Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 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

400 foreign students with temporary protection will study at Bulgarian universities

400 foreign citizens who have been granted temporary protection status in Bulgaria will study at Bulgarian state universities in the new 2024/2025 academic year. The number of students was approved by a government decision. The students will be..

published on 9/27/24 5:18 PM

Election campaign in Bulgaria has started

At the launch of the election campaign for the upcoming extraordinary parliamentary elections on October 27, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev reported that the efforts of the executive power to eliminate distortion of the..

published on 9/27/24 3:27 PM

Bulgaria must send changes to the Recovery and Resilience Plan by October 20 in order not to lose funds

The changes to the Recovery and Resilience Plan must be sent no later than October 20, so that the European Commission can accept them and Bulgaria does not lose funds. This was stated at a briefing by the caretaker Minister of..

published on 9/27/24 2:55 PM