This unreasonable treatment has resulted in a constant nursing outflow. In a survey of 2,100 nurses in 70 hospitals in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, less than half of the respondents said they would stick to care work, and 40 percent said they would do anything other than nursing.

The low pay and poor working conditions have also pushed a large number of Chinese nurses to migrate to developed countries and regions, which also face a serious nursing shortage. In the recent Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, the majority of the 23 Chinese students killed were majoring in nursing, and three were qualified nurses in China.

The nursing shortage is a global issue. In the US, for instance, some researchers have projected that there may be a shortage of close to a million nurses by 2020. But better pay, better working conditions and better chances for career development are luring nurses away from China.

A former nurse in Guangzhou now working in Australia told reporters that there was a stark difference between conditions in the two countries.

In Australia, her workload is half of what it was in China. More importantly, she said, she receives much more respect from patients and their family members.

As medical workers like to remark, treatment cures 30 percent of the illness and nursing care the rest. We can't place so little importance on the value of nursing.

If we don't take immediate measures to increase pay and working conditions for Chinese nurses, a even worse nursing shortage will hit us.

The author is a commentator in Shenzhen. viewpoint@globaltimes.com.cn