Careers in nursing
The predicted shortage of care professionals is jeopardising the future provision of health and nursing care in Switzerland. A study on care and nursing careers outlines which measures can be taken to tackle staff shortages.
The project is part of cooperation between health science universities in Switzerland to develop a Competence Network Health Workforce (CNHW) with the participation of SFUVET. The analysis of registered nurses and healthcare assistants shows that the first few years in the job represent a period of intensive career development. Prior training as a healthcare assistant facilitates career entry as a registered nurse. Those without relevant professional experience suffer a greater degree of psychological stress initially. Many qualified nurses move from the long-term to the acute care sector during the first few years after obtaining their initial qualification, particularly those with previous training as healthcare assistants. As there is a severe shortage of registered nurses in the long-term care sector in particular, the recommended approach is to enhance the status and attractiveness of the long-term care sector as a place of learning and working for registered nurses by adopting suitable measures. For example, this includes creating roles with extended tasks and promotion opportunities. Greater support could be provided during the career-entry phase, e.g. with mentoring programmes.