City of Zurich strengthens care and support professions
The health department has introduced a comprehensive program to strengthen the professions for employees in nursing professions in the Zurich hospital and in the centres.
The municipal health institutions depend on committed, well-qualified employees. Although the city of Zurich already offers attractive employment conditions with industry-specific wages and good social benefits as well as family-friendly working and part-time models, the corona pandemic has accentuated the fact that employees in nursing and care professions in the Zurich City Hospital and in the health centers for old age are larger are exposed to physical and mental stress.
In addition, the shortage of skilled workers continues to worsen. The city wants to strengthen the nursing and care professions and has started a program with various improvement measures.
and promoting empowerment in care and support
The “Strengthening Care” program is intended to improve employment conditions, strengthen managerial and employee skills and position urban health organizations as attractive employers for trainees and specialists.
The program focuses on measures that increase the flexibility and autonomy of the increase. This includes, among other things, the optimization of deployment plans and duty rosters, the stronger alignment of part-time models to individual needs, the introduction of 30 minutes of flextime and increased self-organization within teams.
Another focus is on measures that enable them to focus on their core tasks and relieve them of other tasks.
This includes, for example, the creation of care pools that compensate for short-term absences, the systematic review of the distribution of tasks and simplified re-entry into care and support professions.
Furthermore, management skills as well as training and further education are to be experienced within the framework of the program. Some of the individual measures are already being implemented or piloted in the companies.
Higher wages due to adjustment of function levels
Another important aspect of the “Strengthening Nursing” program is the review of the functional assignments of nursing, care and other non-medical components in the municipal wage system.
Around 4000 people work in the evaluated functions. 70 percent of that probability increases. At 30 percent, the previous functional level is correct. The higher ratings are mainly due to the fact that the requirements for care and support have changed.
Increased demands on training, in-depth know-how, higher degree of autonomy, work in interprofessional teams. The upgrade has a direct impact on individual wages. The costs for the upgrade amount to a total of around CHF 27.6 million per year.
The adjustments will take effect on August 1, 2022. The city of Zurich will thus pay even more attractive wages in care. With the launch of the “Program to Strengthen Nursing”, the city is sending an important signal, recognizing the demands of employees in the nursing and care professions and implementing a significant proportion of the national nursing initiative and two proposals from the municipal council.
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