Nurse Salaries Reach Up to 24,000 PLN Gross While the Profession Faces a 100 Percent Shortage in Poland

A new report by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tarification reveals stark wage disparities and a severe staffing crisis among nurses across Poland.

How Much Do Nurses Earn in Poland?

Nurse salaries reach up to 24,000 PLN gross, yet the number of professionals practicing this occupation is twice too low. The Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tarification (AOTMiT) has prepared a report examining the employment structure and wage brackets of nurses, showing that maximum earnings reach 24,000 PLN gross while overall compensation remains highly unequal.

AOTMiT released data on the employment structure focusing on nurses, presenting an extremely uneven breakdown. The highest rates are noted in group 2, which includes 32 percent of nurses on employment contracts, while the lowest are in group 6, covering workers without a master’s degree and specialization.

Three Groups, Three Different Wage Worlds

A master’s degree and specialization serve as the gateway to group 2, which is the highest-rated bracket in the salary table. Group 5 includes nurses with a master’s degree or a specialization, while group 6 encompasses all others.

The median gross earnings show that the most frequent brackets are 15,000–15,500 PLN, 12,500–13,000 PLN, and 11,000–11,500 PLN gross respectively. The threshold above 24,000 PLN gross is reached by individual, highest-paid nurses.

Employment Contracts and Distribution

The vast majority of nurses, numbering 158,872 or 72.42 percent, are employed on a standard employment contract. Commission and specific-work contracts were chosen by 36,494 nurses (16.64 percent), and B2B contracts by 23,999 (10.94 percent).

The distribution among the salary table groups differs significantly depending on the form of employment. Contract and commission workers are predominantly dominated by nurses from lower groups, whereas standard employment contracts more frequently cover workers with a master’s degree and specialization.

Regional Wage Disparities Across Poland

Wage leaders in group 2 are the Pomeranian Voivodeship (15,945 PLN), Lower Silesian Voivodeship (15,885 PLN), and Opole Voivodeship (15,831 PLN). In group 5, the leaders are Łódź (13,337 PLN), Lower Silesian (12,638 PLN), and Greater Poland (12,597 PLN), while in group 6, the most generous are Łódź (11,593 PLN), Greater Poland (11,360 PLN), and Lower Silesian (11,248 PLN).

At the bottom of the ranking with the lowest averages are consistently the voivodeships of eastern Poland. In group 2, the lowest is Lublin (14,882 PLN), ahead of Subcarpathian (14,929 PLN) and Podlaskie (15,087 PLN). In group 5, the bottom features Lublin (11,625 PLN), Podlaskie (11,827 PLN), and Świętokrzyskie (11,888 PLN), and in group 6, the lowest are Lublin (10,411 PLN), Kuyavian-Pomeranian (10,634 PLN), and Podlaskie (10,657 PLN).

The structure of assignment to salary table groups varies sharply between voivodeships. Podlaskie has the highest percentage of nurses in group 2 at 43.29 percent, compared to 29.86 percent in group 5 and 26.85 percent in group 6, whereas Świętokrzyskie has the fewest in group 2 at only 18.35 percent, and 42.21 percent in group 6.

Thousands of Lawsuits and Compensation Claims

The 2022 amendment to the act on minimum wages in healthcare introduced a division of nurses into three of ten salary table groups based on qualifications. Implementation did not go smoothly, leading to thousands of cases ending up in courts across three recurring lines of dispute.

The first dispute involves nurses with a master’s degree and specialization whom hospital directors assigned to lower groups, resulting in lower pay. The second involves workers from groups 5 and 6 questioning wage disparities compared to group 2 despite performing the same work, and the third concerns the non-recognition of qualifications acquired after the law entered into force, with many final rulings already favoring workers, including Supreme Court decisions.

Following the July 2026 indexation, the minimum gross wages for nurses have been adjusted accordingly within the established framework.

A Severe Shortage of Nursing Professionals

Krzysztof Zdobylak, an expert in healthcare transformation and development strategy and a member of the Supreme Medical Council (NRL), notes that the shortage of nurses in Poland reaches 100 percent. In practice, this means there should be twice as many nurses in Poland when compared to countries with efficiently functioning healthcare systems, compounded by a deeper problem where professions standard in efficient systems are virtually absent.

Data from Eurostat shows that the total number of medical and care professionals in other countries is two to three times higher than in Poland. Many specialists are missing entirely, and while a nurse in the UK is a prestigious, vital, and competent profession supported by trained assistants to relieve their workload, Poland is still debating whether physician assistants add value to the healthcare system.

Summary of the AOTMiT report highlights a contrast-filled remuneration system ranging from over 24,000 PLN gross to minimum rates of around 8,400 PLN after indexation, with the Eastern regions consistently falling behind and a systemic deficit exceeding 100 percent.