Bushehr short of 700 nurses; pay down to about 100 dollars

Allahkaram Akhlaghi, head of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, announced on Sunday, 18 October 2026, that the province's hospitals are short of at least 700 nurses. According to him, the province's nursing faculty has only 50 to 70 graduates a year, and low pay and living conditions mean many of them are unwilling to enter the treatment sector or even to complete their compulsory service.

Akhlaghi said nurses' income in some southern parts of the province, counting all benefits, is under 40 million toman a month, while workers in the oil and petrochemical industries in the same areas earn far more.

A wave of nurses staying at home across Iran

The Bushehr crisis is part of a nationwide crisis. Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, secretary-general of the Nurses' House (Khaneh Parastar), said on 4 October that about 70,000 nurses in Iran have quit work and are staying at home, and the wave of resignations continues. According to him, a nurse's monthly pay at the current exchange rate has effectively fallen to about 100 dollars. Loqman Sharifi, a member of the Supreme Council of the Nursing Organisation, has also said a nurse's pay does not even cover the first 10 days of the month.

In recent weeks, nurses in several Iranian cities have announced their resignations in videos posted on social media, saying that meagre income and long working hours have made it impossible to continue in the profession they love.

Livelihoods collapse in a war-ravaged economy

The nurse shortage is worsening as Iran's economy sinks into recession under the weight of the Islamic Republic's policies. The Central Bank's Monetary and Banking Research Institute estimates economic growth in the three months to the end of Mordad (22 August) at minus 5.9 percent, and dairy consumption in Iran has fallen to less than half the recommended amount. In such conditions, hospitals lose their workforce and patients pay the price.

A nurse's monthly pay in Iran has fallen to about 100 dollars and 70,000 nurses are staying at home.