Iran’s nurse-to-bed ratio drops

Iran’s ratio of nurses to hospital beds has fallen well below the Health Ministry’s own standards, with some provinces facing what officials described as catastrophic shortages.

The national ratio has reached 0.9 nurses per hospital bed, half the ministry’s standard of 1.8, Abbas Ebadi, deputy of nursing at the Health Ministry, said.

In Sistan and Baluchistan province, the ratio has dropped to one nurse per two beds, Ebadi said.

“In terms of numbers, the number of nursing graduates is acceptable, but the problem is that in some areas such as the west of the country we face an accumulation of manpower, and in some provinces such as Sistan and Baluchistan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, and Tehran we face a shortage of manpower,” he said.

The government’s inability to meet nurses’ demands has caused many to migrate or change careers, leaving hospital beds without adequate medical staff. IranWire