Schallmeiner urges reforms for nurses: better working conditions now!

Schallmeiner urges reforms for nurses: better working conditions now!

Österreich - Ralph Schallmeiner, spokesman for health of the Greens, urged to improve improvements for healthcare employees on April 25, 2025. In a current debate on heavy work regulation, Schallmeiner pointed out that many paramedics: inside and nursing staff give up their profession prematurely, often due to intensive physical stress and burnout. He appealed to Health Minister Korinna Schumann and the government to create practical and accessible heavy work criteria in order to avoid frustration in the health sector. He also emphasized the need for a new framework law for paramedics: inside, which includes uniform standards for training and working conditions, as well as a novella of the paramedic law (sang) and nationwide standardizations.

When the new heavy work regulation, which includes nursing staff, underlined Health and Social Minister Schumann and ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger that nursing staff will be able to retire at the age of 60. However, this is only possible if the requirements of at least 45 years of insurance and at least 10 years have been fulfilled in the past 20 years. The inclusion of the nursing staff in the heavy work ordinance is seen as a recognition of their central role for society.

improvement of working conditions

The new criteria for heavy work should not only be objectified, but an extension to be expanded with psychological stress and multiple pollution is also sought. This could result in better recognition of the hours and services in care, which is an important step to increase the attractiveness of the nursing profession.

The persistent challenges in the health and care sector were reinforced by the Covid 19 pandemic. This has not only made the problem of a shortage of skilled workers clearer, but also the urgency to obtain new staff and the need to contain the premature career exit. These topics are at the center of an ongoing analysis that examines different conditions and change factors in the employment and working conditions in the health sector in order to provide specific design recommendations to improve the situation. In particular, the connection between the poor working conditions, low wages and the requirements placed on nursing staff are discussed.

Schallmeiner also calls for a nationwide uniform, less stressful personnel key as well as reducing working hours and sufficient regeneration times for employees in healthcare. According to him, heavy labor law regulations are not very useful as long as the criteria are difficult to fulfill. The discussion about this topic will remain central in the coming months, since the government is asked to sustainably improve working conditions in these system -relevant professions.

The challenges that have been reinforced by the Covid 19 pandemic make it necessary for everyone involved to pull together and develop solutions in order to increase the working conditions and the satisfaction of the employees. In this context, the willingness of the population is also taken into account to cover costs to improve working conditions in the health and care sector.

For further information on the current developments in the heavy work debate, refer to the reports from OTS href = "https://www.social ministerium.gv.at/services/neuigen-und-termine/archiv-2025/pflegekraefte-schwerbeitsverorde.html"> Social Ministry or the FIS-Netzwerk .