More and more nurses are choosing to leave region-driven healthcare to instead start working for private caregivers or municipalities. This is evident from a report by the National Board of Health and Welfare, which has looked at nurses who graduated in 2014, 2017, and 2019.
The report shows that every fifth nurse who started working in a region switched to municipal or private caregivers during the period from January 2020 to December 2022.
"It is worrying that many nurses are leaving the regions after a few years, as it becomes more difficult to provide care for the regions," says Mattias Fredricson, department head at the National Board of Health and Welfare, on the authority's website.
According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, there is a risk that regions and municipalities will not be able to ensure a stable workforce supply if the current trend of increased mobility continues. Regions operate, among other things, hospitals and health centers.
The National Board of Health and Welfare notes that the proportion of nurses in healthcare who work for private actors has increased from 13 percent in 2002 to 21 percent in 2022.
The authority writes that private caregivers and staffing companies also have a role in the healthcare system, but it is important to emphasize that experience and competence are available where care needs are great and complex.
The proportion of nurses employed by foreign-owned caregivers is also increasing. In Stockholm County, the proportion of nurses working for foreign-owned caregivers was 14 percent in 2022, which was the highest in the country.
