Sustaining the Global Nursing Workforce: Trends and Challenges
- Famey Lockwood
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
A strategic examination of workforce distribution, policy gaps, and
international accountability is required for
Sustaining the Global Nursing Workforce: Trends and Challenges
The World Health Organization, WHO, published a report in 2020 to address the global healthcare workforce, “The State of the world’s nursing 2020: investing in education, jobs and leadership”. A global nursing shortage of 6.2 nurses was identified.
An updated report released by WHO on International Nurses Day 2025, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce with data for global, regional and country levels. The evidence indicates global progress in reducing the nursing workforce shortage, from 6.2 million in 2020 to 5.8 million in 2023, with a projection for an anticipated decline to 4.1 million by 2030.
The progress is encouraging; however,
aggregate data can obscure meaningful findings and requires a deeper dive.
Trends in the Global Healthcare Workforce:
1) Number of Nurse Graduates
🎓 Low-income countries – more nurse graduates; more migration
🎓 High-income countries – fewer nurse graduates; less migration
Overall, the data shows more nurses have graduated; a deeper dive into the data reveals where the new graduate nurses are located. Low-income countries are increasing nurse graduate numbers at a faster pace than high-income countries. While these data are impressive, nurses are not working in their respective countries. This has led to another concerning trend – nurses are migrating from their home country, most likely a low-income country, to a high-income country, leaving a potential gap to healthcare in low-income countries.
We must be cognizant of ethical international recruitment policies;
workforce gains in low-income countries risk becoming a migration force
to high-income countries.
2) Age demographics and retirement
The global nursing workforce is relatively young
🌐 33% of nurses are aged under 35 years
🌐 19% of nurses are aged 55 years or above
🌐 Nurses aged 55 years and older are expected to retire within the next decade
Retirements from the nursing workforce are expected to outpace new entrants, mostly in high-income countries. This further raises concerns about the nursing shortage in multiple domains. One example is fewer experienced nurses are available to lead, educate and mentor early career nurses.
3) Workplace violence
🤕 Higher rates of violence in healthcare settings leading to psychological trauma and burnout
🤕 Inconsistent reporting and enforcement standards
🤕 Insufficient regulatory protections for nurses
More evidence is addressing workplace violence as a critical threat to Nurses individually and the sustainability of the nursing workforce. Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that incidents often go underreported, masking the true scope of the problem and limiting institutional accountability.
Workplace violence not only jeopardizes physical safety but also contributes to psychological trauma, burnout, and increased turnover. Addressing violence in healthcare settings requires more than individual resilience training; it demands organizational policies, staffing protection, and system-level accountability to ensure safe working environments for nurses.
4) Burnout and unsafe staffing ratios
💥 Fewer nurses in the workforce creates an environment for “unsafe staffing ratios”
💥 Fewer nurses lead to overworked conditions and burnout
💥 Decreasing attrition is increasingly linked to Nurse burnout for the remaining workforce
These conditions, and others, lead to burnout for nurses with significant impact to the nursing profession. We must not only focus on preventing burnout but focus on interventions to enhance and support nurse well-being.
All nurses are challenged to be mindful of colleagues
that are showing signs of exhaustion, mental strain, irritation, etc. and respond
with compassion and seek appropriate help.
Strategies for Sustainability:
Workforce Design for the Future ... forward-looking priorities
💡 Redesign Care Delivery considering the impact from AI
💡 Fast-track pathways for second-career nurses
💡 Reduced physical load roles for aging nurses to keep more nurses in the clinical workforce
💡 Invest in global nursing education infrastructure
The sustainability of the global nursing workforce is not a professional issue alone; it is a health system design issue, including the increasing corporatization of healthcare systems, where financial priorities may conflict with workforce sustainability. ➤ Nurses are a valuable aspect of the healthcare delivery system and must be included in each aspect of the design and implementation of systems, processes and care
RN☤ Nurses are the largest component of the health and care workforce
Sustaining the Global Nursing Workforce: Trends and Challenges is imperative
Data and quotes are from WHO report:
Nursing workforce grows, but inequities threaten global health goals; May 12, 2025
I’m available: https://www.te-ar.com/aboutme
RN☤🎓 🎩 🍽️ 🧑⚕️💗🌍 🎓 🎩 RN☤ 🍽️ 💗🌍 🎓 🎩 🧑⚕️🍽️ 💗🌍RN☤
Connect on LinkedIn for ongoing conversations >>>>
Comments