Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarian healthcare faced with shortage of 17,000 nurses

Photo: Archive

The Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals insists that the Bulgarian state should set a minimum number of nurses in each health care facility to ensure quality care for patients. The same proposal applies to midwives, rehabilitation workers, laboratory technicians and other specialists. 

According to a report by the Council for Economic Analysis of the Council of Ministers, there is a shortage of about 17 thousand nurses in Bulgaria, or 60% of the workforce in 2021. Thus, there is less than one nurse per doctor. However, if the normal ratio of 2:1 is to be reached, 29 thousand professionals need to enter the healthcare system. 

Figures from the same year show that 540 students graduate as nurses annually, while those leaving the jobs as nurses number 890. 

On International Nursing Day, the association is proposing that salaries be increased in line with the knowledge, skills and responsibilities in nursing teams to address the staffing crisis.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Grozdan Karadzhov (centre) speaking at a national discussion on labour shortages and the importation of labour from third countries in Sofia on 20 May.

Importing workers is a 'growing pain of development', Deputy Prime Minister Karadzhov has declared

Speaking at the national discussion Access to the labour market in Bulgaria for third-country nationals: challenges and solutions , Deputy Prime Minister Grozdan Karadzhov said that labour shortage is one of the biggest problems the government faces ...

published on 5/20/25 2:03 PM
Parliamentary Speaker Natalia Kiselova

The request for a referendum on the euro will not affect the report on Bulgaria's readiness to adopt it: Natalia Kiselova

President Rumen Radev intends to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court. But this will not affect the expected report from the European Commission on the country's readiness to join the eurozone, the Speaker of the National Assembly Natalia..

published on 5/20/25 12:04 PM

Public transport in Sofia resumes its normal operation

The normal movement of buses, trolleybuses and trams in Sofia is being restored as of today, after last night the unions announced an end to the 6-day blockade of public transport. The blockade of Sofia's public transport to be lifted on Tuesday..

published on 5/20/25 9:48 AM