Planning and Governance Gaps in the Global Nursing Workforce: A Systems‐Based Analysis Toward 2030

Global nursing shortages represent a critical threat to health system capacity, equity, and sustainability worldwide. Despite extensive workforce monitoring and policy initiatives, shortages persist across health systems. This paper examines global nursing workforce shortages through a systems‐based planning and governance perspective, exploring how regulatory, organisational, and policy mechanisms interact to reproduce workforce instability toward 2030. An analytical synthesis of global nursing workforce evidence published between 2014 and 2024 was conducted, integrating peer‐reviewed studies, international workforce datasets, and policy reports from the World Health Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, and the International Council of Nurses. Nurses account for the largest share of the projected global health workforce deficit, estimated at approximately 4.5 million of the 11–13 million shortfall expected by 2030. Five interdependent system drivers emerge: inadequate alignment between workforce planning and licensure systems, insufficient retention and wellbeing frameworks, unmanaged international recruitment, fragmented governance structures, and limited use of workforce intelligence. These drivers operate through reinforcing feedback loops linking shortages, burnout, attrition, migration dependency, and demographic pressures. The paper advances a systems‐based workforce governance framework that conceptualises global nursing shortages as a planning and governance challenge rather than a simple supply deficit. By identifying leverage points across policy, organisational, and regulatory domains, the analysis offers actionable insights for health system planners, managers, and policy‐makers seeking to strengthen workforce sustainability toward 2030.