Staffing crisis in the health sector
Staffing crisis in the health sector - Part 1/3
December 2022 - Historically bad
December 2022 was an intense time for the health industry - with historic levels of sickness in the population. Widespread illnesses such as influenza, RSV and corona overloaded the health system.
Intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis called for reforms at this time - the attractiveness of jobs alone was not enough to fill these staffing gaps.
Staff shortages - main factors and effects
The German health care industry has been during a staffing crisis for some time, with profound effects on the well-being of employees and their patients.
The number of unfilled positions is in the millions. Older people are retiring, new ones are not coming in. A vicious circle in which staff shortages place an even greater burden on the existing workforce. This in turn leads to increased absenteeism and, eventually, burnout.
The main factors behind the crisis:
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Record sick leave and reasons for absenteeism
According to Techniker Krankenkasse, employees in care are on sick leave for 23 days a year, 8 days more than the overall average. The high sickness rate reflects the working conditions and their impact on health.
Proportionally, the sickness rate in health care and nursing is 6%. The average for all professions in Germany is 4.09% (values based on TK Health Report 2019).
The reasons for absenteeism also include mental health, with depression & burnout being more frequent in geriatric care. This results in a 28 % higher prescription rate for antidepressants than the average for all professions.
TK now reports a record sickness rate of 5.14% for 2022 across all professions, already excluding December figures.
The sickness rate is 21% higher than the previous record set in 2018, with respiratory infections and colds cited as the main causes.
These findings highlight the need to find solutions to the staffing crisis and improve working conditions.
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Doctors and nurses complain about strain
A recent PwC study, however, gives little hope for growth and again highlights the strain.
72% of doctors and nurses in senior positions complain about physical strain, followed by mental strain, which is criticized by 59%.
Potential nursing professionals such as young adults, the unemployed and those willing to change jobs are most afraid of mental strain (63%) and physical strain (57%).
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Outlook for Part 2
In the second part of this series of articles, we present current approaches to solving the problems of the German health care industry presented here.
We focus on possible reforms and measures to combat staff shortages and high sickness rates and to improve working conditions.
The health system urgently needs to be kept stable - but where do you start without jeopardizing existing structure?
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Shortage of skilled workers: immediate action?
At MedRhein, we not only offer medical technology and software solutions that streamline internal processes and safeguard health.
We use our network in the healthcare sector and existing marketing cooperations to find new employees for nursing, pharmacies, and doctors.
Write to us: [email protected]
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Sources in this article:
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2 年An especially important topic!
this could be massive ??