Iran's Nursing Shortage Causing Patient Deaths

Iran's dire nursing shortage is now causing fatalities in hospitals as over 3,000 nurses leave the country annually.

Mohammad Sharifi Moghadam, the Secretary-General of the Nursing Association said "patients are dying due to the shortage of nurses." He emphasized the dissatisfaction among nurses, revealing that official statistics indicate over 90% of them are unhappy with their work, raising serious concerns about the quality of patient care.

The destinations for migrating nurses are predominantly Germany, the United States, Australia, and Canada. He highlighted the challenges of compensating for the loss of experienced and professional nursing staff, making it a daunting task.

Sharifi Moghadam recently reported a shortage of 70,000 nurses. Iran's leading economic daily Donyaye Eqtesad newspaper, in a May report, disclosed that over 10,000 doctors and nurses had left Iran in the previous year. Over the past four years, the country has witnessed the migration of 16,000 general practitioners.

Last week, the ILNA news agency reported that nurses receive a mere 2.4 to 3.1 dollars for each overtime hour, leading to increased dissatisfaction within the nursing community at a time when the country's economy is at its deepest crisis in decades.

Health system indicators suggest that there should be three nurses per thousand citizens or two nurses per hospital bed. Reports indicate that Iran's current ratio falls below half of the minimum health requirements, raising concerns about the adequacy of healthcare services.