Ahmad Nejatian, head of Iran’s Nursing Organization, noted that 1,500 nurses left their jobs over the past year and 500 emigrated. Meanwhile, nurses’ protests continue in Iran, and as Nurse’s Day approaches, a group of nurses has launched a campaign called “Black Ribbon.”
As part of ongoing street protests by healthcare staff, nurses in the cities of Fasa, Mashhad, and Yazd held a protest rally on Saturday, November 2.
Emergency personnel from Mashhad participating in the protests highlighted that staff burnout has led to an increase in patient deaths.
In an interview with regime’s Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, Nejatian noted that while Iran has 240,000 nurses, there should be at least 1.8 nurses per hospital bed. However, the national average is 0.9, meaning there is less than one nurse per hospital bed in Iran.
Referring to the emigration of 500 nurses over the past year, Nejatian discussed the factors contributing to job abandonment and emigration among nurses. He stated, “With staff shortages, we impose mandatory overtime on nurses. Additionally, due to staffing issues, nurses are unable to retire after 25 years of service under the law governing hard and hazardous occupations. Together, these factors create a chain of consequences that lead to nurses’ dissatisfaction and resignations.”
The Black Ribbon Campaign
Images posted on social media show a group of nurses participating in the “Black Ribbon” campaign, wearing black armbands and wristbands to demand that their professional and economic demands be addressed.
The website of the Free Union of Iranian Workers reported that the nurses’ protest, marked by wearing black ribbons during shifts, continues. It wrote, “Nurses have been threatened to remove these black ribbons or their shifts will not be counted.”
Elsewhere, Nejatian stated that nurses’ overtime pay should be at least 1 million rials (approximately $1.42) per hour.
He stressed that overtime pay below this level would not meet the needs of the healthcare system or the nurses.
Previously, on October 27, the Coordinating Council of Nurses’ Protests warned Iranian regime officials that if nurses’ demands were not addressed, they would respond decisively and in unison.
The union attributed the consequences of this issue to the authorities, stating that reducing nurses’ demands to small payments would only fuel the flames of protest.
Nurses and other healthcare workers in Iran have repeatedly held rallies, sit-ins, and strikes over the past years in protest of the lack of response to their demands.
In one of the most recent instances, beginning on August 5, nurses in various cities across Iran went on strike and held protests for over a month in approximately 50 cities and 70 hospitals.
In a September 2 interview, Nejatian stated that the average annual emigration rate of nurses has doubled from 2021 to 2023, noting that this trend is increasing.
