In Spain there is little more than six nurses (6.28) per 1,000 inhabitantsa figure that is well below the European average where the figure, according to Eurostat, is above the eight per 1000 (8.40). To catch up with our European neighbors, according to the report ‘Current situation and estimate of the need for nurses in Spain, 2024’presented last Monday by the Ministry of Healthit would be necessary for the current number of existing professionals in our country (306,268) to be will increase by more than 100,000, almost 34%.
However, as seen in the graph above, the difference in health professionals by community is notable. So, Navarrewith almost nine nurses per 1,000 inhabitants (8.84), would be the only community in which the figure exceeds the European average of 8.4. Behind is the the Basque Countrywhere with eight nurses per 1000, according to the report, hire 926 to reach the European average.
Castilla y León, with 7.35 nurses per 1,000 inhabitants It is the third community in Spain to provide the best data, although this is far from the European average, and would need more than 2,500 professionals to match the international data.
At the opposite extreme is the Murcia Region with the lowest ratio of professionals in all of Spain, less than five per 1,000 inhabitants. It follows Galicia (5.13), the Valencian Community (5.46), Andalusia (5.51) and Balearics (5.93).
However, in numerical terms, according to the report, the community that would need to hire the most personnel to reach the European average would be Andalusiawhere they are almost needed 25,000 nurses. It follows Catalonia and Valenciawith a figure that is close to 16,000 and Madridwhere the deficit of professionals would exceed 13,000.
Deadlines
In addition to pointing out the deficit in health personnel, the ministry’s report also makes a ptime projection that our country would need to reach the European data.
Taking the figures for the period 2018-2024, it is concluded that the average growth in the number of nurses is 4,703 per year. “Assuming a stable population and constant linear growth similar to that of the 2018-2024 period, it is estimated that 22 years would be necessary to reach the average levels of the European Union.”
The distance from European ratios also varies depending on the current situation of each region. Some communities, such as Navarrealready meet the standards, while others, such as Galiciapresent a decrease in the number of nurses, which complicates the objective of achieving these ratios in the near future.
The region that, due to its lower growth rate in nurses, would take the longest to reach European ratios is La Rioja (71 years old). According to these assumptions, other regions that would need more time than the national average are Madrid (43 years old), Cantabria and Murcia, both 36 years old.
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