The world faces a shortage of 13 million nurses by 2030

Burnout, exhaustion and mistreatment—as well as an estimated 115,000 deaths from covid—have hollowed out the world’s workforce of healthcare workers. In a report (pdf) on Monday (Jan. 24), the International Council of Nurses (ICN), a Geneva-based organization of global nurse associations, estimated that the world could be short 13 million nurses by 2030 unless action is taken to stem the tide of attrition, and bring new recruits into the healthcare workforce. “We knew the situation was fragile because of the persistent historical underfunding of nursing around the world,” said Howard Catton, CEO of the Geneva-based International Council of Nurses, which represents more than 27 million nurses in 130 countries, “but with the latest information about nurse vacancies, their rates of intention to leave, and staff sickness rates, it must now be recognized as a global crisis.”