At least 3,000 nurses have died of Covid-19, the profession in danger alerts the international federation.

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Bony / SIPA

While at least 3,000 nurses have died from the Corornavirus, heavy workloads, lack of resources and professional stress are pushing nurses into an "exodus", the International Council of Nurses (ICN) warned on Thursday.

For this Geneva-based federation, which brings together more than 130 national associations representing more than 27 million nurses around the world, the Covid effect associated with the current shortage in the number of nurses and retirements threatens the future of the profession, subjected for a year to enormous additional pressure.

"Mental and physical trauma"

The CII, which recommends nurses to be vaccinated, is aware of 3,000 deaths of nurses linked to Covid-19, but the toll paid by the profession to the pandemic is much heavier than official statistics show, estimates he said in a report published a year after the disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

ICN President Annette Kennedy said in a statement "deeply concerned about the state of nursing, the mental and physical trauma suffered by nurses over the past year and the many people who risk suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder ”.

"The pressure on nurses is unacceptable and it is not surprising that so many of our affected colleagues feel that they can no longer continue to perform the functions they value," she added.

A shortage of around six million nurses worldwide

The world entered the pandemic when there was already a shortage of around six million nurses.

Not to mention that health systems were extremely poorly prepared for the global emergency, with many countries running out of intensive care beds, ventilators and other technology, while personal protective equipment was also in short supply.

The global nursing workforce is therefore "under intolerable pressure" to such an extent that the number of nurses who intend to leave the profession has increased considerably, notes the ICN, which warns against a real “exodus of nurses”.

A survey by the ICN thus reveals that nearly one in five national nursing associations surveyed in 60 countries reported an increase in nursing personnel leaving the profession.

Others plan to retire after the pandemic.

"Nursing staff are on the precipice"

For the director general of the CII, these new data show that the difficulty of retaining high-level experienced nurses - an effect of the pandemic that was expected in the long term by the profession - is already manifesting itself at this very moment.

“A year later, nurses are on the precipice: the Covid effect on nursing care is very real, it poses an imminent threat to the safety and soundness of our health systems, a threat that could still exist. 'aggravate,' he said.

Invest before it's too late

The Covid effect associated with the current shortage of nurses and the retirements by 2030 of four million nurses could ultimately lead, according to the federation, to a decrease of ten million nurses, out of the 27 millions of nurses around the world.

These gloomy forecasts should prompt governments, ICN believes, to invest in nursing positions, training and leadership before it is too late.

The federation calls on governments not only to recruit new staff but to take measures to avoid the exodus of experienced nurses, as it takes three or four years to properly train a nurse, and much more for staff to acquire. the experience necessary to become leaders in their field of expertise.

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  • Covid 19

  • Stress

  • Coronavirus

  • Hospital

  • Health

  • Nurse