China's nurses are in short supply. There is on average only one nurse for every thousand people. That ratio puts China third last in the world on this measure. Experts say its urgent to improve the situation by enacting legislation on nursing and improving the economic status of nurses.

Among the six million health professionals in China, nurses make up only about 1.2 million, one for every thousand Chinese people.

The Chinese Ministry of Health has required that the ratio of doctors to nurses in hospitals be one to 2.3 and that the patients to nurse ratio be one to 0.4.

But in some developed countries, the ratio of patient beds to nurses can be one to two or even one to three. And as much as three nurses for every one thousand people.

With increased development in China, patients' expectation for nurses has also grown. Zhang Guixia, secretary general with China Nursing Association says the shortage of nursing staff dampens the quality of nursing for patients.

"Patients' demands are increasing. And they are now seeking all round service. Beside of the traditional hard and urgent treatment, they hope nurses offer them more soft help, including health consultation and exercising after operation. But due to the shortage of nurses, their needs are often not fully fulfilled."

But is China really short of nurses?

In recent years, China has improved its nursing education and number of university graduates. Over 300 colleges and universities nationwide offer the nursing major, with nursing major graduates exceeding 50,000 in 2003. 

Zhang Guixia says the number of graduates in the nursing major is actually not small, the real problem lies with the loss of nurses.

"Nurses are in a much less important status than doctors in hospitals and they are not well paid, especially in those middle and small sized hospitals, which urges them to try luck in other industries. Besides, some hospitals are not willing to hire more nurses as they need due to financial reasons."

To improve the situation, Zhang Guixia says the Chinese government should enact laws on nursing and enforce hospitals to hire more nurses as regulations require.

Moreover, hospitals should improve the economic status of nurses. She says the work of nursing is an arduous one and it deserves more recognition.

Source: CRIENGLISH.com