Successful implementation of the Health Transformation Plan required special attention to the welfare and professional status of nurses. This qualitative study was conducted to analyze the challenges and barriers experienced by nurses in the implementation of this plan from the perspective of social welfare policymaking and human resource governance. Fifteen nurses and nursing managers working in public hospitals in Kerman were selected through purposive sampling, and data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out using the Braun and Clarke thematic analysis approach until theoretical saturation was achieved, and credibility was enhanced through repeated data review and alignment of themes with participants’ lived experiences. The findings revealed three main axes: (1) economic welfare and job support policies, including staff shortages, high workload, and income inequality; (2) human capital retention and organizational mental health policies, including job burnout, exposure to trauma, and lack of structured psychological support; and (3) institutional policies and equitable distribution of power, including symbolic discrimination and weak participation in decision-making. The conclusion showed that without simultaneous reform of welfare, institutional, and supportive human resource policies, the Health Transformation Plan faced erosion of human capital and a decline in service quality, and that revising human resource governance policies and establishing structured organizational mental health support were prerequisites for achieving high-quality universal health coverage