Iran's Healthcare Facilities Face a Shortage of 120,000 Nurses

Health officials in Iran report that the country is facing a shortage of 120,000 nurses, with over a thousand nurses migrating to European countries annually. Mohammad Mirza Beigi, the Deputy for Nursing at the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, stated that Iran is far from meeting the standard number of nurses required for its healthcare system. He mentioned that the nurse-to-bed ratio should be at least two nurses per bed according to standards, and the shortage must be addressed at all three levels: primary, general, and specialized care. Currently, there are 140,000 nurses working in Iran, but this number needs to be at least doubled considering the population, number of doctors, and hospital beds. The shortage of nurses in Iranian hospitals is reportedly exacerbated by the migration of nurses abroad. Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, the Deputy of the Nursing System Organization, announced that about a thousand nurses leave Iran each year, citing lack of job security as a reason. Most Iranian nurses migrate to Australia and Canada, followed by the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Last year, Hamidreza Azizi, a member of the Health and Treatment Commission of the Parliament, reported an increase in the number of migrating nurses, attributing it primarily to low salaries. In 2011, Ahmad Najatian, the then Deputy for Cultural Affairs of the Nursing System Organization, stated that only 100 nurses officially filled out exit forms from Iran. However, Sharifi-Moghadam indicated that around 500 nurses annually seek referral letters from the Nursing System Organization to migrate abroad. The increase in nurse migration seems to be influenced by the implementation of the third phase of the 'Health Transformation Plan' in Iran, which has widened the income gap between doctors and nurses. This phase began on September 23, 2014, and has faced opposition from some doctors and nurses. Since the implementation of this phase, nurses in hospitals in Qom, Azerbaijan, Bushehr, Mazandaran, Tehran, and Tabriz have protested, claiming that the plan has reduced their income while increasing doctors' income threefold, thus exacerbating class disparities among hospital staff. Nurses have long been dissatisfied with their professional and legal status in Iran, and according to Sharifi-Moghadam, they have held over 50 protests in recent years.