Nursing union highlights staffing challenge

The ver.di services union has welcomed the passage of the Hospital Care Relief Act, which establishes a nationwide requirement on staffing levels covering nurses in hospitals. The union is delighted that its long campaign has finally paid off and measures will be taken to tackle excessive workloads in the health sector. The basis for the legislation is a staffing assessment (PPR 2.0) that was developed by ver.di, the German Hospital Association and the German Nursing Council. Ver.di is also pleased about its successful advocacy for the development of needs-based personnel specifications for

The INMO nurses’ union is to ballot intensive care unit nurses at University Hospital Limerick in pursuance of safe staffing, having exhausted local negotiations to resolve the problem. The union argues that the lack of consistent safe staffing is having a detrimental impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of workers and patients. This follows INMO’s executive council decision in February to sanction a campaign of industrial action in response to members reporting that unsafe staffing is the norm in many hospitals. The union has also called on the Department of Health and the Health

A documentary on Norwegian TV and a survey by the FOA trade union in Denmark expose similar problems facing workers in eldercare as they have too many clients, leaving those requiring care regularly seeing lots of different carers for short periods of time. Reacting to the documentary the Fagforbundet trade union highlighted the problem of so many care staff working part-time, chasing shifts to try to make ends meet and being part of a continuing turnover of staff so that there is little continuity for those needing care. In Denmark, the FOA argues that staff spend too little time with those