China News Service Client Beijing, April 7th (Reporter Zhang Ni) A few days ago, the World Health Organization released the "World Nursing Status Report 2020". "Report" said that the global nursing practitioners have reached 27.9 million, but still face the shortage of nurses, if no measures are taken, the number of nurses will be 5.7 million short of the expected demand in 2030.
Data graph: A hospital in Sichuan held a special event to experience the profession of nurses. The families of more than 10 nurses came to the hospital to become "temporary nurses" to experience and feel the profession of nurses. Chen Songshe
According to reports, 191 countries provided data for the report this time, a record high, 53% higher than the number of countries that provided data in 2018.
The "Report" shows that there are 27.9 million nursing professionals worldwide, including 19.3 million professional nurses. The total stock has increased by 4.7 million between 2013 and 2018, and nursing is the largest occupational group in the health sector, accounting for approximately 59% of health professionals.
The data shows that out of a total of 27.9 million nursing staff, professional nurses are 19.3 million (69%), assistant professional nurses are 6 million (22%), and non-professional nurses are 2.6 million (9%).
But the "Report" also emphasizes that there is currently no global nursing staff commensurate with universal health coverage and sustainable development goals. Countries that account for half of the world ’s population have more than 80% of nurses worldwide.
It is estimated that there was a shortage of 6.6 million nurses worldwide in 2016, and it fell slightly to 5.9 million in 2018. Among them, the gap of 5.3 million people (89%) is concentrated in low-income and low-middle-income countries. The growth of the number of nurses in these countries can hardly catch up with the population growth, and the proportion of nurses in the population has only increased slightly.
The aging pattern of health workforce in some areas threatens the stability of nursing staff. Globally, the nursing staff is relatively young, but there are differences between regions. The age structure of nursing teams in the Americas and Europe is relatively old.
Countries with a low proportion of newly recruited nurses (under 35 years of age) relative to the retiring population (55 years and over) will have to increase the number of graduates and strengthen retention measures to maintain access to health services. Countries with young nursing staff should strengthen the fair distribution of nursing staff across the country.
The Report emphasizes that in order to solve the shortage in all countries by 2030, the total number of nurse graduates needs to increase by an average of 8% per year, while improving the ability to hire and retain these graduates.
According to the report, if there is no increase, according to the current trend, the number of nurses will reach 36 million by 2030, which is a shortfall of 5.7 million compared with the expected demand. Shortages are mainly concentrated in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean region. At the same time, some countries in the Americas, Europe and the Western Pacific region will still face shortages defined by their own countries. (Finish)