Short Staff, Overburdand, Underwellude: India’s nursing deficit deeply
Amidst the global health workforce crisis, India is struggling with severe shortage of nurses. This deficiency threatens the quality of healthcare and asks for immediate reforms in training and retention.
In short
- Who predicts the global shortage of 11 million health workers by 2030
- India’s nurse-to-population ratio is 1: 670, which is a 1: 300 recommendation below.
- Skilled nurse training intervals especially elderly and dementia live in care
A significant reduction of nurses is emerging as one of the biggest challenges in front of health care systems globally, and India is no exception. From hospitals to home care, the gap between demand and available employees is becoming increasingly widened.
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that by 2030, the world is expected to face a shortage of 11 million health workers, including nurses.
This is an increase from a previous estimate of 10 million.
The WHO State of the Worlds Nursing 2025, paint a related picture of global healthcare readiness.
About 70% of this deficiency will hit Africa and the eastern Mediterranean Sea, but India finds itself staring in a parallel crisis, despite the progress in health coverage: an overlapping, undersress, and rapidly thin nursing workforce.
While the global number of nurses increased to 29.8 million in 2023, distribution is dangerously uneven. Developed nations, with just 17% of the world’s population, appoint about half of all nurses, which leave the populated, lower and medium-income countries including India, with deep insufficient nurse-to-rogi ratio.
The global average is at 37 nurses per 10,000 people, but in many parts of Asia and Africa, the figure is five to ten times less.
In India, this imbalance plays every day in hospitals, clinics and large care houses. The current nurse-to-population ratio of 1: 670 is significantly below the recommended 1: 300 of WHO, and the condition is even more severe in ategractor care.
There are about 150 million people in the ages of 60 and above in India, a number is expected to be almost doubled by 2030.
Nevertheless, according to Holrenchong Sitalhou, Antara Care Homes has significant challenges of senior nurses and geiatric care experts, training and retention of skilled nurses.
“We are thin. Especially in senior care, where patients often require personal attention and emotional support, inadequate nurse staffing can compromise both medical results and human dignity,” Setalou told India.in.
His insight strongly strengthens the WHO call for immediate reforms. The report stated that while 80% of the nurses are now professional trained, in many lower-oriented countries including India, there is a lack of infrastructure, faculty or standardized course to produce highly skilled nurses in important areas such as dementia care, subcutaneous support or chronic disease management.
India’s certified nursing assistant (CNA) programs have opened doors for commercial entry, but as Sitlhou states, these often fail to bridge the skill differences in high-existing areas.
“Most CNAs do not get enough training for a little medical or dementia care. Without structured apasming or development paths, they either become stable or leave the system completely,” she says.
Even though the Indian Nursing Council has proposed reforms to standardize and strengthen the syllabus, especially for a medical expertise, the implementation has been unequal, and the training is heavily concentrated in urban centers.
“In rural areas, both patients and young nurses lose nurses. Some nurses trained in a medical care migration in cities or abroad,” she says.
Migration is another important concern, both globally and for India. The WHO report warns that the “brain drain” of nurses will continue as long as the governments address the situation of poor work, low salary and career progression.
India is a top exporter of trained nurses, with more than 60,000 Indian nurses working abroad, prepared by better wages and safe, better renovated environment.
“, We need a culture of competitive salary, better nurse-rage ratio, and professional honor. A single nurse with complex needs five to six seniors and no backup support nurse, it is not durable. And it also takes a toll on us,” said the senior nurse in Anatara.
In Antara Care Holmes, a healthcare service providing home care for elderly patients, nurse-to-patient ratio is adjusted according to the clinical requirement, from 1: 1 to 1: 5.
The organization has also developed its own in-house ignorance training, recognized by the Healthcare Sector Skill Council, and has participated with Dementia India Alliance to roll out protocols in dementia.
This small pocket of excellence, however, remains an exception, not the rule.
There is an urgent need for system-wide investment in nationwide, nursing education and workforce. This involves adding more seats to nursing colleges, improving course content, and creating avenues for continuous apasming, especially in age-related health issues that are determined to dominate India’s healthcare scenario.
The WHO report notes that while the global stock of nurses can increase by 36 million by 2030, inequality in distribution will remain until intentionally, data-powered workforce scheme is implemented.
In India, nurse registration and tracking system, which is associated with Aadhaar, provides a real -time snapshot of nurse availability. But experts argue that it should be taken more effectively to estimate the regional interval and continuously allocate resources.
Eventually, both global conclusions and ground level experiences convert to a central truth: nurses are the backbone of healthcare. Whether an ICU, a rural primary health center, or in a dementia ward, they are often the first point of contact and the last line of care.
Ensuring their good, training and retention is not just a policy goal, it is a public health mandatory.
