[Staffing situation in home-care services: A qualitative study on current and future challenges]

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Services
• Human Resources in Healthcare

Background:

• Increasing staff shortages and vacancies in German home-care nursing services.
• Challenges in providing care for individuals requiring home assistance.
• Complexity and limited availability of current personnel planning approaches in home care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate current staff deployment and planning practices in German home care services.
• To evaluate potential strategies for developing future staffing measures in home care.
• To understand the challenges faced by home care providers regarding staffing.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study utilizing guideline-based expert interviews (N=33).
• Inclusion of experts from home care providers, advisors, and human resources management.
• Content analysis for data interpretation.

Main Results:

• Home care services struggle to meet demand due to staff shortages.
• Staff planning, recruitment, and retention are major challenges.
• Staffing decisions are primarily driven by contractual and reimbursement systems, not individual patient needs.

Conclusions:

• The staffing situation in home care is expected to remain a critical issue.
• Ensuring adequate home care supply is intrinsically linked to addressing staffing challenges.
• Innovative staffing approaches, moving beyond reimbursement-focused planning, are crucial for the future.