“Good afternoon, I’m here with your meal! Today it’s cod with carrots and potatoes,” says Joke (41) as she quickly enters the penultimate room of the neurosurgery department. “I still have to get used to maneuvering those food carts. It looks a bit clumsy,” she laughs in the hallway.
Joke is one of five care assistants who joined an education and training program at the Wase hospital Vitaz at the end of last year. The five will soon be at the patients’ beds to take care of part of the nurses’ workload.
It is a pioneering project in the care sector in Flanders. Even the cabinet of Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) is watching the feat in Sint-Niklaas with growing interest.
“A daring but necessary project”, says nursing process manager Brecht Serraes. “The influx of nurses today is slightly lower than before the pandemic. There was a small upswing due to the corona crisis, but the vacancy figure is clear: the shortage of nurses is more than acute. In 2018, there were an average of two vacancies per nurse in Flanders. Today you can count on four vacancies per nurse. And since the bachelor’s degree in nursing has been extended from three to four years, we don’t see any immediate improvement.”
The number of healthcare professionals is also falling in Flanders: slightly less than one candidate per vacancy. Four years ago, three candidates applied for every vacancy notice.
“Both hospitals and residential care centers are looking in that direction to relieve the pressure on nurses. So we all fish in the same pond,” explains Serraes. “Moreover, the job content of nurses is becoming increasingly complex. There are ever higher quality and safety expectations, but concrete care is also becoming more difficult. The puzzle is complicated.”
From care buddy to care support: there was internal debate about the content and name of the new position. Ultimately, the hospital landed on the term care assistant.
“By taking some control over basic care, they will support the entire care team. This includes bed making and transport of patients from the hospital room to the operating room. They will get patients out of bed and immediately have them sit on the scales. Weighing someone may only take two minutes, but in an entire department it can easily take an hour and a half. In addition, they also carry out administrative and logistical assignments, such as meal distributions at the department where they work.”
The care assistants always work under the supervision of the nurses. They still have the final responsibility for the patient. The care assistants are therefore not allowed to carry out medical actions on their own. The nurses in turn will have to learn how to delegate basic care. “Our nurses will now be taken care of a bit, and that makes us optimistic,” says deputy chief nurse Kenny Vereecken.
Meanwhile, Joke’s shift is over. The theory lesson starts after the lunch break. “About dealing with confused or aggressive people,” says Joke, who until recently worked as an independent beautician. “Actually, I’ve regretted all my life that I didn’t study nursing. My dad advised me to take the bull by the horns. I wanted to work my way up, so I applied to become a logistician at Vitaz. But then the personnel department called about this project. I didn’t hesitate for a second. This is my chance to work in healthcare after all. If I obtain my diploma for care assistant, I can grow into a care assistant in a year, combined with working in practice. The dream is to become a nurse.”
The first group of care assistants will graduate in May. A second group of fifteen candidates will start in mid-January. No fewer than 90 people between the ages of 20 and 55 sent their resumes. The interest is great. In the long term, an umbrella training center would be the ideal scenario.