.svg){kind=icon}
They help with personal hygiene, dispense medication, counsel family members, and provide vital support to those in need of care. Without them, nothing runs smoothly when it comes to caring for others. It goes without saying that we’re talking about care givers. Alarmingly, however, there is a growing shortage of them. Today, the social care sector is facing one of its biggest challenges yet: an acute shortage of staff.
In this blog post, we examine the impact of the nursing shortage on care facility managers. We also take a look at how they can address this through digitization and innovative technology solutions.
Urgently needed: skilled workers in social care
At the heart of the healthcare system, nurses play a vital role in the well-being of those in need of care. According to the World Health Statistics Report, there are approximately 29 million nurses in the world. This number is insufficient to meet the growing demand, with an estimated shortage of nearly one million healthcare workers in Europe.
Poor working conditions, low wages, heavy workloads, and a lack of career progression are negatively impacting healthcare workers across Europe. In some countries however, the situation is somewhat rosier. As a result, nurses and other medical staff are migrating within the EU to countries with better working conditions and pay, leading to shortages in certain countries.
Challenges of staff shortages
Staffing shortages are costing social care managers a lot of time and stress. Not having enough staff means complex shift scheduling, disappointed residents, and potential regulatory issues. It also has a serious impact on the quality of care and efficiency of care homes.
Care home vacancies
Social care facilities struggle to find enough caregivers to meet the needs of their patients, resulting in overworked staff and, as a direct result, high levels of dissatisfaction. After all, who wants to do their job under constant stress and work a lot of extra shifts? Requests for nursing positions may even be denied in order to maintain required staffing ratios.
High staff turnover
Another problem is high staff turnover. On the one hand, caregivers leave because of the high workload and stress levels in those care facilities that are unable to find convincing solutions. On the other hand, caregivers are in high demand everywhere, making it all too easy to find a new employer, e.g. to change jobs for a higher salary or a shorter commute . This constant turnover not only puts a strain on the continuity of care, but also requires additional resources to recruit and train new staff.
Decreasing quality of care
Staff shortages often have a negative impact on the quality of care because understaffed teams have less time to spend with each resident. When too many tasks are performed by too few caregivers, the potential for errors increases dramatically. Finally, caregivers may not be able to provide all the necessary monitoring and care. And ironically, quality management processes (link to article) are among the first to be cut when time is at a premium.
The growing importance of operational efficiency
Where there is a shortage of staff, CEOs cannot pull them out of thin air. Instead, care facilities must find ways to provide optimal care with limited resources. One way is to make operations more efficient.
Looking for innovative solutions:
- Address staffing shortages and reduce staff turnover.
- Improve the quality of care for residents.
- Increase financial sustainability through more efficient operations.
Solutions to staffing shortages
The good news? Europe has some of the best healthcare systems in the world. And with global connectivity and the resulting collaborative efforts, the necessary solutions to the caregiver shortage are not too far away.
We are living in the golden age of healthcare. In other words, we are currently reaping the benefits of extraordinary advances, opportunities, and resources in the healthcare sector. We are enjoying the availability of cutting-edge technologies, improved medical treatments, longer life expectancies, and better overall healthcare.
Innovative and creative solutions are needed to effectively address the talent shortage. myneva is committed to bringing together industry players across Europe to develop these solutions. We see potential in the following approaches:
Promoting education
Investing in the education of care workers is essential to meet future demand. Nursing needs to become more attractive and accessible to young people and career changers worldwide. This could include the introduction of scholarship programs, paid internships, or continuing education courses. Legislators should be encouraged to remove bureaucratic barriers.
Improving working conditions
It is especially important to listen to caregivers, understand their needs, and create attractive working conditions. Flexible working hours, greater recognition, and support for reconciling work and family life will all help to attract and retain qualified staff.
Technological innovations
Integrating technology into care routines increases employee satisfaction. What's more, efficiency also increases when caregivers use myneva software to complete their documentation in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. From telemedicine to automated care tools, there are many ways to optimize care with digital resources.
Effective solutions for the nursing shortage
The nursing shortage is a serious problem. Contact us to find out how we can work together to address the shortage in your facility , reduce your workload, and make processes more efficient.