Everyone talks about the shortage of doctors, but the real crisis in healthcare may be something else:
Nurse-to-patient ratio in India is far below WHO recommendations.
Clinical pharmacists are almost invisible in many hospitals.
Doctors are often overburdened, doing tasks that nurses or pharmacists could handle better.
A hospital runs on teamwork, not just prescriptions. Yet, policies and education systems still keep producing more doctors while sidelining two professions that could reduce workload, improve patient safety, and save costs.
This mismatch is dangerous: A single doctor cannot deliver high-quality care without a strong nursing and pharmacy backbone.
What’s the bigger healthcare risk doctor shortage or the silent shortage of nurses and pharmacists?
I think we need to rethink the collective emphasis and prioritization on medicine being the only worthwhile humanities degree, there are many supporting professions that are required in equal fraction for smooth operations in the medical field.
All nurses, doctors and pharmacists are very important to run a healthcare system smoothly. There is a shortage of nurses mainly due to lack of respect and pay with overtime duty. This has to be solved. Everyone should get the respect and payment they deserve.
Nice point, The real shortage isn’t just doctors it’s a lack of nurses and pharmacists too. In India, we have far fewer nurses than WHO standards and many pharmacists never make it into clinical roles, even though they could help bridge gaps in patient care.
Doctors ,nurses, and pharmacist are very important for smooth running of health care system . One cant handle health care system . It is a team work . Pharmacist and nurses lack in hospital due to the immigration to the foreign countries due to the less pay scale and no respect in India
I agree with this. Nurses are the ones who provide the most direct and essential patient care. It’s disheartening to see that India still has a low nurse-to-patient ratio.
On the other side, Clinical Pharmacists are the main players in Patient Safety. It is a known fact that they are not recognised enough for their contribution in Patient care.
Healthcare is a team effort, yet in many places, including India, we focus more on producing doctors than strengthening the nursing and pharmacy workforce. This imbalance creates gaps in patient care, as nurses and pharmacists play crucial roles in monitoring patients, managing medicines, and ensuring safety. A strong healthcare system needs all professionals trained in balanced numbers.
Everyone should be treated equally; all are dependent on each other without nurse doctor can’t take of patient, and without doctor nurse can’t treat patient.