COVID, Working Conditions Likely Cause Worldwide Nursing Shortage
2021-04-30
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1The International Council of Nurses, or ICN, warned Thursday that the world is facing a nursing crisis.
2In the next few years, the organization said the worldwide workforce of 27 million nurses could be reduced by up to 50 percent.
3The organization said that nursing groups in 64 nations reported unhappiness over pay and working conditions.
4The groups said violence and threats also caused nurses to leave their profession.
5There is also the COVID-19 effect.
6The organization said these difficult conditions were having a great effect on the mental health of nurses around the world.
7ICN leader Howard Catton said politicians and leaders have recognized the importance of nurses in healthcare.
8But nurses are still not being paid comparatively.
9"And that, I think is very much also at the heart of the discontent, the unhappiness, some of the actions that we are seeing from nurses around the world," he said.
10Strikes over nurses' pay and working conditions have broken out in Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, the United States and other countries.
11The ICN said strikes, growing unhappiness and concerns over protection at work were causing people to be less interested in a nursing career.
12Catton also said that the interruption in nurses' education during the pandemic has resulted in a six-to-12-month delay for new nurses coming into the profession.
13These issues will cause problems for "both recruitment to the nursing profession and the retention of those nurses we already have," he said.
14These problems exist throughout the world, but are greater in low- and middle-income countries.
15In the report, ICN noted many nurses are leaving developing countries to go to richer countries, where pay and conditions are better.
16Meanwhile, richer countries are actively seeking to bring nurses in from poorer countries to reduce their own shortages, the ICN report said.
17I'm Susan Shand.
1The International Council of Nurses, or ICN, warned Thursday that the world is facing a nursing crisis. In the next few years, the organization said the worldwide workforce of 27 million nurses could be reduced by up to 50 percent. 2The organization said that nursing groups in 64 nations reported unhappiness over pay and working conditions. The groups said violence and threats also caused nurses to leave their profession. 3There is also the COVID-19 effect. The organization said these difficult conditions were having a great effect on the mental health of nurses around the world. 4ICN leader Howard Catton said politicians and leaders have recognized the importance of nurses in healthcare. But nurses are still not being paid comparatively. 5"And that, I think is very much also at the heart of the discontent, the unhappiness, some of the actions that we are seeing from nurses around the world," he said. 6Strikes in several countries 7Strikes over nurses' pay and working conditions have broken out in Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, the United States and other countries. The ICN said strikes, growing unhappiness and concerns over protection at work were causing people to be less interested in a nursing career. 8Catton also said that the interruption in nurses' education during the pandemic has resulted in a six-to-12-month delay for new nurses coming into the profession. 9These issues will cause problems for "both recruitment to the nursing profession and the retention of those nurses we already have," he said. 10These problems exist throughout the world, but are greater in low- and middle-income countries. In the report, ICN noted many nurses are leaving developing countries to go to richer countries, where pay and conditions are better. 11Meanwhile, richer countries are actively seeking to bring nurses in from poorer countries to reduce their own shortages, the ICN report said. 12I'm Susan Shand. 13VOA's Lisa Schlein reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 14____________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16nurse - n. a person who is trained to care for sick or injured people and who usually works in a hospital or doctor's office 17at the heart - idiom to be the most important part of something 18discontent - n. a feeling of unhappiness or disapproval 19recruitment - n. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, the armed forces 20retention - n. the act of keeping someone or something 21We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.