Swiss nursing home staff complain of stress and low pay

The study authors argue that the Covid pandemic has worsened conditions for care personnel in old people's homes. © Keystone/Christian Beutler

Care home staff have criticised the labour conditions in Switzerland’s old people’s homes.

In a survey published on Tuesday, half of the respondents said salaries were too low and up to 40% complained about stress at work.

The Swiss Health ObservatoryExternal link, an institution financed by the national and cantonal authorities, also revealed that one in two respondents said they were considering changing jobs.

Nearly all care home managers who took part in the survey said they had problems recruiting skilled nurses and other carers.

The study is based on data from more than 4,400 people working in old people’s homes in the German- and French-speaking parts of the country between 2018 and 2020.

The authors of the survey say the findings confirm that labour conditions in old people’s homes were difficult before the Covid-19 pandemic and that the situation has got worse over the past two years.

The authors of the study recommend salary increases as well as other measures to boost the image of nursing home staff to attract more personnel.