In the course of the project eight nursing students from the Alb Fils Klinik took part in a three week internship at Torsbergsgymnasiet in Bollnäs, Sweden. The students gained insight into the nurses training at a college in Sweden and got experience through shadowing staff nurses in their place of work in a hospital, a home for the elderly and ambulatory care. The nursing students witnessed the effects and challenges arising from the demographic development, which are similar in Sweden, Germany and the rest of Europe. During the next couple of years a significant increase of elderly people is expected. This development makes an increase of dependency and long term care likely. Although an increase of professional nurses in view of this forecast would be expected, a decreasing number seems to be more likely as the number of qualified people in the labour force has also been decreasing. The consequences for the nursing profession is growing competition with other professions which may offer better compensation and better working conditions. The nursing students who are being trained at the moment will be facing the effects of this development in the near future. In order to tackle this challenge it is indispensable to make the nursing profession more attractive. Our nursing students got to know a different kind of organisation as well as different grades and a skill mix in nursing. In Sweden nurses with an academic degree are a normal occurrence in hospitals, in Germany academic degrees on a bedside level are still something extraordinary. Because Sweden has had a long tradition of academic education and comprehensive nursing education, it is a good example to get acquainted with in order to understand a different role of nurses in society as well as a type of stakeholder they are within the health system. Our nursing students were able to compare Swedish nursing profession which is based on an integrated education in all fields of nursing with the German model where nurses - training is divided into nursing for adults, for children and the elderly. Incidentally Germany, too, plans to implement a kind of integrated comprehensive nursing training commencing in 2018. In light of the refugee situation in Germany nursing students are going to face a change in society which will be characterized by a growing cultural diversity. This will also present new demands on their professional roles in the future. As Sweden has had a high number of immigrants for a long time and as it has tried to integrate them into society, Swedens approaches and solutions could be observed and perhaps brought back to Germany. During the scheme the students had the opportunity to learn about intercultural competences, which has helped them develop skills necessary to interact with people from other cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Additional aspects of the project Participation in the project contributes to the development of the nursing students by giving them the opportunity to look over one's walls, promoting the willingness to be open to new ideas and encouraging them see changes as an opportunity rather than a problem. It strengthens the motivation and willingness for lifelong learning, triggers the interest in other cultures and promotes learning new languages. The nursing students are given the chance to practice a foreign language in a professional context thus enabling them to acquire better foreign language skills for the future. The project is contributing to making the nursing training in the Alb Fils Klinik more attractive than in other competing nursing schools. The project is part of the initiative to make the Alb Fils Klinik an attractive employer. The project is part of the efforts to internationalise vocational training and is contributing to a mutual understanding among young people of different European countries. It also serves as a means to build professional and personal networks. As we have been conducting the exchange on a mutual basis with our Swedish partner ever since 2011 the nursing students are meeting again by visiting the partner organization.