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Europe in emergency to gather doctors and nurses, 465 left Albania in 2022 alone

2025-01-23 07:34:00, Ekonomi CNA

Despite the continuous increase in the number of doctors, nurses and other health workers over the past decades, the European healthcare workforce is facing a crisis, says a recent EU study on the state of health in Europe for 2024.

In 2022 alone, Germany received 465 nurses from Albania, the study notes, the third in the region, after Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Hundreds of doctors and nurses leave our country every year as a result of the high demand in EU countries, mainly in Germany. The demand for foreign doctors and nurses is expected to be very high in the coming years from the EU, the EU publication states.

Most European countries are facing significant shortages in some categories of health workers due to the increased demand for healthcare as well as the reduction in working hours of some categories of employees aiming for a better work-life balance.

These health workforce shortages will worsen in the coming years, driven by the doubling of the elderly population on the one hand and the ageing of the health workforce on the other. The study notes that the EU's health system is facing a serious threat.

As the proportion of the population aged 65 and over in the EU is projected to increase from 23% in 2023 to almost 30% by 2050, the demand for healthcare services is also expected to increase.

On the supply side, a large number of health professionals are approaching retirement age in a significant number of EU countries. These developments will require a significant influx of new health professionals to replace them.

Other analyses have revealed worrying trends, such as high levels of job dissatisfaction among current healthcare workers. Dissatisfaction levels have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when interest in healthcare careers has declined among young people.

Workforce challenges will require a multifaceted approach, with several policies having an impact in the short term. The declining number of applicants to nursing programs in some countries underscores the urgency of making nursing careers more attractive. Improving the working conditions and remuneration of health workers should be implemented as an essential first step and prevent a vicious cycle of resignations.

Many countries are looking to increasing international migration of health workers to Europe as part of the strategies that many countries are using to address health workforce shortages.

While recruiting trained health professionals from abroad can provide a quick solution to domestic needs, over-reliance on this approach is inefficient and will exacerbate shortages in countries of origin by creating weaknesses in the health systems of destination countries.

Albania is one of the endangered countries that is randomly training hundreds and thousands of nurses with public funds who are destined for foreign countries./ Monitor Magazine