Nurses in MV: Alarming increase in sick leave!

Nurses in MV: Alarming increase in sick leave!

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, nurses are heavily healthy and must be sick above average. According to an examination of the AOK, sick leave was 9.7 percent last year, which represents a significant increase compared to 6.7 percent in 2013. The figures make it clear that nursing staff are almost a quarter more sick than the employees in other industries whose sick leave is 7.8 percent, as the AOK Nordost reports.

drastic effects on nursing staff

The causes of this high sick leave lie, among other things, in the intensive stress during corona apandemia and the continuing lack of personnel in the health sector. In 2023, nurses in the region were missing on average almost nine days due to muscle skeleton diseases-a fifth more often than in other professions. The difference is even clearer for mental illnesses: nurses had to register for 7.5 days due to such diagnoses, while it was only 4.6 days with employees of all other professions. This corresponds to an increase of over 60 percent, as the CEO of AOK Nordost, Daniela Teichert, explains.

The AOK also draws attention to the fact that improving working conditions in nursing facilities is crucial to reduce sick leave. Numerous institutions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania already receive support in company health promotion. Teichert emphasizes that in addition to employers, politics is also required to reform social long -term care insurance and to meet the increasing stressful requirements of the nursing staff, in particular with the expected increase in those in need of care in the coming years. For example, better cooperation with municipalities and expanded scope for regional care must be created in order to relieve the care, reports the nordkurier .

Overall, there is a clear need for action to improve the health and working conditions of nursing staff in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A future -oriented care policy could help to master the challenges in the healthcare system more effectively and to secure the quality of the care, such as the southern German Zeitung emphasized.