The nurses collapse. 23% found themselves on sick leave due to situations of anxiety, stress or mental exhaustion linked to work, according to responses received by the General Nursing Council (CGE) from nearly 10,000 hospital professionals, outpatient clinics and social health centers. asked how they were doing in their daily work. More than half consider that their situation has worsened after the pandemic and six in ten have considered leaving the profession. AND
“The increase in work stoppages due to emotional stress has increased extraordinarily over the last two years: it rose from 16.5% in 2022 to 23%,” underlines the study on the impact of health pressure on the nursing profession, the second edition of which was presented this Monday. The first was published in 2022 and sought to measure the devastation that the pandemic had wreaked on the profession. Now that this situation is over, the problems persist. The sample is dominated by public health workers (75% of the total).
The figures are “alarming”, according to the General Nursing Council, which links the data obtained to the shortage of professionals. There is a shortage of 123,000 nurses to reach the European ratios, denounced the same institution two weeks ago. “Numerous national and international studies indicate that the shortage of nurses increases workload and in turn worsens patient care. And this is clearly reflected in the figures presented,” notes the institution in a press release.
57.7% of those questioned say they have an excessive workload and the pressure of care affects almost nine out of ten professionals (88.3%) somewhat or a lot. When asked about specific discomforts, 86.1% of nurses reported having suffered episodes of stress, 66.6% anxiety, 60% insomnia and 27.2% reported having suffered from depression.
“It is not a question of suffering these episodes to treat them when they occur, but of putting in place barriers and prevention mechanisms so that they do not happen. We talk a lot about taking care of the caregiver, but you have to do it from the beginning. There is no point treating someone when they are already overwhelmed, we must work so that prevention is our flag,” asked Raquel Rodríguez Llanos, vice-president of the CGE. 63.1% of those consulted said they needed professional psychological help, even if only 37.8% had access to it.
A recent research entitled Shortage of nursing care in Spain: from the global case to the specific situation He confirmed with data that the problem of the sector – with a historical deficit of professionals – is no longer the migration to other countries where they are better paid or have more opportunities to develop their career, nor the lack of people interested in studying. the career. The situation can only be explained by the fact that they are leaving the profession. 36% of people surveyed by the General Nursing Council say that if they had to choose a career again, they would not choose nursing.
