Some 5000 nurses were dismissed from their jobs in the past three months. At a news conference, the head of the Iranian Nursing Organization announced the expulsion of the nurses who were on 89-day contracts.
Mohammad Mirzabeigi broke the news of the evictions using the term “cessation of cooperation.” He said, “In the past three months, some Medical Sciences universities ended their cooperation with 5000 nurses.” (The state-run eghtesadnews.com – May 17, 2022)
Nurses risked their lives and health during the coronavirus pandemic. They worked hard without receiving even their wages. But the clerical regime has rewarded them by laying them off. Now, they join the throngs of the unemployed and the millions living under the poverty line.
For more than a week, Iranian people have been protesting price hikes, especially the price of bread, in some 30 Iranian cities. The protests over skyrocketing prices continue and expand.
The clerical regime has laid off 5000 nurses, while according to Mirzabeigi, Iranian hospitals are short of 100,000 nurses.
The shortage of 100,000 nurses is the very least. The head of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Hossein-Ali Shahriari, announced in 2019 that Iranian hospitals are short of some 80,000 to 150,000 nurses in public and private (medical) centers. (The state-run armanmeli.ir website – January 2, 2020)
According to the head of the Nursing Organization, at least 200 hard-working nurses lost their lives during the pandemic.
In terms of educational technology and knowledge, Iran’s nursing is at levels with the world’s top countries. Unfortunately, however, the clerical regime does not comply with the human resources standards. The ratio of doctors, nurses, and hospital beds per the total population is miserable compared to the world standards.
The world standard is at least four nurses per hospital bed or for every 1,000 people. However, Mirzabeigi admitted that Iran had only 1.2 nurses for every bed in 24 hours. Also, according to world standards, there should be at least three nurses for every doctor, while this ratio is much less in Iran.
