Iran Grapples With Severe Nurse Shortage

Iran continues to grapple with a growing shortage of nurses in a failing health system with as many as 35 patients per nurse at any one time.

An investigation conducted by the Donya-ye Eqtesad daily has revealed the ongoing crisis engulfing Iran in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As waves of the virus subsided, many nurses were left unemployed. The shortage of both doctors and nurses risks the lives of patients in need of critical care.

In August, Abbas Ebadi, the Deputy Minister of Nursing at the Ministry of Health, reported a dire need for approximately 100,000 new nurses to mitigate the growing crisis. To put the current nurse shortage in perspective, Iran's total nursing workforce comprises 215,000 nurses, according to Ebadi.

Global healthcare guidelines suggest a nurse-to-patient ratio of approximately 2.5 for optimal care. However, Iran has only 0.8 nurses available for each hospital bed. In some regions, this ratio further plummets to 0.6, significantly deviating from international standards.

The nurse shortage is further compounded by factors such as retirements, resignations, and emigration, contributing to a dwindling nursing workforce. Shockingly, an average of five to six nurses leave the country daily, and on a monthly basis, approximately 100 to 150 nurses emigrate from Iran, further exacerbating the nurse shortage.