The ministry's Director of Health Services for Vulnerable Groups, Imran Pambudi, stated in Jakarta on Friday that the International Nurses Day theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” serves as a call to recognize, appreciate, and strengthen the role of nurses.
"In Indonesia, the challenges we face are clear and urgent. There are currently around 34 million older adults. Their proportion has increased from 12 percent in 2024 and is projected to reach 20 percent by 2045," he said.
He further said that, while the number of nurses globally increased from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, there is still a deficit of around 5.8 million.
Furthermore, the distribution remained uneven, as 78 percent of nurses were concentrated in high-income countries.
"According to Ministry of Health data, out of 1.9 million health workers in 2025, approximately 1.3 million are nurses, with a heavy concentration in Java and shortages in the eastern regions," he added.
The role of nurses in elderly health ranges from conducting Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Mini-Cog screenings at integrated health posts (posyandu), assessing nutrition, to determining whether interventions can be managed at community health centers (puskesmas), through home care, or require hospital referral.
In many puskesmas that provide specialized services for older adults— with their current number standing at around 8,900 units — nurses serve as care managers, case finders, educators for families, and a bridge to social services.
"With 95.9 percent of older adults reportedly lacking physical activity, nurse-led promotive initiatives, such as light exercise programs, nutritional education, and social prescribing, pave the way to prevent further functional decline," he asserted.
Within the framework of the national ageing strategy, nurses are the primary drivers in transforming services into a holistic and sustainable system.
They operate community-based Long-Term Care (LTC) models, test and adapt telemedicine technology for home care, and gather the data necessary for monitoring and evaluation.
Pambudi assessed that the International Nurses Day— celebrated every May 12 — serves as a call to action, noting that empowering nurses means accelerating the expansion of health screening coverage, expanding standardized LTC services, and ensuring equitable financing.
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Translator: Mecca Yumna, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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