On a typical day, they work an eight- or nine-hour shift, continually on their feet and often skipping breaks. They assess patients, administer medications, collect samples, manage catheters and drains, prep for procedures and respond, as needed, to emergency codes. They comfort and inform patients and families, coordinate with physicians and other medical personnel and check stock and equipment.

They are today’s hospital nurses, women and increasingly men who are no longer assistants at the margins of health care but highly trained clinicians as well as educators and researchers. While their role in modern health care is critical, there are too few of them on hospitals wards worldwide, with the World Health Organization reporting in 2023 a global shortage of 5.8 million nurses.

In Israel, there are 6.97 nurses per 1,000 people, a number well below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 9.4, ranking Israel as 21st among the 38 OECD member countries. “This shortfall is undermining the entire health care system and putting patient health outcomes at risk,” said Dr. Yoram Weiss, director-general of the Hadassah Medical Organization. 

Israel’s health care system needs at least 1,000 more nurses over the next decade. “Years of underfunding, long hours, high patient-to-nurse ratios, compounded by the Covid pandemic and two years of war,” have led to shortages and burnout, said Dr. Weiss.

Not all hospitals in Israel are experiencing the same level of shortages. It is most acute in the country’s periphery and in specialized medical settings such as the intensive care unit or cardiac care. The multipronged problem requires recruiting and training additional nurses as well as supporting those currently working in the field.

“With nurses central to quality of care and patient outcomes, Hadassah is working to meet this need,” Dr. Weiss added. HMO, he explained, is tackling the shortage on several fronts, from growing its nursing school to offering degree programs for those choosing nursing as their second career—with vital support from Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America.

Situated in the center of the country, HMO has no difficulty recruiting nurses, according to Rely Alon, deputy director-general of Nursing and Health Professions at HMO and a certified nurse practitioner and midwife. “We’re constrained only by budget,” she explained, noting that shortages are mainly due to government underfunding of nursing positions. “Nurses are drawn to Hadassah by the clear career path we offer them—from professional development programs, to master’s and Ph.D. tracks, to teaching, research and innovation opportunities. Twenty percent of our 2,552 nurses have MSNs—master’s degrees in nursing.”

HMO is also home to the Middle East’s first nursing school, and Israel’s Health Ministry has now called on the Henrietta Szold Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing to increase its capacity by 25 percent.

“Our goal isn’t solely to address workforce shortages,” said Nurit Zusman, director of the nursing school. “It’s also to advance academic excellence and to train a more diverse and empowered generation of nursing leaders.”

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The nursing school is now upgrading its infrastructure to accommodate larger cohorts. Most prominent is the Jean Goldwurm Auditorium, renovated into a 170-seat, high-tech, wheelchair-accessible learning center, made possible with over $1 million raised by HWZOA’s Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Council as well as contributions from the Health Ministry.

There are also key recruitment efforts, among them second-career programs at the nursing school. One is an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) for candidates with undergraduate degrees in other fields who want to train as registered nurses. “Because of their academic background,” explained Zusman, “they complete their theoretical and clinical training in two and a half years instead of the four years of the BSN program. We’re also now launching Israel’s first master’s level second-career program for those pursuing leadership and management roles in nursing.”

Olivera Hay, 41, saw an ad for Hadassah’s second-career nursing track in 2019. “I had a bachelor’s in economics and sociology from Bar Ilan, but I’d been home with my four children and hadn’t done much with it,” she said. The ad made her recall her earlier interest in the medical field.

She enrolled at Hadassah. For the next two and a half years, she commuted from Gush Etzion to Jerusalem, studying and starting her clinical placements—all during a global pandemic. “After qualifying, I was accepted as a cardiology nurse at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem,” she said. “I loved the work, and stayed there for three years, until I felt myself burning out.”

Moving to the maternity ward renewed her energy and satisfaction. “I’m responsible for eight mothers and eight newborns as well as handling admissions and discharges,” she said. “It’s a full patient load and I usually get home shattered. But I don’t regret moving to nursing for an instant!”

Another Hadassah response to Israel’s nursing shortage addresses socioeconomic disparities in the Ethiopian Israeli community. The program, called Achotenu (which means both “our sister” and “our nurse” in Hebrew), offers aspiring Ethiopian Israeli nurses full scholarships, academic help, housing, stipends and one-on-one mentoring. Since Achotenu launched in 2016, it has graduated 128 nurses.

“Like many of us from Ethiopian backgrounds, I scored too low on the psychometric tests for acceptance, even though I was a good student,” said Achotenu graduate Yehudit Armias, 26. Armias is among thousands of Ethiopian Israelis who struggle with Israel’s SAT equivalent due to cultural bias and language barriers.

Hadassah’s nursing school also trains clinical nurses for the Israel Defense Forces medical corps in a three-year track known as Pisgah (“summit” or “pinnacle”). According to Zusman, “Pisgah and Achotenu students together comprise about 30 percent of our student body.”

Beyond filling Israel’s nursing ranks, HMO helps its nurses achieve advanced academic degrees. “There’s critical need for nurses with MSNs and Ph.D.s to lead, teach and innovate,” Alon said.

This focus helps retain top professionals and creates teachers and role models, particularly important as nursing faculty at HMO and elsewhere in Israel approach retirement. Israel’s only integrated master’s in Advanced Practice Nursing (APN), combining academic coursework with clinical training in a single structured degree, is offered at HMO.  And in December 2023, the nursing school took another step forward when it opened the country’s first Nursing Research Center. “The center will advance quality of patient care as well as boost both nurse retention and professional prestige,” Alon said.

The Nursing Research Center, like the Goldwurm auditorium, was made possible by HWZOA’s Nurses Council. The first national Jewish nurses’ organization in the United States, it was founded in 1990 by nurses Nancy Falchuk, a past Hadassah national president, and Rachel Albert to support Hadassah’s nursing school. Today, it has some 7,000 members in 35 local chapters, offers mentorship and networking, and advocates for health care issues—especially women’s health—as well as advanced nursing in Israel.

“Nursing is a common language, which transcends cultural, language and geographic barriers,” said the Nurses Council’s current chair, Robin Shuman. “By sharing creative approaches to challenges faced by all, everyone benefits.”

“We embrace this collaboration” between the council and the nursing school, said Dr. Weiss, HMO director-general. “Our multifaceted strategy—upgrading infrastructure, academic leadership, inclusive programs, strategic recruitment—underscores the long-term commitment of Hadassah in both Jerusalem and the United States to remedying Israel’s nursing shortage.”  

Wendy Elliman is a British-born science writer who has lived in Israel for more than five decades. She is the author of the new book, The Outsiders Who Built Irish Entertainment: Maurice and Louis Elliman.