Costa Rica, on the other hand, reports around 1.5 nurses for every doctor. There are 3.1 nurses per 1 000 inhabitants, compared to 9.1 per 1 000 inhabitants on average among OECD countries (OECD, 2016b). Differences in the way a “nurse” is defined may partly explain this finding (for example, auxiliary nurses without a degree may not be counted in Costa Rica, but included in other health systems’ nursing headcount).