Half of nurses in Spain have considered a career change due to the pandemic

A national survey has revealed that nearly half of all nurses in Spain have considered a career change due to the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The past few years have had a “devastating impact” on nurses working in Spain, with 46.5% of Spanish nurses admitting that they are considering leaving the profession due to the “unsustainable” situation. Furthermore, 62.8% of those who meet the requirements for retirement are considering applying for it.
These are just some of the conclusions drawn on February 7 from the results of the survey carried out by the General Nursing Council (CGE) with the aim of finding out the impact of the pandemic among nursing staff.
The health crisis has taken its toll on nurses’ health. The survey shows that 85% have suffered from mental health problems: one third have suffered from depression, 6 out of 10 from insomnia and just over two thirds from severe episodes of anxiety. In addition, the incidence of COVID infection among nurses, due to their work and increased exposure to the virus, is 2.3 times higher than among the general population.
Even more concerning is the fact that those in the nursing profession feel abandoned to their fate and have lost faith that the obstacles they face every day will be resolved. Almost one hundred per cent (98.7%) do not feel seen or heard by the government.
The survey also analysed different aspects of the nurses’ working conditions and “clearly shows the indignation of nurses with regards to each of the different aspects because none of them manages to pass on a scale of 0 to 10, and most are below four”.
The highest-valued of the working conditions, which still does not reach the pass mark, is job stability (4.89 out of 10), followed by shifts (4.51); while all of the other aspects scored much lower, including work-life balance (2.97), workload (3.35) and salary (3.37).
According to the General Nursing Council, “nurses have spent decades complaining about the working conditions they have to endure, with precarious contracts lasting only days, rotations through all types of clinical services and very low salaries”.
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