Since the establishment of the first nursing colleges in the late 19th century, the nursing profession has been highly professionalised. Current challenges in healthcare, such as ageing, staff shortages and high workloads, call for task shifts, digitalisation and more focus on prevention and self-reliance. This study shows that occupational profiles, from 5 Western countries, often provide little clarity on task allocation between nurses and other healthcare professionals. Nurses perform many medical tasks and new legislation has given specialised nurses more powers. It was therefore to be expected that nurses would perform medical tasks more often than 10 years ago, but this was not reflected in this study. Many professionals find taking over medical tasks from doctors useful, but also point to the increasing workload. In the future, more emphasis is expected to be placed on promoting self-management, prevention, involving loved ones and digital care, which will require additional training. Labour market analyses predict a shortage of nurses that could rise from 5.7% in 2023 to 14.6% in 2033. Improving working conditions and career opportunities can mitigate this shortage. Clear task delineation and further professionalisation are needed to keep healthcare sustainable and attractive for nurses.
Nivel - researcher Nursing, Care and Elderly Care & Labour and Organisational Issues in Care. PhD research Nurses of the Future. Master in Nutrition and Health, specialisation Epidemiology and Public Health (Wageningen University). Master Health Sciences, specialisation Health Policy (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics (The Hague University of Applied Sciences).