Society
China's nursing shortage alleviated
By Xie Jingwei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-27 17:22
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The enduring shortage of clinical nurses has been eased with a surge in the number of registered nurses in past few years, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health.
China has over 2 million registered nurses by the end of 2009, increasing by 700,000 from 2004, pushing the average patient-to-nurse ratio to 1:0.41, the ministry announced at the National Work Conference of Nursing in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province today.
Nurses' overall quality and technical skills also improved, said Ma Xiaowei, vice minister of the Ministry of Health. More than half of the nurses hold associate degrees or above, he said.
