Report finds world is short of nurses
There is a global shortage of 5.9 million nurses, according to a new report.
The first State of the World’s Nursing report found an ageing nursing workforce "threatens the stability" of nursing, particularly in Europe.
The report from the World Health Organisation, Nursing Now and the International Council of Nurses says high-income countries like Ireland have an "excessive reliance" on international nursing mobility.
Dr Edward Mathews from the INMO said investment in the sector is key.
He said: "It points to a 5.9 million shortage of nurses globally currently and makes the point very clearly that unless we invest further in nursing and midwifery, we are not going to be able to meet the health needs of our population very shortly."
Dr Mathews says the World Health Organisation issued a stark warning when launching the report:
He said: "What doctor Tedros Ghebreyesus said is that we must learn from Covid-19 is that we must invest in nursing and midwifery to meet the health needs of our population.
"The report recommends an 8% increase in the number of nursing graduates each year up to 2030. We must expand advanced nursing practice so that we can meet the health needs of our population."
The report looked at data on the world’s 27.9m nurses from 191 countries.
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