{"id":36641,"date":"2026-09-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keplervision.eu\/?post_type=seoai_post&p=36641"},"modified":"2026-05-28T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:36:13","slug":"which-healthcare-professions-have-the-largest-staff-shortage","status":"publish","type":"seoai_post","link":"https:\/\/keplervision.eu\/en\/blog\/which-healthcare-professions-have-the-largest-staff-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Which healthcare professions have the greatest staff shortages?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The healthcare professions facing the greatest staffing shortages in the Netherlands are nurses, care assistants, and home care workers. The need is most acute in elderly care and long-term care: the combination of an aging population, high workloads, and difficult working conditions means vacancies consistently go unfilled. In this article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about the staffing shortage in healthcare<\/a> and what care organizations can do about it.<\/p>\n

Which healthcare sectors are facing the biggest shortages?<\/h2>\n

Elderly care, home care, and mental healthcare (GGZ) are facing the largest staffing shortages in the Netherlands. Within these sectors, nurses and care assistants are the hardest to find. Hospital care and disability care follow closely behind, particularly for specialized roles such as ICU nurses and behavioral specialists.<\/p>\n

The shortages are not evenly distributed. In elderly care, there is broad, structural scarcity at every level \u2014 from entry-level care helpers to level-5 nurses. In hospitals, the shortage is more concentrated in specialized roles and night shifts. Mental healthcare has particular difficulty attracting psychiatric nurses and community psychiatric workers \u2014 professions that require lengthy training and have high attrition rates.<\/p>\n

Why is the staffing shortage in elderly care so severe?<\/h2>\n

The staffing shortage in elderly care is so severe because demand for care is growing faster than the supply of qualified staff. An aging population is driving care demand up by approximately 6% per year, while many experienced workers are leaving the sector due to high workloads, emotional strain, and relatively low wages compared to other industries.<\/p>\n

Compounding this is the image problem facing elderly care. Young people are less likely to pursue a career in this field, even though the work is demanding and the social recognition rarely feels proportionate. Staff who do join the sector tend to leave again faster than average. This creates a vicious cycle: fewer staff means higher workloads for those who remain, which drives attrition even further.<\/p>\n

How large is the staffing shortage in Dutch healthcare?<\/h2>\n

The Netherlands is tens of thousands of healthcare workers short, and this number grows every year. Projections from the Capaciteitsorgaan and other industry bodies indicate that without structural measures, the shortage could exceed one hundred thousand care workers across the broader healthcare sector by 2030. By 2026, the pressure is already being felt in virtually every care organization.<\/p>\n

The figures vary by sector, but the trend is the same everywhere: the inflow of new staff is not keeping pace with attrition and growing care demand. Care organizations are increasingly relying on temporary and on-call workers to fill gaps, which puts continuity of care under pressure and drives up costs.<\/p>\n

What are the consequences of the staffing shortage for patients?<\/h2>\n

The consequences of the healthcare staffing shortage for patients are immediate and serious. Clients in elderly care wait longer for assistance, receive less individual attention, and face a greater risk of undetected incidents such as falls. In hospitals, understaffing leads to longer waiting times, delayed treatments, and increased pressure on the staff who are present.<\/p>\n

For vulnerable elderly residents in nursing homes in particular, understaffing means that nighttime incidents may not be discovered until much later. A fall or an unsafe situation that goes unnoticed can cause serious harm. Beyond the physical risks, the shortage also has a psychological effect: clients feel less safe, and staff experience more stress \u2014 further undermining the quality of the care relationship.<\/p>\n

How can care organizations address the staffing shortage?<\/h2>\n

Care organizations can tackle the staffing shortage through a combination of better working conditions, smarter scheduling, targeted recruitment, and the use of technology that lightens the workload. No single measure solves the problem entirely, but together they can significantly reduce the pressure.<\/p>\n

Practical steps care organizations can take:<\/p>\n