Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 May-Jun;58(3):122-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2009.12.002.

Nursing shortage in China: State, causes, and strategy

Hu Yun  1 , Shen Jie, Jiang Anli
Affiliations

Nursing shortage in China: State, causes, and strategy

Hu Yun et al. Nurs Outlook. 2010 May-Jun.

Abstract

This article describes the nursing shortage situation in China and the causes for it. China is a major donor of nurses to other parts of the world and this article discusses the solutions China has implemented to address its nursing shortage, and the challenges that it is currently facing. The strategies that have been employed include: improving the health care system, improving work cultures for increased retention through policy and regulation, making greater investments in nursing education to build sustainable nursing education infrastructures, and enhancing the image of the nursing profession. These solutions may serve as a reference to other countries to deal with the crisis of a nursing shortage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Area Distribution of Nurses in China
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nurses in various health institutions, 2007
Figure 3
Figure 3
Education of health workers, 1980-2007
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kingma M. Nursing migration: Global treasure hunt or disaster-in-the-making? Nurs Inq. 2001;8:205–212. - PubMed
    1. Buchan J. Calman L. The Global Nursing Review Initiative. The Global Shortage of Registered Nurses: An Overview of Issue and Actions. International Council of Nurses, Geneva, Swizterland. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.138.3083&rep=rep....
    1. Nurse workforce challenges in The United States: Implications for Policy. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/34/9/41431864.pdf. Accessed on January 29, 2010.
    1. Shipman D., Hooten J. Without enough nurse educators there will be a continual decline in RNs and the quality of nursing care: Contending with the faculty shortage. Nurse Educ Today. 2008;28:521–523. - PubMed
    1. Lovell V. U.S. Institute for Women's Policy Research; Washington, DC: 2006. Solving the Nursing Shortage through Higher Wages.