Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. It includes the promotion of health, the prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Nurses play a critical role in health care and are often the unsung heroes in health care facilities and emergency response. They are ...
The Global strategic directions for strengthening nursing and midwifery 2016–2020 provides a framework for WHO and key stakeholders to develop, implement and evaluate nursing and midwifery accomplishments to ensure accessible, acceptable, quality, and safe nursing and midwifery interventions.
The retention of nurses in Member States of the WHO European Region is central to “Nursing Action”, a landmark European Union (EU)-funded initiative aimed at strengthening the nursing workforce across the EU and Norway and ultimately improving people’s health.
The 2025 edition of the State of the world’s nursing provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce. The report features new indicators on critical areas for nursing, such as education capacity, advanced practice nursing and remuneration.
The global nursing workforce has grown from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but wide disparities in the availability of nurses remain across regions and countries, according to the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), International Council of Nurses (ICN) and partners.
Nursing and midwifery To safeguard the future health workforce and the provision of high-quality health care, steps must be taken to ensure that nursing and midwifery are seen as attractive career options. Nurses and midwives must have a solid evidence-based education that enables them to meet the changing needs of a population by working, on their own and in teams with other professionals ...