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Unsatisfactory wages and working conditions, and peculiarities of the communication culture, have been successfully driving nurses out of the country for decades. And even if they decide not to leave, they mostly concentrate in the big cities.
According to Aušra Volodkaitė, president of the Lithuanian Association of Nurse Specialists (LSSO), the pandemic only exacerbated the problems of nurses and the lack of a system.
“The situation continues to be difficult because we did not have the easiest period, the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still continuing. And if the shortage of nurses in the institutions was felt anyway, it has increased this year, ”he said.
According to the interviewee, it is known that more than 250 nurses of retirement age who were still working left the labor market in the first half of last year.
“Apparently, due to the threat of the virus and the deterioration of working conditions, he left. And new people did not always come to work at his workplace. So we are in a very critical situation. If they are not resolved the problems, probably there will be none in the labor market of nurses ”, lamented the president of LSSO.
Most nurses are older and young people migrate
The interviewee’s forecasts are also confirmed by data from the Employment Service (UT), which shows that the demand for nurses has systematically exceeded the supply in recent years. And while this has changed in the past year, with rising unemployment and a rise in the number of unemployed nurses, it is claimed that long-standing traditions are not changing.
“We note the aging and shortage of nursing staff: almost half (46%) of registered nurses in the Employment Service are over 50 years old. Among job applicants for a younger nurse specialist, up to 21 percent are over 50 years of age. Long-term unfavorable trends are forming in the number of specialists, “explains Gytis Darulis, deputy director of the institution.
According to A. Volodkaitė, the aging trend of healthcare workers is observed across Europe. Naturally, in today’s context, it is extremely difficult to motivate young graduates to stay.
“Lithuania is definitely no exception: older nurses work more here. And although young and qualified specialists are actually being trained (3 universities and 7 colleges are doing it), not everyone dares to work in Lithuania. Or they choose other countries or they go to work in other areas ”, he did not hide.
It feels second class
Noting that the emigration of nurses has been taking place in recent decades, A. Volodkaitė stated that the reason for this is not only the search for better working conditions and more complete remuneration.
“It’s also about respect for the profession, a better appreciation of the nursing staff,” she said.
It is no secret that nurses often face both manifestations of psychological violence at work and psychological harassment.
“And it is probably a work culture problem, a certain underestimation of the nursing staff. Especially during the pandemic, when inpatient visits were banned, these professionals had the greatest workload.
We also had to listen to complaints from both patients and relatives, dissatisfaction that they do not always respond in a timely manner, timely report due to the very heavy workload. I’m not referring to the fact that exhaustion from hard work was constantly accompanied by the stress that returning home could possibly bring an infection to loved ones. That anxiety and tension has seriously affected some of the employees and is still being felt, ”he said.
Although doctors who work with COVID-19 patients are paid more, the interviewee noted that professionals are at risk when working with other patients who also need care.
“And there, the staff are equally forgotten, they do not receive the supplements, although they also run the risk of having a sick patient. And your workloads increase dramatically. They grew especially at peak times, when there were a lot of infected and sick workers, so they had to be replaced. In addition, part of the staff was transferred to work with COVD-19 patients, then there was a shortage of nurses in other departments, ”said the head of LSSO.
As stated by the former European Commissioner Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis in the program “Karštai su tv3.lt”, even about 40 percent. Nurses working in intensive care units in the European Union have also left their jobs without a huge workload.
It is not tempting to work in the region
Vygantas Sudaris, director of the Lithuanian District Hospital Association, did not paint the situation in light colors. He stressed that the help of the younger generation of specialists is received very little, because most of them, although they remain in the country, do not break into the districts.
“There are no good signs, most of the new employees that enter the labor market remain in training bases in the main cities. If they are not satisfied with the salaries, they go abroad very easily, especially when they are offered a salary several times higher. Young people are now fluent in languages and are more easily integrated into other health systems. At that time, the entire burden falls on the elderly, ”he said.
The director of Pakruojis Hospital emphasized that a doctor without nurses, as without hands, could not perform all functions. However, nurses as physicians are not particularly attracted to districts.
“It is already true that when a doctor is missing, that’s all, the system collapses, but when a nurse can be replaced by a nursing assistant and the system continues to function,” said the interlocutor.
According to A. Volodkienė, nurses are more versatile specialists, so they are certainly not attracted to conditions like doctors.
“And they choose the big hospitals because they have the most health services, the latest technology, the best opportunities. It is no secret that these institutions are the best funded. Unfortunately, there is not such a good remuneration in the districts ”, said the head of LSSO.
They compared the conditions of doctors in Germany and Lithuania: the salary of a gynecologist reaches 16 thousand. EUR per month:
Threatened to go for treatment in Poland?
V. Sudaris did not hide the fact that there are all kinds of situations; you should ask the specialists not to leave: However, if now everyone takes and goes on a well-deserved vacation, who owns or works a job, we would definitely go to Poland for treatment. “
The interlocutor pointed out that the budget of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund should be doubled so that the system does not collapse after several years.
“But then it will be too late.”
A. Volodkaitė stated that the new Ministry of Health is being talked about, problems are being expressed. At the same time, he hopes that the assisted negotiations on the collective agreement of the Lithuanian branch of the national health system will yield results.
“We hope to reach an agreement on the improvement of the various conditions of nurses and other health professionals. Because if the current situation is not resolved, financing and working conditions will not improve, we will have very serious problems and in a very short time ”, He pointed.
How is the demand for nursing work?
After reviewing the situation of nurses in the labor market just a month ago, the Employment Service reported that in the last five years an average of 775 vacancies have been registered annually for nurses and 38 for younger nurses.
2016-2019 the number of registered vacancies per year was higher than the number of job seekers. More than three-quarters of job openings for nurse specialists have been registered in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda counties in the last five years.
Last year, in Vilnius County, a third (37%) of job openings were for nurses and a quarter (26%) for young nurses. In Kaunas and Klaipėda counties, they accounted for a fifth (23% and 20%, respectively), and the youngest nurse specialists 32%. and 26 percent. The largest number of vacancies was presented by the Center for Integrated Health Services (Panevėžys), Elijos Vėjarožė (Vilnius), Energetikas (Palanga).
This year, more job vacancies were registered than jobseekers in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Marijampolė counties. Energetikas, Prison Hospital and Kaunas Hospital of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences were looking for the largest number of employees. Most of the vacancies are in Vilnius, Klaipeda and Kaunas.
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