Editorial: El País

• Spain has a chronic nursing shortage, with around 100,000 less than the average of European countries.
• Insufficient training and labor exodus are two factors contributing to this deficit.
• The design of the Spanish health system also plays a role, with a lower ratio of nurses to doctors compared to other European countries.
• The lack of investment in nursing affects patient care, with many nurses considering they attend to more people than is safe.
• Despite resistance, the Ministry of Health seems to realize the problem by allowing nurses to prescribe a larger number of medicines.

Conclusion: Efforts must be intensified to avoid decapitalizing and demoralizing nurses, who are essential for the proper functioning of the Spanish public health system. This effort should include an improvement of their remuneration, in order to retain these highly necessary professionals.

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