The number of nurses around the world is declining further as the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads, while at the same time there is an imbalance as Western countries intensify their recruitment of healthcare from African and other poorer countries, according to the International Nursing Council. .
Many nurses have been exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the percentage of those who “intend to leave” their jobs has doubled in one year, to 20-30%, said Howard Cotton, the board’s executive director. in Geneva and represents 27 million nurses from 130 national associations.
“I think we are at a critical juncture; if this trend continues, it could be an outpouring of people,” said Cato. “I think governments need to think about a package of support measures they need to implement to invest in their nurses and healthcare staff next year,” he added.
At least 115,000 nurses have died from Covid-19, but Caton said that number, cited by the World Health Organization and referring to deaths from the beginning of the pandemic until last May, was “conservative”. The death toll is likely to double, he estimated.
Before the pandemic there was already a global shortage of nurses, about 6 million. 4.75 million people are expected to retire in the coming years.
On average, in rich countries the number of nurses is ten times (compared to their population) of the poor. Many rich countries, however, hire staff from abroad to meet the needs of their hospitals. The traditional “exporters” of nurses are the Philippines and India.
“We have certainly seen increased recruitment activity from Britain and Germany to Europe, the US and Canada to North America. African countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria see their nurses being hired abroad.
The appearance of the Omicron variant has caused new stress to nurses. “My feeling is that nurses around the world, I think like everyone else, have started to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but now there is a strong concern that we are going back to the starting point,” he concluded.
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