Population coverage of nurses in Brazil: estimates based on different data sources

Abstract There is an estimated deficit of six million nurses worldwide. Despite its importance for health systems, sociodemographic studies are scarce due to the absence of systematized data specific to nurses. The objective of this study was to compare the population coverage of nurses in Brazil based on sources from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in the years 2010 and 2015, and the Federal Nursing Council (Cofen), in the years 2013 and 2019. In both sources, there was an average increase of 164 thousand nurses throughout Brazil. The growth rate for the period of the IBGE surveys (15.7% per year) was triple that recorded in the Cofen data (5.3% per year). Coverage in the states of Brazil remains below the international recommendation (40 nurses per 10 thousand inhabitants), with greater deficits in the states of the North and Northeast regions. The comparisons in this study reiterate the importance of the availability of standardized and systematized data for Nursing in Brazil. Accurate health indicators subsidize public policies to reduce health inequities, with emphasis on the coverage of nurses, especially in regions with high socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

摘要 据估算，全球护理人员缺口达600万名。尽管护理人员配置对卫生系统至关重要，但由于缺乏针对护理人员的系统化专项数据，相关社会人口学研究仍较为匮乏。本研究旨在基于巴西地理与统计研究所（Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE）2010年、2015年的数据，以及巴西联邦护理委员会（Federal Nursing Council, Cofen）2013年、2019年的数据，对比巴西全国护理人员的人口覆盖率。两类数据源均显示，巴西全国护理人员总数平均增长16.4万名；IBGE调研数据对应时段的年增长率（15.7%/年）为Cofen数据（5.3%/年）的3倍。巴西各州护理人员覆盖率仍低于国际推荐标准（每万居民配备40名护理人员），北部与东北部各州的缺口更为显著。本研究的对比分析再次强调，巴西护理领域亟需标准化、系统化数据支撑。精准的卫生指标可为降低卫生健康不公平性的公共政策提供依据，尤其应重点关注社会经济脆弱性较高地区的护理人员覆盖情况。