Abstract: Over the past decade, nursing in China has developed rapidly, with the nursing workforce achieving rapid progress in terms of size, structure, and service models, and the policy focus shifting from scale expansion toward quality optimization. However, challenges remain, including mismatches between workforce growth and rising healthcare demands, insufficient professional attractiveness, gap between training and clinical practice, and imbalances in regional and specialty distribution. Due to deepening population aging and the technological revolution, severe challenges regarding the nursing workforce need to be considered. In the future, it is imperative to transform from a scale-driven model toward high-quality sustainable development, and to systematically shape a new landscape for the nursing workforce through refined governance, incentive reform, educational innovation, and primary care empowerment.

Key words: nursing workforce; sustainable development; human resources; nursing management; Healthy China