The shortage of 100,000 nurses in Iran’s healthcare system has now become one of the most serious crises facing the country’s medical services. Abbas Ebadi, the Deputy Minister of Health for Nursing Affairs, has also confirmed this figure. At the same time, the Ministry of Health has announced that it needs to recruit 60,000 personnel. However, Iran’s Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization has not yet responded to this request.
Abbas Ebadi, the Deputy Minister of Health for Nursing Affairs, spoke on August 14 about the state of the nursing workforce. He said that the Ministry of Health has formally announced its need to recruit new personnel. The request covers the entire healthcare system. However, the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization has not yet announced the outcome of its review.
Iran’s Healthcare System on Verge of Crisis as Nurses Migrate En Masse
This situation continues even though the nursing shortage has been a serious issue for years. Officials at the Ministry of Health have repeatedly warned about the scale of the crisis. Despite these warnings, the recruitment process continues to face restrictions and delays.
The Erosion of the Healthcare System
According to the Deputy Minister of Health for Nursing Affairs, the process of recruiting personnel is time-consuming. He predicted that the recruitment quota would be determined during the second half of the current year. Once the Administrative and Employment Affairs Organization announces its decision, the quota will be finalized, after which the recruitment examination process will begin.
According to his remarks, between 45% and 50% of recruitment exam positions are typically allocated to nursing. Given the scale of the current crisis, that figure raises serious questions. The healthcare system faces a shortage of 100,000 nurses. At the same time, new recruitment must both replace departing staff and meet new demands.
Ebadi said that, at best, recruitment in recent years has only managed to keep pace with the number of workers leaving the healthcare system. Retirements and departures for various reasons account for part of this workforce decline. As a result, recruiting new personnel does not necessarily mean a real increase in healthcare capacity.
Meanwhile, newly built hospitals also require staff. Expanding the number of hospital beds without providing nurses does not create genuine treatment capacity. A hospital bed without a nurse is effectively an incomplete and unusable part of the healthcare system.
Why Does the Nursing Shortage Threaten Public Health?
The Deputy Minister of Health for Nursing Affairs distinguished between a shortage of personnel and the quality of the nursing workforce. However, he emphasized that the absence of either could endanger public health. That warning carries even greater significance in the context of a shortage of 100,000 nurses.
Nurses are the first link in continuous patient care across many hospital departments. Increased workloads, staffing shortages, and job burnout can reduce the quality of care. These conditions also place greater pressure on nurses who remain on the job.
Ebadi also spoke about the use of “piecemeal recruitment permits” to maintain the current situation. That description paints a clear picture of the state of hiring within the healthcare system. When recruitment merely offsets staff departures, the healthcare system cannot achieve sustainable growth.
The nursing shortage is not just a figure in administrative reports. It is directly tied to the capacity to care for patients. If this situation continues, pressure on both healthcare workers and patients will continue to grow.
The Numbers Highlight the Healthcare Crisis
Ebadi had previously stated that Iran has approximately 0.9 to 0.95 nurses per hospital bed, while the Ministry of Health’s stated standard is 1.8 nurses per bed. At the same time, heavy workloads, financial hardship, unstable contracts, and delayed benefit payments have driven some nurses to leave their jobs or emigrate.
According to figures reported for 2025, around 3,000 nurses left the workforce, including 1,800 who quit their jobs, 800 who resigned, and 380 who emigrated. In addition, around 1,600 nurses retired.
The continuation of this trend, combined with mandatory overtime and long shifts, has placed additional strain on healthcare workers and heightened concerns about the quality of medical services and the ability of Iran’s healthcare system to meet the population’s treatment needs.
