Nurses in Poland — Immediate Action Needed

The aim of the study is to analyse changes in the size of the population of nurses in Poland in the years 2004-2014, considering changes in their employment and the phenomenon of ageing. The analysis is based on the data published by the Central Register of Nurses and Midwives of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Nurses are the largest professional group in the healthcare sector. In 2014, only above 70% of licensed nurses were professionally active. The percentage of employed nurses compared to the number of licensed nurses varied between the lowest ratio of 65.1% in 2005 and the highest ratio of 71.7% in 2012. The latest ratio of 2014 was 70.9%, which was slightly lower compared to the highest ratio in 2012. The average age of a Polish nurse in 2008 was 44.19 years, increasing by about six years to 50.1 within the analysed period. The population of nurses aged above 65 years is almost 4.5 times bigger compared to the youngest age group, which is 21-25 years. Thus, 2/3 of the population of nurses are 41-60 years of age and nearly 85% are over 40. For two years (2000 and 2014), the number of practising nurses per 1000 inhabitants places Poland in the fifth bottom position among the European countries, which shows a significant reduction in patient access to nursing services. In Poland, the profession of nurses has no replacement generation. The article presents the shortage of professionally active nurses in Poland. The existing register of nurses does not contain complete information necessary to evaluate the current situation in Poland. There is a strong need to improve the tracking system of the register of nurses to accurately monitor the number of nurses in Poland The shortage of professionally active nurses and their ageing necessitates immediate action to reduce the shortage by increasing the appeal of the profession among young people and by encouraging nurses to return to the profession. It is also necessary to take action to delay the retirement of those nurses who want to work longer and to use their potential. This is also particularly important because of the gap in experience, which is going to become apparent the nearest future.