katherine: …and us sisters too.

Ulrike: …even though there was a detailed discussion with the doctor beforehand. But we're the ones bringing them the medication. So we have to explain again exactly why they're receiving it, what it does, and what side effects might occur. I think that's how we build a relationship of trust. Explaining things is very important.

Yvonne: I also think it's very important to address patients by name.

Kathrine: The same is true in reverse. There are patients who always just call out "Nurse!" That annoys me a bit. Then I go up to them and say: I have a name too.

So they also educate the patients a little bit

Ulrike: Sometimes that's just part of it.

Katherine: There are patients who are too familiar and address us informally right away: “Sister, can you…” Then I say that I am Sister Katherine and that I would prefer to be addressed formally.

Yvonne: On this point, we sisters are in agreement.

Why is this so important to you?

Yvonne: I respect my patient and expect the same from him, even though I am much younger. I don't address the Aldi cashier informally, either.

Ulrike: It's also a form of self-protection. We like to listen. But there have to be limits.

Katherine: That also means leaving work matters at the hospital. I do it by spending ten minutes at home dealing with what happened here, and then my workday is over.

Ulrike: I'll talk to my husband about it briefly. I need someone to listen to me, just like I listen to the patients. But you also learn over the years not to let everything get to you too much.

Kathrine: That's related to one's own life experience. I've experienced some hardships, and that puts things into perspective.

Do you find pain patients difficult?

Yvonne: That's a prejudice, and perhaps one reason why this clinic was established. People outside say: Pain patients aren't really sick, they shouldn't make such a fuss!

Ulrike: That's why we often say that pain patients are real "gritty dogs". They grit their teeth and don't let on how bad they feel.

Yvonne: Here they feel they are being taken seriously.

Kathrine: They say, "Finally, someone believes me!" Many women suffer from migraines, and their husbands simply don't accept it, always seeing it as an excuse to avoid fulfilling their marital duties. For many, we're the last straw they're clinging to. We don't perceive them as difficult because we care for and encourage them.

Yvonne: Our shift handovers are important. We exchange experiences and give each other tips, including on how to interact with patients. I'm the youngest and sometimes a bit too spontaneous, so I get advice from the more experienced colleagues on how I could have handled this or that situation differently. That helps.

Ulrike: Furthermore, I think that patients should be treated the way one would like to be treated oneself.

Do women with chronic pain behave differently than men with chronic pain?

Yvonne: It's just like in real life: women last longer. In my experience, men are more sensitive to pain and go to bed sooner than women. They suffer more. You often can't tell by looking at the women.

Are there certain types of pain that you are more likely to accept than others?

Ulrike: That's how it is out there in society.

Yvonne: Our profession is no exception.

Kathrine: Nurses in other clinics often think that we all have a little "hashish" about us.

Ulrike: That we do undemanding work. We are seen in the same way as our patients outside.

Kathrine: Are you familiar with the term Morbus Bahlsen? Soft biscuit.

Ulrike: And sisters who get involved in that are perhaps the same.

How do you behave when you are in pain?

Yvonne: Unreasonable. They always say that when you're in pain, you should reduce stress and try for a balanced lifestyle. That's not me! I have high expectations of myself, and what I set out to do, I intend to see through. That might also be due to my Gemini star sign. Everything has to be done quickly for me. When I clean at home, I don't just clean one room, I clean the whole place.

Ulrike: I'm the typical Pisces, supposedly predestined for this profession. I really like the relaxation training we offer at the clinic. We always tell patients, "Surely you can spare a quarter of an hour a day to practice!" – but don't even think for a second that I regularly take that quarter of an hour for myself!

Kathrine: We all have back problems; it's an occupational hazard. The leg elevation technique helps: lie down, put your legs up on a cube, and after half an hour your spine is relieved enough to carry on. I do it after work and then I can take care of my household chores.

In nursing professions, there's the concept of burnout, of being completely exhausted. Have you ever experienced that?

Ulrike: In a milder form, every now and then. There are times when you say, "Oh God, I have to go again, I can't take it anymore!" When you've worked in this profession for a while, that's just how it is. You're not really receptive to new tasks anymore. My colleagues understand this and say, "You'll do other work now, and we'll leave you alone for a while."

Yvonne: We'll sort that out amongst ourselves. For example, today is my tenth day on duty and I'm about to start the weekend. It's about time! I'm a person first and a nurse second.

Kathrine: And as people, we sisters sometimes meet outside the hospital; two of us go for walks together, others talk on the phone. As head nurse, I'm usually always available by phone at home.

Ulrike: I believe our good collaboration is also due to the fact that we have someone from every decade of life involved. Everyone benefits from this. The younger ones bring the latest knowledge from their training, and the older ones their professional experience.

 You invest patience and attention – what do you get in return?

Ulrike: So much. So, so much. Just yesterday, a patient said to me, "I'm pain-free for the first time in years!" When a new patient gets out of the elevator up here, we can already see, oh, they're not doing well, they're very depressed. And then when they walk home upright, with a smile on their face—wonderful, what more could we ask for!

Kathrine: Even if the patients can only make the beginning during their two or three weeks with us, they have to stick with the therapy at home.

Yvonne: This is where I see the meaning of why I became a nurse. Many patients say upon arrival, "If I don't get help here, I've lost all hope." It's the most wonderful thing when they say afterward, "I have confidence again, I feel really good, and I know I can manage. I'll be able to cope better at home now." That's a success story. At the end, we hand out evaluation forms, and the nurses almost always get top marks on them. Because we simply enjoy our work. It's so great when we can help patients through their difficult days, and they thank us with such a positive review.