N Haidu all-media reporter Liang Zhanhao Lin Yaxuan
Image courtesy of the interviewee
With the gradual deepening of the aging of the mainland, the rapid expansion of the scale of pension institutions, the elderly care services are moving towards specialization, "the old have support, the old have dependence" has gradually become "the old have fun, the old have enjoyed", the pension industry in recent years has shown new needs, new changes, related professional talents are more and more urgent. At present, the training of domestic pension professionals is accelerating, and some colleges and universities in Fujian Province have also opened pension-related majors. What kind of talents does the senior service major cultivate? What are the career paths for graduates? What will young people do in the future pension industry? With these questions, the reporter interviewed teachers and students of Fujian South China Women's Vocational College and Fujian Health Vocational and Technical College.
There have been difficulties in recruiting students for the pension major
Nowadays, more students are taking the initiative to apply for the exam
In 2009, Fujian South China Women's Vocational College applied to open a major in elderly service and management. In September of the following year, the first batch of more than 20 new students majoring in elderly service and management were enrolled.
Difficulty in recruiting students is a common problem faced by pension majors in colleges and universities. "In 2019, we only had five students enrolled in our program." In the view of Zhang Min, director of the wisdom and health pension service and management major of Fujian South China Women's Vocational College, pension is an industry of "love and blessing", but at the beginning, most people wear colored glasses and label practitioners as "end feces and urine" and "serve people", which makes young people reluctant to engage in this industry.
Zhang Min is teaching students how to use a walker
From the 20 or so students in the first enrollment in 2010, to the single-digit students in a few years, to the fact that more students are willing to take the initiative to apply for the exam in recent years, she knows that "all this is not easy to come by". According to Zhang Min's recollection, there were too few students majoring in elderly care for several years, and some courses needed to be combined with other related majors. "It wasn't until 2020 that the number of applicants increased significantly, and in 2023, more than 120 people were enrolled.
Zhang Min took the students into the nursing home to take care of the elderly
The increase in the number of professional students is closely related to the prospects of the industry. Wu Meidan, a teacher at the School of Nursing of Fujian Health Vocational and Technical College, told reporters that the School of Nursing has set up a major in geriatric health care and management since 2019, and at first the major only opened 1 class, enrolling 40 students, increasing to 3 classes year by year, and now there are 327 students. "The employment rate for the Class of 2019 and Class of 2021 is 100 percent, and the Class of 2020 is 92 percent. Most of the graduates are employed in medical and health institutions, elderly care institutions or elderly product production and operation enterprises, mainly engaged in care trainers, cultural and entertainment planners, elderly health management and other work. Wu Meidan said that due to the shortage of high-quality talents in the pension industry, fresh graduates in related majors are "in short supply" and are welcomed by various institutions and companies.
The elderly care profession is more than just "nursing"
Comprehensive health management services are also available
Does the pension major belong to the management or nursing major? In 2016, the Ministry of Education announced the list of 65 of the first batch of vocational colleges and universities in the country to demonstrate the elderly service category. Among them, more than half of the "elderly nursing" majors are nursing, and less than 20 are "elderly service management" majors are management; Moreover, among the 65 demonstration sites, medical and health vocational colleges account for the majority. The close connection between the early pension profession and medical and health vocational colleges has virtually deepened the impression that people are accustomed to thinking that "the pension major is a nursing profession".
"The undergraduate pension major focuses on cultivating managerial talents, which is a positive response to the changes in the demand for social pension services." Zhang Min believes that in recent years, the pension industry has accelerated its development, and unprecedented opportunities have emerged in the pension service market. Elderly care should take a more professional and refined route. Because elderly care is different from "clinical care for the elderly" in most people's eyes, the latter mainly focuses on the physical care and disease care of the elderly, while the former also includes life care, health management and psychological care.
Zhang Min emphasized that the elderly care profession is not only for the care of geriatric diseases, but also provides comprehensive health management services. In addition, after graduation, students do not go to hospitals to do nursing, but to go to nursing institutions, social work centers, community home elderly service centers, etc. to engage in services related to elderly care. "For example, feeding the elderly, most people call it 'feeding', but the professional term is 'assisting in eating'. There's a lot of professional stuff here. First of all, you need to evaluate the chewing function of each elderly person, so as to arrange the diet reasonably. secondly, the swallowing function of the elderly should be assessed to avoid choking; At the same time, you should also pay attention to whether the elderly are willing to eat and what their psychological state is; For another example, in addition to the conventional care techniques for changing diapers for the elderly, we must also know how to respect and protect the privacy of the elderly. ”
The pension profession has a career upward channel
Caregivers are a must-have position
In June 2024, Lin Haiping applied for the pension major of South China Women's Vocational College in Fujian and was successfully admitted. Lin Haiping, born in 2006, is a native of Ningde. In the summer after being admitted, she interned as a caregiver at a private nursing home in her hometown. After entering this nursing home, she originally thought that the nursing home was not in a good environment, but the truth was not what she imagined. "It's more of a big community."
"Every morning at 8 a.m., I arrive at the nursing home to accompany the elderly who have already gotten up for rehabilitation and various activities. Around 12 noon, I will help the old people eat. Wait until the end of the lunch break in the afternoon, and then accompany them to participate in the cultural and entertainment activities in the afternoon. When it's time for dinner, we help the elderly to eat again. In the evening, I will help the elderly to wash up before going to bed, and some of the elderly like to watch TV for a while. Once this is done, the shift handover begins. Lin Haiping said that although it seems that nursing work is as simple as accompanying the elderly for entertainment, it is actually not easy. At her nursing facility, caregivers work 12 hours a day and have seven days off a month. I need to be responsible for the daily life of 6 elderly people, and implement a morning and evening shift system.
Lin Haiping mentioned that when on night duty, it is necessary to assist the elderly who get up at night to go to the toilet, and if an elderly person with insomnia is found, he needs to be comforted and understand the cause of insomnia, so as to help solve the problem. At first, she didn't get used to it, but she adjusted positively and quickly adapted to the pace of the job.
Talking about why she loves this job so much, Lin Haiping said: "The elderly need to be accompanied, and I studied this major. ”
"Many people think that studying the elderly care profession can only be a clinical nurse, but in fact, it doesn't stop there." Less than half a year after his official employment, Cai Junqu, a "post-00s", was promoted to the science and education administrator of Taikang Home Luyuan Rehabilitation Hospital in Xiamen, responsible for the training, teaching and intern management of intern nurses and other personnel.
The study in Fujian Health Vocational College has allowed Cai Junqu to accumulate theoretical knowledge - the courses of geriatric health care and management not only include professional basic courses such as policies and regulations for the elderly, sports and health care for the elderly, nutrition and diet for the elderly, but also professional core courses such as communication skills for the elderly, health management for the elderly, activity planning and organization for the elderly, operation and management of elderly care institutions, as well as professional development courses such as elderly living environment assessment and smart elderly care. These are designed to enable students not only to acquire professional skills, but also to become high-quality talents with both moral and technical skills.
In February 2022, when Cai Junqu first interned at Taikang Home, he also started as a caregiver. In his spare time, he has successively obtained the 1+N Intermediate Certificate, the Advanced Certificate of Health Manager, and the Advanced Certificate of Elderly Care Nurse. "About half of the staff of Taikang Home are the younger generation, who are engaged in life stewards, administrative housekeepers, rehabilitation therapists, recreationists and other positions. Young people can also open up a path to career advancement through their own continuous efforts. ”
The pension industry is an emerging "sunrise industry"
To retain talents, we need to improve the treatment and set up a professional title system
In recent years, in order to further promote the healthy development of the pension industry, the mainland has actively promoted the construction of talent teams, and has issued a number of guiding documents to promote the development of the pension service industry. In October 2019, the Ministry of Education and other seven departments jointly issued a document to encourage and guide ordinary undergraduate colleges and universities to set up age-related majors such as home economics and geriatrics.
Gan Mantang, a professor of sociology at Fuzhou University and president of the Fujian Gerontology Society, said that the pension industry, as an emerging "sunrise industry", has become a high-profile career choice, attracting more and more young talents to join. For students who are interested in this, choosing the pension major can not only achieve personal career development, but also provide solutions to the problem of social aging, which is to realize the dual promotion of self-worth and social value.
With the transformation of supply and demand, the training of elderly service talents in mainland China is gradually expanding from vocational education to undergraduate education, cultivating comprehensive talents integrating service and management capabilities, industry knowledge and professional skills, and filling the gap of high-level and high-quality talents in the pension industry to a certain extent, which is conducive to the accurate docking of the broad demand for pension services and the supply of high-quality pension services.
However, Gan Mantang pointed out that due to long working hours and the disproportionality between income and pay, the pension industry is also facing the dilemma of high brain drain rate. "At present, nursing home caregivers generally work 12 hours a day and take 2~4 days off a month; There are also nursing homes that provide round-the-clock care and need to take care of the elderly 24 hours a day, and the personal labor and rest rights of caregivers are not guaranteed. He suggested that under the condition of ensuring that the salary level is not reduced, the elderly care institutions should shorten the working hours of caregivers to a reasonable range.
Wu Meidan, a teacher at the School of Nursing of Fujian Health Vocational and Technical College, also told reporters that although the employment rate of students is high and the turnover rate is relatively high, some graduates feel that the salary is too low or the career is not promising after serving at the grassroots level for a few months, and choose to leave the industry.
Wu Meidan hopes that in the future, the country can establish a unified system of professional titles for elderly care. "Last year, Jiangsu took the lead in creating a professional title system for elderly care in the country, and incorporated professional and technical qualifications for elderly care into the management of the health series. With the establishment of the professional title system, the value of the elderly care profession will be significantly improved, the recognition of the society will be gradually enhanced, and the remuneration of practitioners is expected to gradually increase with the promotion of professional titles. From a macro perspective, the construction of the senior nursing title system will promote the rapid development of the elderly care industry in the direction of specialization and standardization. ”
Editor: Chen Yueyao