Scarcity of Nurses in India

The human resources for health (HRH), especially nurses, constitute an important part of health systems. It is difficult to ascertain comprehensive information on the availability of health workers globally due to irregular reporting of data from the countries. However, experts have proposed minimum thresholds for achieving certain health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These thresholds have been used as yardsticks by others for determining HRH shortages in their nations. As per the minimum threshold developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), not enough health workers are available in India, especially in the rural areas. The nurse to population ratio in India is even lower than some of the other developing countries in Asia. Various factors, such as low professional and socio-economic status, gender issues, lack of political will on part of the government and unregulated private sector, have led to scarcity of nurses in numbers as well as qualitatively in India. To overcome the dismal working and social conditions, many Indian nurses are migrating to developed nations, further exacerbating the nursing shortages in the country. Inclusive planning, adequate financing and political commitment on the part of all stakeholders are required for overcoming the shortage of health personnel existing in India.