27/06/2025
To: Health Minister,
Respected Health Minister Sir Pradip Paudel ,
I am writing to you with deep concern on behalf of thousands of nurses in Nepal who are silently struggling in their profession.
We spend lakhs of rupees and several years studying to become nurses, dedicating ourselves to a field that is vital for the health and well-being of the nation. Yet, when we enter the workforce, private hospitals offer us a starting salary of only 15,000 to 20,000 rupees sometimes even less. This is far below what is needed to survive in Nepal today.
The reality we face:
•Room rent in cities is between Rs. 10,000 to 20,000 or more.
•Prices of basic food, gas, water, electricity, transportation, and healthcare are rising every day.
•We work long, exhausting shifts up to 12 hours a day, with no proper benefits, rest or job security.
How are we nurses supposed to manage our daily lives in this situation?
How are we expected to fulfill our basic personal needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, transportation, clothing, and mental well-being?
And beyond that, how are we supposed to support our families, provide for household expenses, or give our children a proper education?
We care for others with full dedication, but our own lives are being pushed into crisis.
So first and foremost, we humbly urge you:
Please immediately visit the private hospitals yourself observe how hard nurses are working in each shift, see their dedication, how they manage patients, emergencies, and critical care with very little support. Just watch and analyze what they are doing, and then look at how little they are being paid for all of it. Seeing the truth with your own eyes will speak louder than any report.
After that, we strongly request you to:
-Immediately increase nurses salaries in all hospitals.
-Set a fair and livable national minimum salary that reflects the real cost of living and the true value of our work.
- Ensure dignity, job security, and basic rights for every nurse in the country.
We love our profession and we want to serve Nepal, but we also deserve to live a life with dignity. If this continues, more and more nurses will be forced to go abroad for survival not out of choice, but out of desperation.
Please hear our voice. We are not asking for luxury only justice, fairness, and the right to live a decent life.
From one dedicated nurse to a responsible leader, we hope you will take this issue seriously and act soon.
With respect and hope,
A Nurse from Nepal
