Registered Nurses in Israel: Workforce Supply – Patterns and Trends

In recent years, a severe shortage of nurses and an imbalance between supply and demand have led to a growing preoccupation with the supply of nursing staff in the Western world. Surveys conducted outside of Israel have advanced understanding of the structure of the nursing workforce, identified deficiencies and contributed to the planning of professional training. In this report, we present the findings of the first national survey of qualified registered nurses (RNs) in Israel. Additionally, we analyzed administrative data from the Nursing Division in the Ministry of Health and used data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Prior to the survey, information was available about the number of qualified RNs in Israel, by clinical specialty and professional standing, and there were general estimates about the employment of nurses. The goal of this study was to supply the missing information, focusing on the following:

  1. The extent of employment among RNs of working age
  2. Characteristics of employment, by nursing specialty and economic sector
  3. Job mobility within the profession
  4. Numbers of nurses leaving the profession and their reasons for doing so
  5. Nurses’  attitudes towards their current jobs and the nursing profession, and their plans to continue their work in the future.

To this end, we conducted an extensive survey of a national sample of nurses that included 10% of licensed RNs of working age, whether or not they were working in nursing (3,200 nurses)

The study findings will contribute in several ways. They have made it possible to project the supply of RNs taking account of the anticipated rates of those leaving the profession, as revealed in the survey, and the future sources for additional workforce. The findings also help understand how to keep RNs in the profession and contribute to decision-making regarding the training and recruitment of the workforce.

The study was funded with the assistance of a research grant from the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research and a grant from Michael and Andrea Dubroff of Massachusetts, USA.

Citations in the professional and academic literature

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