Particular challenges in professional nursing

Professional nursing and care have involved heavy demands - both physical and mental - for decades: high work intensity, a paucity of opportunities for recovery at work, difficulties with life/work balance caused by shift and weekend working, and physical workloads such as lifting, carrying, and awkward working postures are just a few of the key issues in this context. These unattractive and potentially unhealthy working conditions are exacerbated by staffing shortages and the rising demand for nursing/care provision – which is being driven by demographic changes. 

The COVID-19 pandemic threw up further difficulties such as a noticeably raised risk of infection, the need to wear personal protective equipment at all times, and the dilemma of how to implement contact restrictions while responding sensitively to patients and care recipients’ needs. This was associated with a considerable intensification of work activities in many areas of nursing and care.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) and the healthy design of working conditions for professional nurses/carers are therefore necessary preconditions if nursing and care are to meet the challenges of the future.

Research for practice

The demands of professional nursing/care are as diverse and broad as the spectrum of relevant OSH topics on which the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) is conducting research. One priority for our current investigations is the potential opened up by deploying digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to design healthy working conditions and deal with unfavourable workload scenarios. In this respect, a particular focus is being placed on the specific nature of service work - tasks that involve doing things directly with, to, and for other people.

Our approach to these questions is always practically oriented. We want to supply nurses and carers, their managers, nursing/care institutions, and occupational safety and health specialists with concrete stimuli and practical guidance. This is why transferring the results we reach to practice is a constant thread in our research. Our findings also feed into science-based policy advice at the national and federal state (Land) levels.

Nurses and care workers themselves usually know exactly where changes need to be made and what solutions would be practicable. We want our activities to raise awareness of OSH issues and put suitable tools in peoples’ hands so that viable solutions are ultimately developed in hospitals, residential homes, outpatient nursing settings, and home care services and then implemented consistently as well. baua: Aktuell 2/2025, p. 2 (German) 

Current research topics

The following topics are addressed in our research projects – which are carried out in close cooperation with representatives of nursing practice as well as experts in this field.

Work organisation in outpatient nursing

Decent work organisation in professional nursing is not only an important prerequisite for well-functioning processes but also indispensable for nurses' well-being, health, and motivation. If everything "fits", there are demonstrably positive effects on the quality of nurses' work, absenteeism, and employee retention.

baua: Guidance: Decent Ward Organisation - A Guide for Nursing Teams in Hospitals

Organisational interventions as part of pandemic management in inpatient care

Professional nurses belong to one of the largest vocational groups in Germany and were already exposed to unfavourable working conditions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic aggravated existing work-related challenges and created new ones - such as an increased risk of infection, additional staffing shortages or the necessity to change aspects of work organisation in response to short-term staff absences.

Essay: “Individual and work-related challenges of nursing personnel in inpatient care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany”

Rest breaks and recovery in professional nursing

Many professional nurses involuntarily skip their rest breaks. However, ensuring rest breaks is mandatory by law because rest breaks have been shown to protect employees’ health and work safety. Moreover, many nursing studies found ergonomic rest break design to improve nurse performance and care quality and even to reduce nurse turnover.

baua: Guidance: Appropriate Rest Break Arrangements in Nursing and Care

Deployment of digital technology and artificial Intelligence in the health sector

Apps, sensors, exoskeletons, robots: there is currently a lot going on in research into digital technologies for the care sector. We have analysed 30 research projects in this field to gain an overview of the current research landscape.