A little boy stands in the door of the office and shows Melanie Schmidt a colorful ball. “Where did you get that?” asks the pediatric nurse with interest. The boy happily shares his story, and she listens. These are exactly the moments that Melanie Schmidt loves in her daily work. “The close contact and interaction with the young patients brings me a lot of joy in my job,” explains the 43-year-old. She is also a mother of three. Thanks to family-friendly working hours, she can balance family and career well.

Female and Male Nurses Benefit

Melanie Schmidt lives with her family in Weetzen, a district of Ronnenberg in the southwest of Hanover. She works part-time in the day clinic/unit 64 of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Her workday starts at 8:30 AM and ends just a few minutes after noon. This fits perfectly with the school schedule of her eight-year-old daughter, who attends elementary school in Weetzen. “We leave the house together in the morning and return around the same time in the afternoon,” explains the pediatric nurse. “When our two older children were younger, all four grandparents helped with childcare. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore,” Melanie Schmidt laments. “That’s why my working hours are ideal.” Although she does have evening shifts one to two times a month, friends help with afternoon care.

The day clinic is open daily until 7 PM. A few years ago, a two-shift system was introduced there. Without it, Melanie Schmidt would have to work two full weekends a month and two entire days a week—which would not be favorable for family life. “With the current arrangement, it’s simply more relaxed,” says Melanie Schmidt. The family-friendly working hours in the day clinic benefit not only female but also male nurses.

Text: Tina Götting