Secretary General of Iran's Nurse House Reports 50,000 Nurses Are Housebound

Despite the problem of a shortage of human resources in the country's healthcare network, the Secretary General of Iran's Nurse House has reported that 50,000 nurses are housebound, stating, "Until we fix the infrastructure, hiring is like water poured into a sieve." Mohammad Sharifi-Moqaddam told the Shargh newspaper that currently, nurses are migrating or leaving their jobs for other occupations. According to this union official, health ministry officials also acknowledge that new hires leave within a month or two due to low income. Sharifi-Moqaddam criticized management in the health and treatment sector, saying, "Everyone says there is no budget; in fact, there is a budget, but unfortunately, it is spent elsewhere and for other groups in the health system." Previously, the head of the Nursing Organization had also stated that the "standards and indicators related to human resources" in the health sector are very low. Ahmad Najatian warned in an interview with the government news agency ISNA that to compensate for the shortage of human resources, "nurses are forced into mandatory overtime," but "payments are not commensurate with their services and the difficulty of their work." The intensification of nurses' problems and issues in August of this year led to the formation of a continuous and ongoing nationwide strike, where hundreds of nurses and healthcare staff in public hospitals began protests and strikes, emphasizing the realization of their professional and livelihood demands in at least 16 provinces of Iran, continuing until September. The continuation of nurses' strikes led to security crackdowns and the arrest of several nurses, prompting the U.S. Department of State and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) to express concern on September 8 about the "unjust detention and sentencing" of protesting nurses in Iran. At the same time, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State announced that the department is closely monitoring the protests of nurses and healthcare staff in Iran and expressed concern over reports of the "unjust" detention and sentencing of many protesters in these peaceful protests. Nurses' protest gathering in front of the Zanjan governorate: "Promises are enough; our table is empty." The response of the government spokesperson to the professional protests: Our budget capacity is limited. The Secretary General of the Nurse House: The Ministry of Health is indifferent to the real rights of nurses. The resignation of more than 1,500 nurses in one year. Severe nurse shortage in Iran; the situation in some provinces is "critical."