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It seems odd to me that a male (medical) nurse is called Krankenpfleger, but a female nurse is still called Krankenschwester and not Krankenpflegerin. Is there any movement toward phasing out Krankenschwester in favor of the other term? I gather that Pflegerin on its own has the other meaning of "nurse", what I would call a "nanny".

There is a related question: What is the neutral and the male word for 'Hausfrau'?

RDBury
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My sister is a nurse. She got her diploma in the middle of the 1980ies (somewhen between 1983 and 1985), and I always found it odd that she is the Schwester for only me, but Krankenschwester for everybody, and I always found it odd, that her male colleagues are not called Krankenbruder.

The official term for her profession is »Diplompfleger« or »Diplompflegerin« and this term already existed when she made her diploma in the middle of the 1980ies. But this term exists only in Austria.

In Germany nurses are officially called »Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger« since 2004, but the term »Krankenschwester« still exists as an official term in Germany. It is a »geschützte Berufsbezeichnung« = protected job title, which means that nobody is allowed to call herself a »Krankenschwester« when she doesn't have the right professional training.

In Switzerland nurses are officially called »Pflegefachmann« and »Pflegefachfrau«, also since 2004.

These are official terms, printed in the diplomas of the people who finish the relevant professional training. But how they are called by "normal" people changes very slowly.

When my sister talks about her job she still calls herself and her female colleagues Schwestern, and a few years ago she became Stationsschwester (charge nurse, i.e. the nurse who is the boss of all other nurses in a section of a hospital), and I never ever have heard anybody use the term Stationspfleger.

So, officially there still exists the term Schwester at least in Germany, but no longer in Austria. (I have no knowledge about the official usage of Schwester in Switzerland and Liechtenstein) and in all German speaking countries there is the official term Pfleger, but it still will take a while until the term Pfleger will also be used for female nurses in everyday language.

Hubert Schölnast
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    As an anecdote: I've heard male "Krankenpfleger" calling themselves "Krankenschwester" – Lykanion Aug 26 '21 at 07:37
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    You already alluded to it, but to spell it out a bit more: Since 2004, new people in the field get degrees as "Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegerin" or "Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger". People who got their degrees before then can choose whether they want to keep their old titles - "Krankenschwester" or "Krankenpfleger", or whether they want to officially switch to the new titles. So both versions are still in use parallel. – Henning Kockerbeck Aug 26 '21 at 09:53
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    In general, job titles in the medical field are regulated quite strongly, because they reflect the extend of somebody's training and what they're authorized to do. For example, a member of my family was involved with the examination of "Rettungssanitäter" and "Rettungsassistenten" before retirement. It was quite a difference if somebody was one or the other, and the "Rettungsassistent" was the one with more training and authority. Those titles (and "Berufsbilder") have been changed since, too. So, the community of speakers isn't the only one deciding about what to call people here. – Henning Kockerbeck Aug 26 '21 at 09:59
  • I also can tell an anecdote: Some years ago I saw a short documentary about jobs young kids want to do when they grow older, and one of the girls, she was 4 or 5 years old, said she wants to become »Krankenschwesterin« – Hubert Schölnast Aug 26 '21 at 10:41
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    Actually for people who started their training in 2020 or later it is "Pflegefachmann" or "Pflegefachfrau" respectively (replaces all the former "Krankenpfleger/in", "Kinderkrankenpfleger/in" and "Altenpfleger/in" which now receive all the same basic training ). –  Aug 26 '21 at 15:06
  • Thanks. So the upshot is that there is movement away from -schwester in government, though you're not allowed to call yourself Krankenschwester without being properly qualified. But society and language in general may take a while to catch up. English speakers still tend to say "male nurse" even when "male" is implied, for example "Ben Stiller plays Greg, a male nurse." – RDBury Aug 26 '21 at 19:03
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    @Eike Pierstorff: My intuition says Pflegefachmann/frau will be slow to catch on. It seems technical sounding, something like "care specialist", but is only slightly more gender neutral than Krankenschwester. Pflegefachperson perhaps? – RDBury Aug 26 '21 at 19:20
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    @RDBury, in everyday speech, it will certainly be slow. In written job descriptions, it might be a bit quicker. The people who came up with it did not mainly have gender neutrality in mind, this is part of the reform for vocational training for nurses. Geriatic nurses previously received a little less instruction and a lot less pay, so this has been unified into one training for all (although you can specialize later on) in the hope that better pay will follow. I did not want to make a point about usage, I merely wanted to point that "Pflegerin" or "Pfleger" is not longer the "official" term. –  Aug 26 '21 at 19:51
  • @Eike Pierstorff: Very interesting. So part of the purpose is to convey a greater degree of professionalism to reflect greater training requirements, not to mention greater pay. I never imagined that such subtleties might be involved when I posted the original question. Thanks. – RDBury Aug 27 '21 at 07:20
  • " I never ever have heard anybody use the term Stationspfleger." - My late father used to be head nurse in the forensic ward of his hospital, and his title was "Oberpfleger". By the time my mother got a similar position (early 2000s) she was referred to as "Stationsleiterin". This was in (the German federal state) Baden-Württemberg, there might be regional differences. –  Aug 27 '21 at 08:06