Almost all public hospitals and nursing homes have difficulty recruiting nurses and nursing assistants. This is the result of a survey by the Fédération Hospitalière de France (FHF) unveiled on Wednesday. Problems “permanently or occasionally” depending on the institution. “A difficult summer is looming, particularly in terms of the management of unscheduled care”, recall the authors of the survey.
The hospitals mainly affected
The survey, conducted in April and May 2022 among more than 400 public health and medico-social establishments, reveals that 80.3% of them constantly encounter difficulties, 18.9% on an ad hoc basis. That is 99% of all establishments (public hospitals and nursing homes). It is in hospitals, excluding university hospitals, that the situation in terms of non-medical human resources “has deteriorated the most”, with in particular a doubling of unfilled nursing positions (6.6% in April 2022 against 3% in 2019). If the nurses “remain the first priority in terms of recruitment” in hospitals, nursing homes, they mainly lack caregivers.
Emergency on the night nurses
Geriatrics remains by far the sector that struggles the most to attract staff, followed by operating theatres, medicine (non-specialised services) and then psychiatry. Unsurprisingly, the authors also point out that “the night seems to be the most complex period to organize”. According to the FHF, the workforce “increased on average by +3% between 2019 and 2021” in public establishments, but this “has not reduced the proportion of vacancies in the nursing and nursing professions”, due, in particular, the increase in the demand for care.
Absenteeism stabilized at a level “historically high”. According to the survey, in 2021, as in 2020, it came close to 10% (compared to 9% in 2019 and 7.4% in 2012) and it “weakens the daily functioning of teams”. High absenteeism and recruitment difficulties reduce “catch-up ability” deprogrammed care during the Covid epidemic, warns the FHF. “Agents suspended for non-vaccination” represent only 0.3% of staff and therefore cannot be considered as “a breeding ground”, she raises.