Healthcare institutions, technical colleges and universities of applied sciences are to receive federal funding for the training of nursing professionals as of July 2024. On Wednesday, the Federal Council sent the corresponding implementation regulations for the nursing initiative for consultation.

There is a shortage of thousands of nursing specialists in hospitals and homes. The Federal Council wants to implement a nursing initiative which was adopted at the ballot box in November 2021. The Swiss government aims to do so in two stages.

The first stage is comprised of a training initiative, which is expected to start mid-2024 and last for eight years. The possibility for nurses to bill for certain services independently, has been signed and sealed by the parliament. The Federal Council has now sent various ordinance amendments based on the law for consultation.

The Swiss Confederation and the cantons are to contribute up to CHF1 billion ($1.14 billion) in the form of grants for training institutions and scholarships. The Federal Council wants to regulate further elements of the new constitutional article in a new law, the preliminary draft of which should be ready by spring 2024.