ISLAMABAD: The nursing profession is considered the backbone of the healthcare system due to its critical role in the smooth functioning of hospitals and the provision of patient care.
However, despite the important role of nurses, many people still view them as assistants to doctors, and their job roles are often disregarded or misunderstood.
In developing countries like Pakistan, nurses face many challenges that make it difficult for them to provide quality care and attract people to the profession. One of their biggest challenges is the need for more trained professionals.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), low, and middle-income countries will continue to face a global shortage of 10 million health workers, including nurses, midwives, and doctors, by 2030.
Shortage of nurses in Pakistan
In Pakistan, the shortage of nurses was particularly acute, with 1.5 nurses available per 1,000 population, which is lower than the WHO’s minimum recommendation of 2.5 nurses per 1,000 population. Moreover, nurses often take on additional responsibilities in many healthcare settings to ensure patients receive the necessary care.
This shortage significantly impacts the quality of healthcare, making the nurses overwork and compromise on patient care.
“We have a lot of patients to take care of, and we have not enough staff to handle them all. It is challenging to provide quality care when we’re stretched so thin,” said Ujala Javed, a registered nurse at the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC).
The nurses are also often asked to perform tasks outside their scope of practice, such as performing procedures requiring a physician’s expertise or making decisions typically reserved for doctors. These situations can arise due to a lack of resources or staffing, putting the patient’s safety and the nurse’s licence at risk.
According to the health ministry, there were 127,050 registered nurses, which included 88,055 nurses, 16,449 lady health visitors, 16,057 midwives, 5,791 community midwives and 698 certified nursing assistants till 2022.
Officials said efforts were being made to address the challenges the nursing profession faces in the country. In this regard, the PNC in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan was making all-out efforts to improve the quality of nursing education to promote it as a viable career option.
They said that the PNC was also involved in offering various diploma and degree programmes for aspiring nurses, midwives, and nursing auxiliaries, including four-year degree and post-RN programs to address the shortage of health care staff.
The efforts of PNC also included increasing the number of nursing schools and colleges in the country, providing scholarships and financial assistance to nursing students, and raising awareness on the profession’s importance in the healthcare sector.
Ujala Javed said that nurses were often perceived as assistants to doctors, which was the misleading perception of their profession.”
She said that nurses were highly educated professionals who completed rigorous training and licencing requirements to be able to enter the profession. She said they get the requisite experience and knowledge essential to patient care, and their contributions should be acknowledged and respected.
The healthcare industry was facing a severe shortage of nurses, and as a result, many hospitals were resorting to hiring untrained nurses to fill the gap.
“Untrained nurses lack the necessary knowledge and expertise to provide quality patient care, and they might not even be aware of their limitations,” said Ujala adding that they might be asked to perform tasks that were outside of their scope of practice, which could put the patients’ safety at risk.
She said untrained nurses may need more communication and interpersonal skills to interact with patients and their families effectively. She said that patient care required technical knowledge, empathy, and compassion, which untrained nurses may need to improve.
Khadija Muzzafar said that the shortage of nurses in Pakistan is not a new issue, and a lack of funding and resources for nursing education programmes has exacerbated it. She said the low salaries further complicated the situation and poor working conditions deter qualified nurses from choosing the profession.
To address the challenges being faced by the nursing profession in the country, the profession must be promoted positively in the media. “The media has a significant influence on public opinion and perception, and negative portrayals of the profession could contribute to gender bias and perpetuate stereotyping, she said.
The nurses said hospitals must prioritize patient safety by hiring only qualified and trained nurses to provide patient care. They said that this could be achieved by implementing strict hiring criteria and training of nurses to maintain and improve their skills.
