Nurse Salary in Pakistan 2026: BPS, Pay & Allowances

Nurse salary in Pakistan starts at BPS-16, where a staff nurse’s core gross is Rs 61,923 a month before house rent allowance. With the Sindh nursing allowances, the starting gross rises to Rs 91,023 a month.

This guide works out the nurse salary from the notified BPS-2026 chart and the Finance Division allowance OMs, component by component, with the provincial nursing allowances shown separately and the qualification route at the end.

Nurse salary at a glance#

A government nurse in Pakistan starts in BPS-16, and the grade decides the pay.

What BPS is a staff nurse#

A staff nurse is BPS-16. That is the answer to the question most readers ask first.

The post name differs by province. In Sindh the entry post is called Staff Nurse (BS-16). In Punjab the entry post is called Charge Nurse (BS-16). In federal hospitals the post is Staff Nurse (BS-16). Same grade, different post names by province and department.

Punjab’s entry post is Charge Nurse (Female) BS-16. PPSC Advertisement No. 10/2026, Case No. 33-RD/2026, for the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department, advertised 1,958 vacancies on a three-year contract basis, posted anywhere in Punjab, with a last date of 5 October 2026.

The advertisement is on the PPSC website. Qualification is a B.Sc. Nursing Generic (four years) with valid Pakistan Nursing Council registration, or a Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery with valid PNC registration. Female and female transgender candidates only.

Sindh’s entry post is Staff Nurse BS-16. SPSC Advertisement No. 01/2022 advertised 558 Staff Nurse posts (BS-16), age 21 to 28. The advertisement is on the SPSC website. Qualification is a BSc Nursing (Generic) at least 2nd division, or a Diploma in Nursing with Midwifery for female candidates, with valid PNC registration.

Nursing is a gazetted profession from BS-16. BPS-16 is the first gazetted grade, so a Charge Nurse or Staff Nurse in BS-16 is a gazetted officer.

Contract and regular posts pay the same scale, but the benefits differ. The 2026 PPSC Charge Nurse posts are on a three-year contract basis, not permanent appointments. Contract nurses draw the same pay scale but do not get a pension until regularised.

Nurse grades and promotion ladder in Pakistan#

The nursing ladder runs from BPS-16 to BPS-19, with the senior posts named differently by province.

Sindh’s senior post is Senior Nurse BS-17. SPSC Advertisement No. 01/2022 advertised 154 Senior Nurse posts (BS-17). Qualification is a B.Sc. Nursing (Post RN) at least 2nd division, with valid PNC registration.

Punjab’s senior post is Head Nurse BS-17. A Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department order dated 18 July 2023 promotes Charge Nurses (BS-16) to Head Nurses (BS-17) on a regular basis. A Head Nurse supervises ward-level patient care, manages junior nursing staff and coordinates with doctors.

The Punjab promotion ladder is:

• Charge Nurse BS-16 to Head Nurse or Assistant Nursing Instructor BS-17 after 5 years service.
• To Deputy Nursing Superintendent or Clinical Instructor BS-18 after 5 more years.
• To Deputy Director Nursing or Deputy Chief Nursing Superintendent BS-19 after 12 years service in BS-17 and above.

For the full 22-grade chart, see our pay scale chart 2026 guide. If you want the pay detail behind each grade, see what BPS means.

Staff nurse salary: worked example (BPS-16)#

A starting staff nurse in BPS-16 takes home about Rs 84,700 a month in Sindh, before house rent allowance.

The method matches the live BPS-16 guide: core gross before house rent allowance, ARA-2023 and ARA-2024 on the BPS-2022 minimum, and ARA-2026 at 7% of running basic pay. Conveyance is Rs 7,500 for BPS-16 and above, medical allowance is Rs 1,500 for BPS-1 to 16 only, and GP Fund is 8% of the mean of the scale.

Income tax is on the TY2027 slabs. For the BPS-16 detail, see our BPS-16 salary guide.

The ARA rates are the standard rates: ARA-2023 is 35% for BPS 1 to 16 and 30% for BPS 17 to 22, and ARA-2024 is 25% for BPS 1 to 16 and 20% for BPS 17 to 22. Both are on the minimum of the BPS-2022 scale and frozen. ARA-2026 is 7% of running basic pay.

The rates are in Finance Division OM No.F.1(2)IMP/2026-0004, 4 August 2026. The full BPS-2026 revision is on the Finance Division website.

House rent allowance is extra: 45% in big cities and 30% elsewhere, on the scale minimum, and it is not recalculated on the new basic pay. The worked examples here stay before house rent allowance, as in the live BPS guides.

Head nurse salary: worked example (BPS-17)#

A starting head nurse in BPS-17 takes home Rs 106,300 a month in Sindh, before house rent allowance.

BPS-17 and above do not get the fixed medical allowance of Rs 1,500 a month. They get medical reimbursement instead. The core gross of Rs 87,965 matches the live BPS-17 guide exactly.

Nursing superintendent salary: worked example (BPS-18)#

A starting nursing superintendent in BPS-18 takes home Rs 106,820 a month in Sindh, before house rent allowance.

The nursing, mess and uniform allowances are not published for grade 18, so they are not added here. Only the Health Professional Allowance, which covers grades 16 to 20, is added.

Nursing allowances in Pakistan#

The nursing allowances differ by province. Sindh’s figures are in the Sindh Finance Department notification of June 2017 and the Health Professional Allowance approval of December 2021.

The Sindh figures are from the Sindh Finance Department notification of June 2017. It raised the uniform allowance from Rs 600 to Rs 3,100, the mess allowance from Rs 300 to Rs 8,000, and the nursing allowance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 for grade 16.

The Health Professional Allowance of Rs 8,000 a month to all nurses of grade 16 to 20 was approved by the Sindh Health Department in December 2021, after an 18-day protest by the Young Nurses Association Sindh.

No consolidated Punjab notification publishes these allowances. Nurses were given Rs 10,000 as mess and dress allowance, and the Punjab Health Department secretary has said nurses of grade 16 and grade 17 get Rs 11,000 and Rs 7,500 respectively as additional allowances.

Nurses demanded a Health Professional Allowance of Rs 20,000, equal to the doctors’ allowance, and it was not granted.

KP’s Health Professional Allowance is halted. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Appellate Tribunal, on 28 May 2025, nullified all Finance Department notifications on it and ordered an immediate halt to payments to all civil servants and non-teaching MTI employees.

The tribunal held that only teaching faculty of public sector medical colleges were eligible. KP nurses do not currently receive a Health Professional Allowance.

Federal figures are from 2019: mess allowance for grade-16 regular nurses Rs 500 to Rs 8,000, and dress allowance Rs 500 to Rs 3,100. No later notification publishes updated figures. For the other allowances a government employee can draw, see our government employee allowances guide.

Do nurses get a health risk allowance?#

No, there is no current health risk allowance for nurses anywhere in Pakistan.

• Sindh: the COVID health risk allowance was Rs 17,000 a month for BPS 1 to 16 and Rs 35,000 for BPS-17 and above, from 1 July 2020. It was withdrawn in 2022. The Grand Health Alliance has protested since, demanding restoration and permanence.
• Punjab: the Chief Minister announced Rs 9,000 a month as risk allowance for charge and head nurses in January 2017. No later notification publishes its current status.
• Federal: a risk allowance of one month’s basic salary was introduced in 2011 and withdrawn in 2014. In June 2025 health employees at PIMS, Polyclinic, Federal General Hospital and NIRM sat in demanding restoration. No notification followed.

Sindh’s current extra is the Health Professional Allowance of Rs 8,000 a month, which is separate from the COVID-era risk allowance.

No night duty allowance rate is published for nurses in Pakistan. Night shifts are part of the duty roster.

Nurse salary by province#

The core gross is the same everywhere, because the BPS chart is federal. The difference is the provincial nursing allowances.

The Punjab figure of about Rs 80,923 sits inside the range of Rs 80,000 to 110,000 and above for a starting Charge Nurse.

Private hospital nurse salary#

Private hospital pay is not a scale. It varies by hospital, city and experience, and every figure below is a range, never an official scale.

Advertised packages in 2026 show the same spread: CMH Dera Nawab Sahib advertised a Staff Nurse at Rs 100,000 a month, the National Institute of Child Health and Neonatology Lahore advertised a Charge Nurse at Rs 117,738 a month, and BKMC Swabi advertised a Registered Nurse Officer at Rs 40,000 to 80,000 a month.

A top private hospital pays more than a starting government nurse, but the government post carries a pension, GP Fund and job security that a private contract does not.

How to become a nurse in Pakistan#

The regulator is the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC), formerly the Pakistan Nursing Council. PNMC is the only regulatory body for nurses, midwives and LHVs in Pakistan under the PNC Act 1973 as amended in 2023.

Registration with PNMC is mandatory to practise and to apply for a government nursing post. Only PNMC-recognized institutions may run nursing diplomas and degrees. The council is on the PNMC website.

1. Pass FSc Pre-Medical. Entry to BSc Nursing generally needs 50% marks in FSc Pre-Medical.
2. Choose a route. BSc Nursing Generic is four years. The older route is a Diploma in General Nursing (three years) plus Midwifery (one year). Both are still accepted for the Charge Nurse and Staff Nurse posts, with valid PNMC registration.
3. Register with PNMC. PNMC requires institutions to pre-register students within 3 months of admission, fee Rs 1,000 per student. Without pre-registration the student cannot sit the Nursing Examination Board exam.
4. Upgrade after the diploma. A Post-RN BSc Nursing (two years) is for diploma holders who want a degree, and an MSN is for postgraduate study. Senior Nurse (Sindh, BS-17) needs a Post-RN BSc.
5. Apply for a government post. Apply through PPSC, SPSC, FPSC or the National Job Portal with valid PNMC registration.

The Punjab BSN stipend is gone. The Punjab government abolished the Rs 31,600 monthly stipend and the free hostel facility for students enrolled in the four-year BSN Generic programme, in both morning and evening batches, in November 2025.

Admissions are now centralised under the University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore: 3,100 morning-shift seats across 45 public nursing colleges, and 1,400 evening seats in 15 institutions. Do not trust a page that still shows the old stipend as current.

Nurse salary vs teacher salary#

A starting nurse earns more than a starting school teacher, because the nurse starts two grades higher and gets nursing allowances on top.

A BPS-14 school teacher, starting: basic Rs 27,060 + ARA-2023 Rs 7,886 + ARA-2024 Rs 5,633 + ARA-2026 Rs 1,894 + conveyance Rs 4,284 + medical Rs 1,500 = core gross Rs 48,257 a month.

A starting nurse (BPS-16) core gross is Rs 61,923, about Rs 13,700 more than a BPS-14 teacher. With the Sindh nursing allowances the nurse gross is Rs 91,023, about Rs 42,800 more.

A college lecturer (BPS-17) has the same core gross as a head nurse, Rs 87,965, because the grade is the same. The nurse earns more in total because of the nursing allowances.

Pension and benefits#

Yes, government nurses get a pension. A nurse appointed on a regular basis is a civil servant and gets a pension on retirement.

Pension equals (24-month average emoluments x 7 x service years) / 300, maximum 70% at 30 years service, minimum 10 years service. Contract nurses do not get a pension until regularised. For the full pension detail, see our government pension guide.

• GP Fund: BS-12 to 22 subscribe at 8% of the mean of the scale.
• Benevolent Fund: subscription Rs 120 to 960 a month by slab.
• Group Insurance: premium Rs 381 to 1,090 a month, with the government paying the premium for BPS 1 to 15 only.
• Annual increment: BPS-16 Rs 2,720 a year, BPS-17 Rs 4,110, BPS-18 Rs 5,120.
• Earned leave: 48 days a year (4 a month).
• Retirement age: 60 years.

Mistakes to avoid#

The most common mistakes with nurse salary in Pakistan are about the grade, the risk allowance and the stipend.

• Thinking a staff nurse is BS-14: a staff nurse is BS-16, not BS-14.
• Using Rs 45,070 as the starting basic: that is the BPS-2022 minimum of BPS-17. The BPS-2026 minimum of BPS-16 is Rs 33,720.
• Expecting a health risk allowance: there is no current health risk allowance for nurses anywhere in Pakistan. Sindh’s was withdrawn in 2022, Punjab’s 2017 announcement has no published update, and the federal one was withdrawn in 2014.
• Expecting the Punjab BSN stipend: Punjab abolished the Rs 31,600 stipend and the free hostel in November 2025.
• Counting the KP Health Professional Allowance: the MTI Appellate Tribunal halted it in May 2025 and nullified the notifications.
• Quoting the head nurse range of Rs 180,000 to 280,000: the worked BPS-17 example gives Rs 114,565 gross. That range appears to mix private-sector director posts.
• Forgetting house rent allowance is extra: the worked examples here are before house rent allowance, as in the live BPS guides. HRA is 45% in big cities and 30% elsewhere, on the scale minimum.
• Assuming a contract post carries a pension: contract nurses do not get a pension until regularised.

Frequently asked questions#

What BPS is a staff nurse? BPS-16. In Sindh the entry post is called Staff Nurse (BS-16), in Punjab it is called Charge Nurse (BS-16), and in federal hospitals it is Staff Nurse (BS-16). BPS-16 is the first gazetted grade.

Do nurses get a health risk allowance? No, there is no current health risk allowance for nurses anywhere in Pakistan.

Sindh’s COVID risk allowance was withdrawn in 2022, Punjab’s Rs 9,000 announcement is from 2017, and the federal one-month-basic allowance was withdrawn in 2014. Sindh’s current extra is the Health Professional Allowance of Rs 8,000 a month.

What is the starting salary of a staff nurse? A starting staff nurse in BPS-16 has a core gross of Rs 61,923 a month, before house rent allowance. With the Sindh nursing allowances, the gross is Rs 91,023 and the take-home is about Rs 84,700 a month.

What is the salary of a charge nurse or head nurse? A charge nurse is BPS-16, so the starting core gross is Rs 61,923. A head nurse is BPS-17, with a starting core gross of Rs 87,965 and a Sindh gross of Rs 114,565, take-home Rs 106,300 a month.

Do nurses get a pension? Yes, if appointed on a regular basis. A nurse is a civil servant and gets a pension on retirement, with a minimum of 10 years service. Contract nurses do not get a pension until regularised.

How does nursing pay compare to a teacher’s? A starting nurse (BPS-16) core gross is Rs 61,923, about Rs 13,700 more than a starting BPS-14 school teacher at Rs 48,257. With the Sindh nursing allowances the nurse gross is Rs 91,023, about Rs 42,800 more. A college lecturer (BPS-17) has the same core gross as a head nurse, Rs 87,965.

Is the BSN stipend still paid in Punjab? No. Punjab abolished the Rs 31,600 monthly stipend and the free hostel facility for BSN Generic students in November 2025. Admissions are now centralised under the University of Health Sciences Lahore.

Can a diploma holder become a charge nurse? Yes. A Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery with valid PNMC registration is accepted for the Charge Nurse and Staff Nurse posts. A Post-RN BSc is needed for the Senior Nurse post in Sindh.

The federal rule is the same for every province: a staff nurse starts in BPS-16 at a basic pay of Rs 33,720, with a core gross of Rs 61,923 before house rent allowance. The provincial difference is the nursing allowances.

Sindh’s are Rs 21,100 plus a Health Professional Allowance of Rs 8,000. Punjab’s are about Rs 10,000 mess and dress. KP’s Health Professional Allowance is halted. No allowance figure is published for Balochistan.