Study Results in Iran: 38% of Nurses Have Considered Suicide
Fariborz Taj, a member of the central council of Iran’s Psychology Organization, has stated that results from a study conducted in hospitals in Malayer county show that more than 38% of nurses “had suicidal thoughts” or “were prepared to commit suicide”.
In an interview published on September 19 by ISNA news agency, he emphasized that the spread of coronavirus disease and its related work consequences have led to increased suicide among nurses in various countries around the world, stating that overall “the suicide rate among nurses is higher than in the general population”.
According to Taj, the study results regarding nurses in Iran also show that female nurses have experienced more “anxiety and depression” than male nurses, and single nurses are more prone to suicidal thoughts.
In April of this year, reports were also published about consecutive deaths of medical specialty students (residents) in Iran, and Rokna news agency reported on what a specialist called “serial suicide among residents”.
In reports published on this subject, “psychological harm”, “job discrimination” and “drug abuse” have been mentioned as possible factors in suicide, but as is customary, precise and transparent statistics have not been provided.
In recent days, reports have also been published about an increase in nurse emigration from Iran, and Yousef Rahimi, a member of the supreme council of Iran’s Nursing Organization, reported a six-fold increase in nurses’ requests for emigration and said “perhaps more than 1,500 people migrate in a year”.
According to nursing system officials and experts, the number of nurses in Iran is far below the required level, and their salaries are not at a level that can support their lives. Additionally, many of them prefer to emigrate outside the country.
Based on a report released in November 2018 by a member of parliament’s health commission, Iran had a shortage of nearly one hundred thousand nursing personnel, and it is unclear how much the shortage has increased under the current situation.
Source: Radio Farda
