Ver.di Urges Action to Address Growing Shortage of Skilled Nurses on International Day of Nurses

On the occasion of the International Day of Nurses, ver.di urges all those responsible to act decisively at all levels in order to counteract the ever-growing shortage of skilled workers. As the current special evaluation for the care of the Index for Good Work of the German Trade Union Confederation shows, 75 percent of nurses assume that, given the current requirements, they will probably not be able to practice their profession until retirement. In geriatric care, this is indicated by 67 percent. The special evaluation also shows that the employees have made compromises in terms of quality as a result of the high workload.

“Work in nursing is demanding – professionally, physically and psychologically. In order for colleagues to be able to provide good and safe care and enjoy their great job, they finally need better working conditions. More and more workers understand the importance of unionizing and representing interests together. If everyone pulls together, we can achieve a lot. Through years of determined pressure from the employees, together with their trade union ver.di, laws on binding personnel specifications and 25 nationwide collective agreements for relief were fought for. Strong ver.di – strong care,” says Irene Gölz, ver.di State Department Head for Health and Social Affairs.

Background:
International Nurses Day is celebrated in memory of British nurse Florence Nightingale. She was born on May 12th and has made outstanding contributions to the development of nursing. International Nurses Day has been celebrating the work of nurses and their importance to society since the 1960s.