Bulgaria – the overview (The information will be continiously updated)

Caretakers job market analysis

Nearly a thousand nurses leave Bulgaria every year. Forecasts on World Nursing Day are that the critical minimum will soon be reached. The problem of outflow of nurses developed earlier and faster than that of doctors. According to the Bulgarian Association of Healthcare Professionals, there are currently about 29,000 nurses in Bulgaria. 3,800 of them are of retirement age, but continue to work. The required number for the country is at least 55,000. Most often Bulgarian nurses find better jobs and pay in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Our nurses are already working in Australia.

Improper pay, unattractive work environment, lack of conditions for continuing education and career development – some of the reasons that lead nurses to pack their suitcases abroad.

Qualification requirements for caretaking professions

Certificates  of professional training for the profession Nurse for completed modules “General care and patient care” and “Social work and patient care at home” are available, but not very popular at all. The reason is that there are so many people, who are not trained without any certification, who are conducting takecaring services for old and disabled people. One of the challenges in Bulgaria is that we don’t have any subsidized services for social assistants/caretaking services as most funding was provided to families of old and disabled people. Just recently a new legislation was introduced and it came up that there is a huge shortage of certified professionals in the field, but no one talks about this. Everyone talks about getting the money for the services, but no one still talks on the quality of services. 

Bulgaria is one of the most aging countries in Europe. However, certified caretakers in the country are almost nonexistent as most of them prefer to work anywhere in Europe and not in Bulgaria because of very low pays (up to 350-400 EUR monthly).

(https://www.piamater.org/classes/centr-za-profesionalno-obucenie/23052015)

Existing VET learning programs for caretakers

None are available at the moment as stated above, no one is interested if this type of services are certified. 

Only one professional course has been offered for caretakers in the last year of 2019.

(https://www.navet.government.bg/bg/predlagani-ot-tspo-kursove-za-obuchenie/)

(The information will be continiously updated)