Private hospitals in Lebanon face a shortage of some 17000 nurses

On the occasion of the International Day of Nurses (May 12th), the An Nahar issue of today included an interview with the President of the Trade Union of Nurses in Lebanon, Dr. Nuhad Yazbek Dumit to discuss challenges faced by the nursing profession.  According to Dumit, the union includes 13500 nurses of whom 7000 provide nursing care whilst 6500 act as teachers, administrators or employees in insurance companies.  Dumit repeated a statement by the President of the Syndicate of Private hospitals in which he says that there is a need for an additional 17000 nurses.  Dumit added that the real need is above this figure especially since Lebanon counts 12000 hospital beds and each bed requires two nurses.  According to Dumit, there are several factors which deter young people from going into nursing namely the hardship of working in this sector, growing migration, negative societal perception towards nursing and the discouraging messages about nursing that young people receive. (An Nahar, May 10 2016)