Title : Building a sustainable nursing workforce: Israel s national strategy for workforce development, professional growth, and retention.
Abstract:
Healthcare systems worldwide face growing challenges in recruiting and retaining nurses due to population aging, increasing healthcare demands, workforce burnout, and evolving models of care. Sustainable solutions require more than expanding the workforce; they require coordinated national strategies that invest in nurses' professional development, career progression, leadership, well-being, and long-term retention. In 2018, Israel confronted a critical workforce gap, with only 5.62 nurses per 1,000 population and substantial regional inequities, prompting the development of a comprehensive national strategy for nursing workforce transformation. As the national authority responsible for nursing policy, regulation, and workforce development, the Nursing Division of the Israeli Ministry of Health implemented a five-year national strategic plan aimed at strengthening the nursing workforce while improving healthcare system resilience. The strategy was designed as a systems-based model integrating workforce planning with professional development, education, leadership, policy reform, and continuous performance monitoring. A national workforce intelligence platform combining demographic projections, education capacity, licensure trends, retirement forecasts, and workforce distribution enabled evidence-based decision making and dynamic resource allocation. Alongside these planning tools, the strategy expanded nursing education capacity, increased scholarships and academic positions, strengthened clinical and simulation infrastructure, developed specialist nursing and nurse practitioner pathways, broadened scopes of practice, established structured career development programs, implemented leadership initiatives, and introduced targeted incentives to improve recruitment, professional satisfaction, and retention across diverse healthcare settings. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening workforce resilience, reducing regional disparities, and fostering collaboration among government, healthcare organizations, academia, and professional stakeholders.
The integrated strategy has produced measurable national outcomes. By April 2025, Israel's nursing workforce had grown to more than 87,000 professionals, with an annual graduation rate exceeding 3,200 nurses and a nurse-to-population ratio of 6.97 per 1,000, approaching the national target of seven nurses per 1,000 population. The strategy also contributed to expanded specialist education, increased advanced practice roles, improved workforce distribution across underserved regions, and strengthened the profession's capacity to respond to routine healthcare needs as well as national emergencies. Israel's experience demonstrates that workforce development and retention are best achieved through an integrated national approach that combines strategic leadership, investment in professional growth, supportive career pathways, workforce well-being, and data-informed governance. The model provides a practical and scalable framework that may assist other countries seeking to build a resilient nursing workforce, enhance retention, improve career satisfaction, and ensure sustainable, high-quality patient care in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.
