'I’m Not a Slave': Iran Struggles to Fill Nursing Jobs Despite High Unemployment
Iran's Health Ministry is struggling to fill thousands of nursing positions, despite widespread unemployment among medical graduates, as poor working conditions and low pay drive healthcare workers to seek jobs abroad or leave the profession entirely.
The ministry recently launched its first major nursing recruitment drive in five years, aiming to hire 10,000 to 12,000 nurses nationwide.
However, the positions remain largely unfilled, even though an estimated 80,000 nursing graduates are unemployed, according to the Iranian Nurses Association.
"Thousands of unemployed nurses exist," said Mohammad Sharifi Moghadam, secretary-general of the association.
"Despite the large number of unemployed nursing graduates, there is very little interest in official job postings in major cities," he added.
The recruitment shortfall highlights broader issues in Iran's healthcare system, where medical professionals face deteriorating work conditions, delayed salaries, and government crackdowns on labor protests.
Aram, a recent nursing graduate from Maku in northwestern Iran, said she chose the profession “out of love for helping people” but now plans to emigrate to Australia after witnessing the struggles of her colleagues.
“Several family members are nurses. My aunt and cousin have worked in various hospitals for years, but recently they've constantly been protesting for their minimum wages or working multiple shifts to cover staff shortages and doing so with growing dissatisfaction,” she told IranWire.
Aram said her cousin was promised permanent employment during the COVID-19 pandemic but was kept on temporary contracts afterward.
“This government wants free labor, and I’m not a slave,” she said.
Many nurses report receiving July salaries that were 8 to 10 million tomans ($90–120) short of promised amounts, despite government pledges to address wage arrears.
Shirin, an experienced emergency eye nurse at Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz, said Iran’s health system is “collapsing” under multiple pressures.
“I give credit to recent graduates who don’t want to be hired under the current state of the healthcare system,” she said.
“We face more than just economic problems. The security- and coercion-driven approaches by officials have frustrated us.”
She also criticized the authorities’ harsh responses to peaceful nursing protests, saying that colleagues have been threatened with dismissal, exile, or suspension.
“When they fire employed nurses over nothing, aren’t they worried about the shortage of nurses?” she asked.
The chief of the nurses' association blamed poor management at the Health Ministry and hospitals for driving many nurses to “quit, emigrate, or change professions.”
Atena, who worked at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz until two years ago, said she left nursing after six years due to mistreatment.
“It was the worst and most bitter experience of my life,” she said. “At Namazi Hospital, we were treated like tools. If you didn’t perform well, no one asked why. They simply said, ‘a thousand people are lined up for your job.’”
She now runs a small business with her mother and says the career change saved her mental health.
“At least my psyche is intact. If I had stayed, I might have taken my own life, like many nurses and medical students.”
Healthcare worker emigration has surged dramatically. The Iranian Medical System Organization reported that 4,500 medical professionals applied to emigrate during the first eight months of the current Iranian year, which began in March.
Popular destinations include Germany, Italy, Canada, and Persian Gulf countries like Oman, the UAE, and Qatar.
The nurses’ association estimates that over 3,000 nurses emigrate annually, yet the Health Ministry does not even replace that number in its workforce.
Mahdiyeh, a nurse with over 20 years of experience at a hospital in Neyshabur, earns 18 million tomans ($210) per month but has received only about half that amount.
Despite unpaid overtime and tariff payments, she said nurses continue working.
“First, life is in God's hands, and we are merely instruments. Second, staff shortages are a serious issue - they can cost lives, especially for patients with special conditions,” she said.
She also described facing violence from patients’ families and legal action when treatments failed.
“No one cares about our safety. We’ve been assaulted by patients’ companions multiple times and subjected to violence and humiliation.”
Iran’s ratio of healthcare workers to population falls far below international standards.
Health indicators suggest the country should have three nurses per 1,000 citizens, or at least two nurses per hospital bed, but current levels are reportedly only half the minimum requirement.
The nursing crisis comes as Iran continues to face deep economic pressures from international sanctions and domestic unrest.
Many healthcare workers say their wages have lost purchasing power amid high inflation.
“If we’re going to stay in Iran and get poorer by the day, it’s better to change jobs. At least our mental and psychological health remains intact,” said Mahdiyeh.
The government has expanded nursing school capacities to address supposed shortages, but many graduates now prefer to remain unemployed rather than work in the current system.