Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarian healthcare faced with shortage of 17,000 nurses

Photo: Archive

The Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals insists that the Bulgarian state should set a minimum number of nurses in each health care facility to ensure quality care for patients. The same proposal applies to midwives, rehabilitation workers, laboratory technicians and other specialists. 

According to a report by the Council for Economic Analysis of the Council of Ministers, there is a shortage of about 17 thousand nurses in Bulgaria, or 60% of the workforce in 2021. Thus, there is less than one nurse per doctor. However, if the normal ratio of 2:1 is to be reached, 29 thousand professionals need to enter the healthcare system. 

Figures from the same year show that 540 students graduate as nurses annually, while those leaving the jobs as nurses number 890. 

On International Nursing Day, the association is proposing that salaries be increased in line with the knowledge, skills and responsibilities in nursing teams to address the staffing crisis.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

 Rumen Spetsov

LUKOIL Neftohim special administrator removes board chair Manyakhin

The special commercial administrator of Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, Rumen Spetsov, has dismissed Evgeny Manyakhin as chairman of the company's board and revoked his authority to represent the company.  The decision has been published in the Commercial..

published on 11/18/25 4:11 PM

Poll: More than 80% of Bulgarians do not believe that democracy in Bulgaria is genuine

Four in five Bulgarians do not believe the country’s democracy is genuine, according to an independent survey by the Myara sociological agency. The poll found that 81.2% of respondents said Bulgaria does not have real democracy, while 78.2%..

published on 11/18/25 2:44 PM
Michael McGrath

EU expects Bulgaria to secure convictions for high-level corruption

Convictions for high-level corruption in Bulgaria have been few so far. Sustained progress against high-level corruption is needed. This was stated by EU Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, after the meeting of the EU General..

published on 11/18/25 10:37 AM