A total 13 million nurses will need to be replaced globally within the coming years, according to a March 2023 International Council of Nurses report. With the global nursing shortage as high as 30.6 million in 2019 — and only exasperated by the pandemic — nurses have found themselves in a profound staffing crisis.
“Three years into the pandemic, there are several key policy responses that are required to support the nurse workforce and therefore enable health system rebuild,” the “Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System Effectiveness” report stated. “This includes investment in redeploying resources to other parts of the health system to enable the backlog of non-COVID-19 care to be dealt with.
“The underlying issue, which is central to any effective policy response and targeted investment, is to recognise (sic) that for many working nurses this is not a short term, one-off ‘acute’ episode, or some obscure or distant phenomenon — it is pervasive and personal. It has been a relentless, intense and a continuing drain on nurses’ energy, morale, and physical and mental health.”
