*Wojciech S. Zgliczyński1, Dorota Cianciara2, Olga Rostkowska, Jarosław Pinkas1
Nurses in Poland – staffing and training system
Pielęgniarki w Polsce – stan kadrowy i system kształcenia
1Department of Healthcare Organizations and Medical Jurisprudence, School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw
Head of Department: Jarosław Pinkas, MD, PhD
2Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw
Head of Department: Dorota Cianciara, PhD, Associate Professor
Streszczenie
Wstęp. Pielęgniarki to najliczniejsza grupa pracowników systemów zdrowia pracująca bezpośrednio z pacjentem. Od m.in. ich liczby, rozmieszczenia, kwalifikacji i motywacji w istotnym stopniu zależy skuteczność i efektywność kosztowa systemu ochrony zdrowia.
Cel pracy. Celem pracy było przedstawienie obecnego stanu kadrowego pielęgniarek oraz systemu ich kształcenia w Polsce.
Materiał i metody. Badanie miało charakter opisowy i zostało przeprowadzone w oparciu o ogólnie dostępne dane i opracowania GUS, NIK, OECD, NIPiP oraz MZ.
Wyniki. W Polsce liczba pielęgniarek w coraz mniejszym stopniu odpowiada zapotrzebowaniu. Liczba pielęgniarek w kolejnych latach będzie maleć m.in. w związku z brakiem zastępowalności pokoleniowej w tym zawodzie oraz emigracją. Jednocześnie możliwości dydaktyczne systemu kształcenia nie są w pełni wykorzystywane.
Wnioski. Deficyt kadr pielęgniarskich jest zarówno problemem polskim, jak i globalnym. W dalszym ciągu brakuje systematycznych analiz dotyczących zapotrzebowania na przedstawicieli tej profesji. Niezbędne jest opracowanie całościowej polityki rozwoju zasobów ludzkich w ochronie zdrowia obejmującej nie tylko pielęgniarki, ale też lekarzy i pracowników zdrowia publicznego oraz innych zawodów i specjalności.
Summary
Introduction. Nurses are the largest group of employees in health systems working directly with the patient. To a large extent, among others, on their number, distribution, skills and motivation depends the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of the healthcare system.
Aim. The aim of the study was to present the current state of nursing personnel and the system of their medical education in Poland.
Material and methods. The study was of descriptive character and was conducted using publicly available data and publications of the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Supreme Chamber of Control of Poland, Polish Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, Polish Ministry of Health and OECD.
Results. In Poland, the number of nurses is becoming less and less satisfactory in meeting the demand. This number in the coming years will keep decreasing, among others, due to the lack of generational replacement in the profession as well as emigration. At the same time, the training potential of the medical education system is not used to the fullest.
Conclusions. The deficit of nursing personnel is a problem both in Poland and globally. There is a continuous lack of systematic analyses of the demand for the representatives of this profession. It is necessary to develop an overall policy for the development of human resources in healthcare, including not only nurses but also doctors, public health workers as well as other professionals and specialists.
INTRODUCTION
The profession of a nurse in Poland is a regulated profession. The nurse is a person with the qualifications required by law to practice as a nurse and perform the profession, i.e. a supplier of health services, especially care, preventive, diagnostic, treatment, rehabilitation and health promotion services (1).
In Poland, as in most countries of the world, there is a shortage of nurses. Due to the increase in the health care needs of aging societies, the problems of the education system and the emigration of staff, the deficit has been steadily getting worse (2). As a result, access to health care, its range and quality deteriorate, which could have negative consequences for the health and economic activities of people. Ensuring adequate numbers of appropriately qualified and distributed nurses is now one of the most important challenges faced by the Polish health care system. There is a need for comprehensive measures, including, among others, areas of higher education and the organization and financing of health services.
AIM
The aim of the study was to analyze the status of nursing staff in Poland, with reference to, among others, their number, age and to compare their situation in Poland with the situation in other countries, as well as to analyze the education system in this profession in the years 2006-2015.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Materials for the analysis included documents and data of the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, the Ministry of Health (including the report on the state budget execution in terms of health), the Central Statistical Office and the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). A comprehensive analysis of the existing, public sources was conducted in the following areas: the number, education, gender and age of nurses; the number of nurses in relation to the population; migration of nurses and nursing training in 2006-2015.
RESULTS
The number, education, gender and age of nurses
According to the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives (NIPiP) (3) at the end of December 2015, the number of registered nurses in Poland amounted to 285 376, including 231 448 (81.1%) with secondary medical education, 36 863 (12.9%) graduates of the first degree studies, and 17 065 (6%) graduates of the second degree. The number of those registered as nurses in 2015 included the vast majority (98.1%) of women. The number of people registered as nurses do not coincide with the number of people actually doing the job. According to the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, the number of nurses employed as their primary job was 221 172.
The analysis of the age structure of nurses in Poland presented in table 1 indicates a significant proportion of people in older age groups. The 50+ nurses accounted for almost half (49.31%), including 17.2% of this group, being 60+. Nurses aged to 31 accounted for only 5.5% of the whole group. A relatively small number of nurses in the younger age groups results in no replacement generation in this profession (3). According to the analysis of the Central Statistical Office, the situation steadily worsens (4). It is evidenced by the average age of this group which was 44.19 in 2008 and increased to 50.13 in 2015 (3).
Tab. 1. Age structure of nurses registered in the Central Register of Nurses and Midwives
| Age in years | Number of nurses | % |
| 21-25 | 4343 | 1.52 |
| 26-30 | 11 236 | 3.94 |
| 31-35 | 10 409 | 3.65 |
| 36-40 | 19 218 | 6.73 |
| 41-45 | 49 754 | 17.41 |
| 46-50 | 49 754 | 17.43 |
| 51-55 | 46 798 | 16.40 |
| 56-60 | 44 749 | 15.68 |
| 61-65 | 30 687 | 10.75 |
| 65+ | 18 501 | 6.48 |
| Total | 285 376 | 100.0 |
Source: Statistical information of the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives as of December 31, 2015
The number of nurses in relation to the population
According to the OECD (5), the number of nurses per 1000 inhabitants was 5.3 in Poland in 2013 with the average for the 27 European countries at the level of 9.1. This figure was significantly lower than e.g. in Germany (13.0), the Czech Republic (8.0), Lithuania (7.6) and Hungary (6.4) (fig. 1). What is important – the number of nurses in relation to the population in Poland in the period between 2000 and 2013 grew by just 0.3 p.p., with average growth in the 34 OECD countries at the level of 1.3 p.p. (5).
Fig. 1. Nurses per 1000 inhabitants in the 27 OECD countries in 2013. Source: on the basis of Health at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators, OECD 2015 (5)
There were significant differences in the number of nurses in relation to the population between regions. According to data from the Central Statistical Office in 2014 (6), the number of nurses and midwives (working) per 10 thousand of Polish residents amounted to 68. This number was the smallest in the Pomorskie Region (55 nurses and midwives per 10 thousand residents), Wielkopolskie Region (56) and Zachodniopomorskie Region (59), while it was the largest in: the Mazowieckie (76), Śląskie (74) and Świętokrzyskie (74) Regions.
Migration of nurses
The global shortage of nurses is conducive to migration of this group of staff from less developed countries to developed countries. According to the OECD data, the average share of nurses trained abroad in 23 Member States in 2013 was 5.9%, including e.g. Switzerland 18.7%, Great Britain 12.7%, Norway 8.8%, Germany 5.8% and Italy 5.1%. This phenomenon is recorded in Poland to a small extent. According to data the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives at the end of 2014, the number of registered nurses and midwives who are not Polish citizens was only 145 people (7).
Powyżej zamieściliśmy fragment artykułu, do którego możesz uzyskać pełny dostęp.
Mam kod dostępu
- Aby uzyskać płatny dostęp do pełnej treści powyższego artykułu albo wszystkich artykułów (w zależności od wybranej opcji), należy wprowadzić kod.
- Wprowadzając kod, akceptują Państwo treść Regulaminu oraz potwierdzają zapoznanie się z nim.
- Aby kupić kod proszę skorzystać z jednej z poniższych opcji.
Opcja #1
29 zł
Wybieram
- dostęp do tego artykułu
- dostęp na 7 dni
uzyskany kod musi być wprowadzony na stronie artykułu, do którego został wykupiony
Opcja #2
69 zł
Wybieram
- dostęp do tego i pozostałych ponad 7000 artykułów
- dostęp na 30 dni
- najpopularniejsza opcja
Opcja #3
129 zł
Wybieram
- dostęp do tego i pozostałych ponad 7000 artykułów
- dostęp na 90 dni
- oszczędzasz 78 zł
Piśmiennictwo
Ustawa z dnia 15 lipca 2011 r. o zawodach pielęgniarki i położnej (Dz. U. z 2014 r., poz. 435 ze zm.).
The World Health Report 2006. Working together for health; http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/ (dostęp z dnia: 29 grudnia 2015 r.).
Informacje statystyczne Naczelnej Izby Pielęgniarek i Położnych stan na 31 grudnia 2015 r.
Zdrowie i ochrona zdrowia w 2014 r., Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warszawa 2015.
Health at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators, OECD 2015.
Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Bank Danych Lokalnych; http://stat.gov.pl/bdl/app/strona.html?p_name=indeks (dostęp z dnia 29 grudnia 2015 r.).
Zabezpieczenie społeczeństwa polskiego w świadczenia pielęgniarek i położnych, Naczelna Izba Pielęgniarek i Położnych, Warszawa 2015.
Odpowiedź sekretarza stanu w Ministerstwie Zdrowia – z upoważnienia ministra – na interpelację nr 29353 w sprawie wysokości pensji oraz sposobu przyznawania premii i dodatków w grupie zawodowej pielęgniarek i położnych; http://www.sejm.gov.pl/Sejm7.nsf/InterpelacjaTresc.xsp?key=517969DE (dostęp z dnia: 26 listopada 2015 r.).
Ustawa z dnia 27 lipca 2005 roku – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym (Dz. U. z 2012 r., poz. 572 ze zm.).
Dyrektywa 2005/36/WE Parlamentu i Rady Europy z dnia 7 września 2005 roku w sprawie uznawania kwalifikacji zawodowych (Dz.U. UE. L.05.255.22 ze zm.).
Sprawozdania z wykonania budżetu państwa w zakresie ochrony zdrowia z lat 2006-2014.
Twigg D: The impact of nurses on patient morbidity and mortality – the need for a policy change in response to the nursing shortage, Australian Health Review 2010; 34(3): 312-316.
Delamaire M-L, Lafortune G: Nurses in Advanced Roles: A Description and Evaluation of Experiences in 12 Developed Countries, OECD Health Working Paper, 54, OECD 2010.
Radkiewicz P, Widerszal-Bazyl M, Pokorski J et al.: Dlaczego pielęgniarki wcześnie odchodzą z zawodu? Bezpieczeństwo Pracy 2004; 7-8: 31-34.
MacKusick CI, Minick P: Why Are Nurses Leaving? Findings From an Initial Qualitative Study on Nursing Attrition, Medsurg Nursing 19.6.2010 Nov/Dec: 335-340.
Flinkman M, Leino-Kilpi H, Salanterä S: Nurses’ intention to leave the profession: integrative review. Journal of Advanced Nursing 2010; 66 (7): 1422-1434.
Ulrich B, Krozek C, Early S et al.: Improving Retention, Confidence, And Competence of New Graduate Nurses: Results from a 10-Year Longitudinal Database. Nursing Economics 28.6.2010 Nov/Dec: 363-376.
Barriball L, Buchan J, Craveiro J et al.: Recruitment and Retention of the Health Workforce in Europe. Final report. European Commission, Brussels 2015.
Zgliczyński WS: Kadry medyczne w Polsce. INFOS Zagadnienia społeczno-gospodarcze 2016; 6(210): 1-4.
