3,000 nurses have already lost their lives to COVID-19, new figures from the International Council of Nurses (ICN) found.
Despite the startling figures the ICN said the numbers were likely “a gross underestimate” due to a lack of data.
When the pandemic started there was already a global shortfall of up to six million nurses with an additional four million current nurses expected to retire by 2030.
ICN said the large number of experienced nurses wanting to leave the profession after the pandemic should be a wake-up call for Governments to invest in nursing jobs and education.
An ICN survey revealed nearly one in five of its National Nursing Associations (NNAs) surveyed reported an increase in the number of nurses leaving the profession, with 90% citing workloads, insufficient resources, burn-out and stress.
ICN President Annette Kennedy said the strain nurses were being put under was “unacceptable”.
