Nurse House Secretary Expresses Concern Over Nurse Migration; Sharifi-Moghadam Calls Situation 'Disastrous'

The Secretary of the Nurse House expressed concern over the migration of experienced Iranian nurses to other countries, calling the nursing situation in Iran 'disastrous.' Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam stated in an interview with 'Shargh Network': 'Our nurses are being attracted by Western countries and the Persian Gulf region at the peak of their experience.' He added, 'Every year, 12,000 nursing students enter universities in the country, and almost the same number of graduates are ready to enter the job market as nurses, but a small percentage of these graduates are employed in Iran.' He noted, 'A large number of these recruited nurses also migrate to European countries, the United States, and Persian Gulf countries a few years later, at the peak of their experience and readiness as skilled and expert nurses.' The Secretary of the Nurse House also mentioned, 'In Western countries, there are 10 nurses for every 1,000 people, while in Iran, there are only 1.6 nurses for every 1,000 people. It is painful that these countries improve their nursing situation by exploiting specialists from a country that itself is facing a shortage of skilled personnel.' Fereydoun Moradi, a member of the Supreme Nursing Council, stated on July 22 of this year that despite the 'severe shortage of nursing staff' and the indifference of officials to their livelihood problems, 150 to 200 nurses migrate from Iran every month. Warnings and alerts about the widespread migration of nurses by professional officials come at a time when protests by nurses have been ongoing in various cities across Iran in recent months, with previous reports indicating that a group of nurses in various hospitals in Iran have collectively resigned in recent months. Protests by nurses and healthcare staff took place in Kangān on Tuesday, August 15, and videos of protests by nurses and healthcare staff at hospitals in Islamabad Gharb have surfaced. Power outages and disruptions in hospital operations have led users to comment, 'We are living in the middle of a black comedy.' Nurses in Nourabad Mamassani have gone on strike, and healthcare staff protesting power outages in Marand have stopped working.