THE GLOBAL NURSING SHORTAGE AND ITS IMPACT ON PATIENT CARE (A Narrative Review of Workforce Challenges and Patient Safety)

Abstract

The nursing workforce in the world has increased over the last few years, but significant disparities between the distribution of nurses persist in creating large gaps in the workforce in health systems. The review re-evaluates the magnitude of the nursing shortage on the global level and reflects on how understaffing can impact patient safety, continuity, health of care, workload, and outcomes. According to estimates provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), the total nursing shortage experienced worldwide in 2020 was reduced to 5.8 million in 2023 and, possibly, it will only be about 4.1 million by 2030, should the current trends persist. However, the rest of the shortfall is expected to be mainly in the African and Eastern Mediterranean Regions (WHO, 2025a; WHO, 2025a). Longitudinal research also shows that higher staffing of registered nurses corresponds to improved patient outcomes, such as reduced mortality (Dall’Ora et al., 2022). This narrative review integrates global data on the workforce with peer-reviewed findings, the available tables and figures, as well as transparent descriptive calculations. The most important priorities are the growth of high-quality nursing training, enhancement of the recruitment process and retention, enhancement of working conditions, funding the underserved segments, enhancing workforce planning, and ethical regulation of the migration of nurses internationally