The Ministry of Health has x-rayed in depth what is happening with the 306,268 nursing professionals in Spain. The result, presented this Monday, confirms that Spain would need at least two decades to match European countries in ratios of nurses – it would even take twice as long in La Rioja or the Community of Madrid – and that the system wastes the training of nurses. specialists – only one in three trained people work in a corresponding position – and that there are unequal conditions depending on where they work.
To the usual differences by territory (it is the communities that hire) or by specialty, another is added, revealed by the Ministry’s study: salaries are higher in hospitals than in health centers, with up to 500 euros of difference in communities like Murcia.
Murcia, Galicia and Andalusia are the regions with the greatest lack of nurses compared to territories more aligned with the European Union average such as Navarra. In total, it is estimated, as previous reports from other organizations have done, that Spain needs to hire 100,000 professionals to be on par with the countries of the continent. If in Europe the average is 8.5 nurses per 1,000 inhabitants, in Spain the figure is 6.3.
“In the last decade there has been an increase in nurses of more than 20%. It is notable but insufficient, not only quantitatively but qualitatively,” admitted the number two in the Ministry, Javier Padilla, in a press conference. The ratios, Padilla specified, vary greatly not only depending on the territory but also on the work center. The body of hospital nurses has grown at a much better rate (27.2% between 2014 and 2022) than in health centers (11%).
The fact that 55% of nurses claim that there is not enough staff to provide quality care in their workplace is the transfer of the situation figures to the consultations and wards. The percentage escalates even more in private hospitals and social health centers such as nursing homes, according to the complementary survey that the Ministry of Health has carried out online and in which 55,000 professionals have participated.
Feminized profession, but not to command
The contracts are still mostly temporary (80%), but the number of them signed each year has slightly reduced, which can be interpreted as an increase in stability, according to Health. In this scenario, four out of ten professionals say they want to leave the profession in the next ten years. Furthermore, although there are six times more female nurses than male nurses, the study reveals that they occupy more management positions (4.8%) than female nurses (3.9%).
Regarding working conditions, the Health work investigates the differences in working hours and remuneration. Most communities offer higher salaries for nurses working in hospitals than in Primary Care.
The minimum monthly salary for a general nurse in Hospital Care is 2,694 euros, 543 euros more than in a health center. However, there are exceptions, such as the Balearic Islands, where the salary in Primary Care, 2,711 euros, is slightly higher than that in hospitals, 2,642 euros. Nurses with a specialty – there are six different ones, although they are unknown to many people and there are communities that do not even recognize them – generally also earn more than those who do not.
Large differences are also observed if we look at the highest minimum salaries recorded in the Canary Islands, with 2,898 euros for Hospital Care and 3,318 euros for Primary Care, followed by Navarra, where nurses receive a uniform salary of 2,917 euros, and Ceuta. and Melilla, with 2,812 euros and 3,005 euros depending on the level of care. In contrast, regions such as Cantabria (1,647 euros and 2,080 euros) and Madrid (2,005 euros and 2,281 euros) have the lowest salaries in the sector.
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