In view of the increasing shortage of staff in nursing homes, patient advocates and nursing associations are alarmed.
“Nursing care in Germany is no longer guaranteed in many places,” said the President of the German Nursing Council, Christine Vogler, to the editorial network Germany (RND). According to the Nursing Council, there is already a shortage of around 115,000 full-time professional nurses in inpatient long-term care alone. At the same time, the number of people in need of care is increasing, which is further exacerbating the situation. “The warning signs are visible everywhere, for example through high levels of sickness. The care system is crumbling and trust in it is dwindling.”
The board of the German Patient Protection Foundation, Eugen Brysch, warned of the consequences for patients and the high number of unreported cases of bottlenecks in nursing homes: “The nursing home residents are at the mercy of neglect. Most of the time, this violation of dignity is endured quietly, humbly and without complaint,” he told the RND. The known cases in which nursing staff called the emergency number to receive support made it abundantly clear “that geriatric care remains the loser in the fight for more staff,” said Brysch.