Warning from Nursing Organization Official: Nurse Shortage and Increased Patient Deaths

The head of the Nursing Organization has stated that the shortage of nurses has negative consequences for patients, including an increase in medication errors, nursing mistakes, and mortality rates. Ahmad Najatian told the state news agency ISNA that the global average nurse-to-hospital bed ratio is 3.5, while in Iran it is about 1.8. According to Najatian, the decline in the number of nurses in recent years has caused the nurse-to-bed ratio to fall to 1.1, and if current conditions persist, it could drop to 1 or 0.9. He mentioned that, according to the Ministry of Health, 'about 1,500 nurses left the profession last year.' This statistic only pertains to public sector nurses and does not include private sector nurses and graduates who have not entered the workforce. This union official emphasized that 'we need to recruit 100,000 nurses, and this shortage means that the nurses currently providing services in the country's healthcare system must bear the burden of the lack of nursing personnel.' Najatian also pointed to issues such as mandatory overtime, disproportionate salaries, unpaid wages, work pressure, and unsafe working conditions for nurses, stating that 'nurses in the country are faced with tempting offers, while the healthcare system has failed to create lasting appeal for nurses in their job positions.' Reports indicate that the ongoing problems for nurses have led the head of the Nursing Organization to send a letter to the Minister of Health of the Islamic Republic, outlining demands such as 'increasing the number of nursing service packages,' 'increasing the relative value of services in certain sectors,' and 'realistically increasing the monetary coefficient of nursing tariffs.' The government's neglect of these requests and warnings comes as media continue to report on the persistent nurse shortage in Iran's healthcare network and the intensifying trend of nurse migration. In this context, Abbas Abbaszadeh, an official from the Ministry of Health, also confirmed these issues, stating that 'nurses' salaries do not match the difficulty of their work, which has led to nurse migration and a shortage of nursing personnel in the country.' Recently, as International Nurses Day approaches, nurses and emergency staff in various cities, including Mashhad, have held protest gatherings. Protests by nurses in Yazd: 'Don't think that today, our promises are every day.' Reasons for migration or inactivity among nurses, despite the severe shortage, from the perspective of Mohammad Kazem Attari. Protests by healthcare staff in three cities: 'Enough promises, our table is empty.' The Nursing Organization has called for a real increase in the monetary value of nursing services. The Secretary-General of the 'Nurse House' in Iran reported that 50,000 nurses are 'housebound.'