Swiss Review 5/2021

Swiss Review / October 2021 / No.5 7 of the nursing staff respectively. It is also becoming increasingly com- mon for private households to employ carers fromGermany and east- ern Europe. These women work virtually around the clock, earn rel- atively little, and return to their home countries after a fewmonths. The practice of plugging staffing gapswith foreignworkers is prob- lematic for ethical reasons. Switzerland is relying on people whom other countries have trained – and then lost. It will become harder to recruit workers from abroad in future, because other countries are nowdoingmore to keep their best people. Nevertheless, staffing needs in Switzerlandwill continue to grow strongly, not least because of an ageing population. Wealth of knowledge, minimal autonomy In terms of the number of nurses per 1,000 inhabitants, Switzerland fares well compared to other countries. But according to Rebecca Spi- rig, professor at the Institute of Nursing Science at the University of Basel, it would be wrong to assume the sector is in a comfortable po- sition: “We need to consider thewhole picture. Howdowe deploy our nurses?” In Germany, for example, responsibility for wound care moved to the nursing sector only a few years ago, while administer- ing injections and infusions is part of every nurse’s basic training in Switzerland. In the USA, nurse practitioners are responsible for pro- viding primary care to the general public. And the Dutch have estab- lished their “Buurtzorg” (neighbourhood care) model, where teams of nurses are more or less free to advise and treat patients and make all the clinical and operational decisions themselves, accessing sup- port from other specialists where necessary. Predominant doctors “Switzerland does not lead the way,” says Spirig. Its health system re- lies heavily on doctors. “Our nurses have great expertise but are rarely ablemake their own decisions.” For example, patients in Switzerland even need a doctor’s prescription for minor things like wearing com- pression tights. Swiss healthcare also has layers of complexity. Any- one living at home with care requirements usually deals with a vari- ety of specialists. Home nurseswill change bandages, care forwounds When healthcare pro- fessionals are in short supply, the human side of nursing is often ne- glected. This trend will become more pro- nounced as society ages. Photo: Keystone