Background: The Indonesian nursing workforce plays an important role in the nation's health development. However, the Ministry of Health of Indonesia acknowledges that there is a shortage in the nursing cadre. This situation is at odds with the current large-scale production of nurses occurring in Indonesia. Aim: This article aims to analyse the latest situation of nursing education and nursing workforce in Indonesia and the challenges faced by the profession. Methods: This study is literature review emphasizing the policy issues and responses on education and workforce. Data were collected from various sources, including the Ministry of Health, other relevant stakeholders and journals. Document extraction and review was conducted from December 2015 to January 2017. Results and conclusion: Results indicated that there is a chronic shortage of nurses in certain regions of Indonesia. Current shortages could easily be aggravated by the disequilibrium between supply and demand. Meanwhile, the overproduction of the nursing workforce in various regions has contributed to the surplus number of nurses. Policy options must be adopted to reduce shortages and with an offering of temporary surplus of nurses is suggested to solve the current issues.