Caregivers are fleeing their jobs en masse
Created: 01/13/2022Updated: 01/13/2022, 3:31 PM
A nurse with a nursing home resident on a walk in the hallway.
© Sina Schuldt / dpa
In the corona pandemic, they received applause: the nurses.
But better pay, better working conditions?
Nothing.
Many of those affected could now draw conclusions from this.
Hanover - Bad pay, high stress and too little time for old people: According to a new study, many nursing staff in geriatric care in Germany want to give up their jobs.
Forty percent of those surveyed are considering quitting their jobs, said Bernadette Klapper, managing director of the German Professional Association for Nursing Professions, on Thursday about the study “Geriatric Care in Focus”, which was initiated jointly with the senior care specialist publisher Vincentz Network.
“That is alarming.
We need a turnaround in care for the elderly. "
For the study, a total of 686 employees in inpatient care were surveyed in August and September 2021.
At the same time, the Bertelsmann Stiftung criticized the fact that important information on the quality of nursing homes, such as the deployment of staff, was available in all countries, but was often kept under lock and key and was not made available to consumers.
People who are looking for a nursing home are thus withheld information on key selection criteria.
Experts: There could be a shortage of around 500,000 caregivers by 2030
According to the specialist publisher, experts have calculated that around 500,000 nursing staff will be missing by 2030.
73 percent of those surveyed said the staff shortage had worsened in the past two years, in the middle of the corona pandemic.
In 2018, 71 percent said this.
68 (2018: 60) percent said it was becoming increasingly difficult to ensure good care.
This is also due to the fact that there is too little time for the residents, said 67 (2018: 65) percent of those surveyed.
56 percent said new quality inspection rules created more bureaucracy.
The employees carried these worries home, because more than one or two people feel negative effects on family and private life, the study found. In addition, the challenges and effects of the corona pandemic have been a burden for the past two years. According to the information, 96 percent of those questioned did not even believe that politicians understood the situation and were trying to improve it.
According to the study, a total of 67 percent of respondents are planning a career change - either by upgrading their skills in nursing (41 percent), studying (14 percent) or switching to another employer (22 percent).
According to an assessment of 90 percent of those surveyed, keeping more skilled workers in the care of the elderly or recruiting them can only succeed if more staff are employed.
If it is not possible to improve staffing levels, the existing staff cannot be retained - and potential additional staff will be deterred.
The situation gets better with better pay
Klapper then called for a whole range of measures - more staff, better salaries and a reform of long-term care insurance. According to the study, only 8 percent of those surveyed said that their salary had improved significantly in the past two years, while 38 percent said that the situation in nursing would only improve if nurses were paid better.
Prof. Herrmann Brandenburg, holder of the chair for gerontological nursing at the Vallendar University of Applied Sciences, emphasized that the problem is not just that nurses earn too little.
They also experienced the dilemma of a disproportion between what they understand by good care and the fact that they are controlled by others.
In this context, he criticized private chains on the German market, claiming that there are often quality problems there.
The private sector must be scaled back, he demanded.
Recruiting abroad is also a "poor certificate".
more on the subject
Pfeiffer-Poensgen: Prussia Foundation needs more money
The situation on the training market eases slightly
"World League": countries want to better equip the Prussian Foundation
The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, told the German Press Agency that more than two thirds of elderly care workers doubted being able to guarantee good care.
“The victims of this misery are 820,000 nursing home residents and over a million people who are also cared for at home by an outpatient service,” says Brysch.
He called for a sustainable and attractive concept to keep people in the job: "It must also be clear that those in need of care, unlike the skilled workers, cannot escape their fate." Dpa
