China might have 1.3 million nurses on the rolls, but they remain in great demand, said health officials at a ceremony celebrating International Nurses Day on Thursday. Some 149 nurses and 224 nursing departments in hospitals throughout the country were honored at this year's ceremony, jointly organized by the All-China Women's Federation.

By the end of 2004, China's nurses numbered 1.308 million, up by 20,000 over the previous year.

According to Huang Renjian, president of the Chinese Nursing Society, this works out to an average of about one nurse to every 1,000 Chinese. Huang added that this ratio is far lower than that in most countries, which is four to five nurses to every 1,000 persons.
 
Huang also said that most of the nurses work in big cities, with the result that rural and western regions are in particularly desperate need of nurses.

At present, the bigger hospitals would have about 0.4 nurses to one sickbed. One nurse on the night shift has to take care of 40 patients in the inpatient department, according to Li Xiuhua, head of the nursing department of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

However, Huang added, many hospitals are having nurses do additional work such as accounting and computing, which makes the shortage even more acute in clinical services.

Li also noted that training in the nursing field should be improved, especially in the area of continuing education.

Both Huang and Li have also stressed the importance of legislation pertaining to the nursing profession.

International Nurses Day is celebrated every year on May 12. The date was set by the International Council of Nurses to mark the birthday of the world's first known professional nurse, Florence Nightingale, a Briton who lived from 1820 to 1910.

The Ninth International Red Cross Conference in 1912 established the Nightingale Award, the top honor in international nursing. To date, thirty-eight Chinese nurses have been recognized with the award.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2005)