Number of nurses in China increasing, health official says

The number of nurses in China had exceeded 5 million by the end of last year, more than double the number from a decade ago, a health official said on Wednesday.

Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission's Bureau of Medical Administration, said during a news conference that by the end of 2021, China had 3.56 registered nurses per 1,000 people, up from 1.85 per 1,000 in 2012.

Notably, the ratio between doctors and nurses was 1-to-1.17 in 2021, compared with 1-to-0.95 in 2012.

"The issue of having an inverted doctor to nurse ratio has been addressed," she said.

On Monday, the commission released a five-year development plan for the nursing sector, aiming to raise the total number of nurses across the country to 5.5 million and the number of nurses per 1,000 people to 3.8 by 2025. The doctor to nurse ratio will be further improved to 1-to-1.2, according to the plan.

"In the meantime, we will devote more efforts to improve nurse training and direct more of them to grassroots medical institutions," she said.