Nurses in Israel: the struggle for regulating the profession

To date (1998), Israel does not have a nurses' law. Israel has 6 million inhabitants, approximately 15,000 physicians, and 33,000 nurses--a ratio of 180 nurses per 100,0000 inhabitants. Since the 1970s, drafts for a nurses' law have been formulated to set a legal framework for the profession, as is customary in many other countries. This framework would define the particularities of nursing as a profession, who may practice it, levels of training, recognized areas of specialization, and expertise in the operation of specific medical equipment and various nursing duties. Between 1993 and 1996, drafts for legislation were deliberated a number of times by committees appointed by the Ministry of Health but were not passed. Many elements opposed the drafts: the physicians and both the nurses' union and the midwives' union--the latter being a separate and an independent professional body from the nurses' organization.