Old Europe faces labor shortage in the health sector

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A significant number of EU nurses approach the reform age, and a limited number of younger alternatives enter the industry. Nurses often face difficult working conditions, including long -term work, high staff rates, low wages and emotional tension. Many nurses refer to fatigue, which has an impact on retention rates and promotes young people’s career.

It also worsens the competition between EU countries to attract and retain health professionals. Knowing the problem, the European Union is creating a three -year effort to launch new and better training programs to attract young students to the nursing area.

Bulgaria is a clear example of the current challenges. Within a decade, the country has lost more than 10% of its nurse, many of them have left other EU member states for better salary and working conditions. For example, Elsa. It is one of the 144 nurses at the Grad Hospital in Blacko in Southwest Bulgaria. Elsa works in the orthopedic segment.

Despite the improved improvements last year, the hospital operates below the rate of at least 2 nurses per doctor, and is widely considered as the minimum rules of good procedures by health professionals.

“My dream is always working as a nurse, despite my studies and many options, but I wanted to be a nurse. My mother and my kids too. This is a good job for me.” “But we got very little money, so we are forced to work in two places. They give me holidays when they are able to see my family. We don’t have to stay in the ward 24 hours, but we work for several hours. I’m tired, I’m very tired. I am very tired. So, one, they will disappear.”

Like many EU nurses, Elsa has difficulty talking about this. Fear for their work. But it cannot hide the high personal price that your loving profession is often referring to.

“Maybe our work is not rated in Bulgaria,” he says. “This is many examples. But, in fact, we feel that we are somehow rated somehow because we are working for 12 hours. We have lost the holidays. We have lost the holidays.

It is estimated that there are 17,000 nurses in Bulgaria to effectively implement your health system. So how to judge or improve the situation?

Milkha Vasileva is the president of the 32,000 -member Bulgarian Health Professional Association. He has been working as a medical nurse for 43 years.

The work of the nurses is important and must be recognized in accordance with it, he says.

“According to our calculations, the starting salary must be at least three times higher than the country’s minimum wage,” says Milka Vasileva. “What can the European Commission can do? We have already seen many reports, different financial documents and other documents sent to member states. Even in the EU half -report on Bulgaria, it is openly written to increase investments in health care, so that the nurses have the opportunity to work in what they have created.

In addition to funding, experts agree that any EU Strategy should include the development of features such as planning, recruitment, training, work conditions and professional development.