From third countries

Nursing emergency: staff urgently needed

The population is getting older and older, and nowhere is this more noticeable than in care homes.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The nursing apprenticeship got off to a good start in Tyrol, with 16 apprentices currently in training since October 2023. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of staff, 65 beds are currently blocked. For the Managing Director of Innsbruck Social Services, Hubert Innerebner, one thing is clear: people from third countries are needed - without red tape.

The nursing shortage in Tyrol will continue even after the start of the nursing apprenticeship in October 2023 - even if Tyrol is clearly proud to have set up the nursing apprenticeship. "It was a Herculean task. We were confronted with the legal documents very late," explains Hubert Innerebner. The federal government is still in default. Either in the creation of a handbook for teaching or a template for documentation.

Only two federal states with nursing apprenticeships
Only Vorarlberg and Tyrol were able to successfully launch the nursing apprenticeship, with great effort and advance preparation. There are 16 apprentices in this first run. However, the situation for the ITS remains critical: there is a shortage of staff, which is mainly due to demographic developments: There are more and more old people for fewer and fewer young people.

We're just struggling, I'll tell it like it is.

Hubert Innerebner

Work permits must become less bureaucratic
For Innerebner, one thing is clear: we need people from abroad, from third countries. To this end, foreign qualifications must also be recognized more unbureaucratically. The company works with agencies that focus on Colombia. "We also have a very flourishing cooperation with Bosnian institutions, so that at least those who are due to retire can be replaced, but we are struggling, I'll tell it like it is."

30 to 40 additional full-time employees would be needed. Currently, 65 out of a total of 1006 beds are closed - due to a lack of staff. In the next five years, 50 people will retire from nursing care at ISD. Who is allowed into the nursing home is decided according to urgency: with care level 4, the number is decreasing. Average age when moving in: 83 years.