The future of care: Nurses in 2030

We interviewed four nursing professionals from Denmark, Spain, Sweden, and France to better understand the current and future challenges in nursing, the role of technology in supporting nurses and their patients, and how the profession may evolve over the next five years.

Diversity of nursing responsibilities across Europe

Status and responsibilities of nurses vary quite a bit from country to country. In Sweden and Denmark, for example, nurses are highly recognised and trusted by patients, and they can prescribe certain medications. In France, advanced practice nurses (IPAs) have certain prescribing rights, unlike general nurses (IDEs). In Spain, nurses rely heavily on doctors and are not permitted to prescribe medications.

"Spain is missing 95,000 nurses, which means that nurses are working more to compensate, impacting the quality of the attention they give to their patients and their own health," says Montserrat Antonin, a nurse by background, a digital health consultant and ex-director of Gimbernat School of Nursing in Spain.

Spain has around 23 nurses per 100,000 habitants; for comparison, Finland and Norway, which are at the top of the chart, have 67 and 78 nurses per 100,000, respectively, based on Eurostat data. The difficulty in recruiting nurses in Spain stems from a lack of responsibility and autonomy, along with lower salaries compared to the rest of Europe. This has led many Spanish nurses to seek better-paying jobs with greater recognition in France and the Nordics.

The evolving role of nurses

Healthcare systems across Europe are under strain. Waiting times to see a doctor are increasing, especially in the medical deserts and rural areas, where some doctors are not even accepting new patients. On the other hand, nurses are seeing patients on a more regular basis, especially those who do home care. However, their ability to take action remains limited.

Nursing professionals warn that two things need to happen: The number of nursing professionals needs to increase, and care needs to become more interdisciplinary.

"We need to accelerate the number of nursing professionals to meet the needs of patients, from the point of view of problem identification, potential diagnosis and then care management," says Florence Herry, a nurse in France and founder of Libheros, a platform that connects patients with independent healthcare professionals for at-home medical services, including nursing care.
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