[ti:Shortage of Nurses Is Worldwide, but Worst in Poorer Nations] [ar:Bob Gotkin] [al:Development Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.37]Development Report. [00:05.22]The health care industry [00:08.06]needs more nurses. [00:09.71]All areas of the world [00:12.75]face a nursing shortage. [00:15.17]But the shortage is most severe [00:18.46]in developing countries. [00:20.21]Many of their nurses leave. [00:23.79]They move to more developed nations [00:27.08]for better pay, better working [00:29.81]conditions and better chances [00:33.55]for career development. [00:36.18]A World Bank report [00:38.76]earlier this year called [00:41.45]attention to the problem. [00:43.50]For example, nearly [00:45.94]two thousand nurses [00:47.38]left the Caribbean [00:49.27]between two thousand two [00:51.59]and two thousand six. [00:54.08]Caribbean nations currently [00:57.07]have about one nurse [00:58.96]for every one thousand people. [01:01.94]The ratio of nurses to population [01:04.93]is about ten times higher [01:07.66]in the United States [01:09.41]and countries in the European Union. [01:12.45]Currently, more than [01:15.39]twenty-one thousand nurses [01:17.43]who trained in the Caribbean [01:19.36]are working in the United States, [01:22.71]Canada and Britain. [01:24.70]Gaetan Lafortune is with [01:29.32]the Organization for Economic [01:31.27]Cooperation and Development in Paris. [01:34.30]He says the nursing shortage [01:37.18]also affects industrialized countries. [01:40.76]GAETAN LAFORTUNE: "There are concerns [01:41.97]in most O.E.C.D. countries [01:43.61]that the number of nurses [01:44.94]is too small to respond to the demand. [01:46.99]And what is more worrying is [01:49.55]that their concerns are sort of growing." [01:52.69]Mr. Lafortune says a large number [01:56.42]of nurses are expected to retire [01:59.16]within the next ten years. [02:01.14]At the same time, the health care needs [02:04.37]of aging populations are expected to grow, [02:07.76]intensifying the shortage of nurses. [02:10.84]GAETAN LAFORTUNE: "In the U.S., for instance, [02:12.93]some researchers have projected [02:14.28]that there may be a shortage of close [02:17.17]to a million nurses by two thousand twenty." [02:22.15]The United States is one of [02:24.28]thirty-one countries in the O.E.C.D. [02:27.66]Gaetan Lafortune says in recent years [02:31.24]many of the countries [02:32.45]increased their efforts [02:34.19]to hire foreign nurses. [02:36.13]GAETAN LAFORTUNE: "But this has raised concern [02:38.57]that O.E.C.D. countries were mainly exporting [02:42.31]their shortage problem to countries [02:45.75]that may have an even greater [02:48.12]need for these nurses." [02:51.09]In May, the World Health Assembly [02:54.14]approved a global code of practice [02:57.31]on the international recruitment [02:59.80]of health workers. [03:01.10]The assembly is made up of countries [03:04.59]in the World Health Organization. [03:07.63]The code advises against actively [03:10.74]recruiting health workers [03:12.30]from developing countries [03:13.61]that face severe shortages. [03:15.91]The world also faces a shortage [03:18.96]of nursing trainers. [03:20.20]As a result, nursing schools [03:23.00]are forced to turn away qualified students. [03:27.35]And that's the VOA Special English [03:30.65]Development Report, [03:31.96]written by June Simms. [03:34.38]You can find transcripts, MP3s [03:38.11]and podcasts of our reports [03:39.92]at 51voa.com. [03:44.02]What are your thoughts [03:45.89]about the nursing shortage [03:47.38]and what should be done about it? [03:49.62]Share your comments on our website [03:52.17]or on Facebook at VOA Learning English. [03:57.40]I'm Bob Gotkin.