'Global downturn has hit nurse wages and care quality', international nursing conference hears

Problems in the world economy have led to wage cuts for nurses across the globe and reductions in care quality, a conference on international workforce issues heard.

Finnish Nurses Association president Merja Merasto made the comments at the International Council of Nurses annual international workforce forum in Helsinki last week.

She also warned that the ‘eligibility criteria’ for nurses was being changed so that employers are not as stringent as before about the skill levels of staff that they take on.

Ms Merasto said: ‘The effects of the deteriorating economy are already evident globally in the reduction of eligibility criteria for nurses, wage cuts and bargaining with the quality of care and patient safety.’

Expanded job descriptions and strategies for helping nurses combine work and family life are needed, she added.

Christiane Wiskow, a specialist in the health services sector at the International Labour Organisation, said: ‘The competition for qualified health workers will grow in the next decades both inside the countries and globally.

'Poor working conditions, low pay and limited career opportunities are significant factors contributing to increasing healthcare workers’ migration and also to the early exit of nurses from the healthcare sector.’

She said there was an unequal distribution of health workers globally and between rural and urban areas, creating inequities of access to care.