Nurses looked after the sick and needy in the various hospitals of the Jewish community, which included the spital. Nurses were among the lower ranks of community servants. When the healthcare facilities were expanded towards the end of the 16th century, nurses were supervised by the hekdesh director.
Nurses were poorly paid and generally lived in the simple houses at the southern end of the Judengasse close to the hospitals, for example the last houses on the western side such as the Goldener Kopf and the Goldene Ente. Because the lodging and care of the sick was strictly separated by gender, there were also many female nurses. These formed the vast majority of the female community servants, since women were only allowed to perform the most menial community work.