Nurses Day in Iran marked by nationwide protests

Iranian nurses protested across Iran on Thursday leaving several facilities minimally staffed as the government fails to address the country's healthcare crisis.

Sit-ins and strikes were seen across multiple cities protesting what nurses described as a government failure to address their demands to raise salaries, pay delayed wages, and improve working conditions.

The situation reflects years of unmet promises, with wage delays now stretching up to six months. One nurse from Kermanshah, speaking to Etemad newspaper, said that many colleagues have been forced to leave public healthcare for private sector jobs or to emigrate.

"There have been no improvements for us in the past three months," she said, highlighting that 18 of her 300 colleagues have left the hospital this year alone.

A video circulated on social media showed that nurses at Khomeini Hospital in Urmia held a protest on Thursday, with nurses chanting, "We've only heard promises; we've seen no action."

Mahmoud Amidi, a member of the Nurse House non-profit society, criticized security crackdowns saying some had been suspended for participating in protests or voicing concerns on social media.

"The actions taken against protesting nurses are unjust," he said, adding that such suspensions only worsen the existing nursing shortage.

Amidi said the impact of low pay and heavy workloads is having a ripple effect on the healthcare system, already at breaking point. “Who will stay in this profession for just 110 to 120 million rials ($150–$170) per month?”, he said, at least one third of Iranians already pushed below the poverty line.

The escalating protests come amid a reported shortage of 100,000 nurses across Iran’s health system, even as 50,000 trained nurses remain unemployed. Mohammad Sharifi-Moghaddam, Secretary-General of the Nursing House, warned that unless systemic issues are addressed, newly recruited nurses will likely leave the profession.

In recent months, healthcare staff have organized protests in nearly 50 cities, demanding changes to wages, workload, and working conditions. In August, a strike saw participation from nurses at 70 hospitals across Iran, a protest that lasted over a month. Since then, some 1,500 nurses have reportedly left their jobs, with 500 emigrating abroad.

As protests continue to spread across Iran’s hospitals, healthcare workers are pressing for concrete actions to address their demands. Representatives from the nursing community have warned that if conditions do not improve, strikes and other protests will likely intensify.