26 May 2021
The Nursing Now three-year global campaign to raise the profile and status of nursing wraps up this week with an urgent call to governments to invest in nursing as the backbone of health systems everywhere.
The Nursing Now campaign, launched by The Duchess of Cambridge in 2018, said nurses are the key to getting health care to everyone, stopping pandemics and tackling the rising burden of chronic diseases.
Operating in 126 countries, the campaign was run in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nurses, with support from the Burdett Trust for Nursing, and called for better nurse pay, conditions and training, as well as more opportunities to lead.
In addition, its Nightingale Challenge programme has inspired more than 800 employers to provide development opportunities for over 31,000 early career nurses and midwives. The Nightingale Challenge, renamed the Nursing Now Challenge, will continue to work with health employers around the world to create leadership opportunities for 100,000 nurses and midwives in more than 150 countries by the end of next year.
On May 24th, nurses from Tonga to Tobago held a series of six Global Footprints events, celebrating nurses and calling on health ministers to adopt a new global strategy to transform the profession, due to be debated at this week’s annual World Health Assembly.
In a video message recorded for the closing events, The Duchess of Cambridge said: “COVID-19 has highlighted the vital role that nurses provide, which we all rely on, and it’s made all the more extraordinary when we consider the huge sacrifices and personal demands that have been placed on all of you by the pandemic.”
Nursing Now says the pandemic has claimed thousands of nurses’ lives and caused illness, trauma, burnout and poverty. More nurses are now leaving their countries or quitting the profession altogether, exacerbating the global shortage of around 10 million nurses.
Lord Nigel Crisp, Nursing Now founder and former CEO of England’s National Health Service said: “Health services around the world have responded magnificently to the pandemic, but we will not beat COVID-19, stop the next pandemic, or tackle skyrocketing rates of diabetes or heart disease, unless we help nurses to work at their full potential”.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said: “The Nursing Now campaign has pushed countries towards action, developed a new generation of leaders in nurses, and increased the influence of nursing in health systems across the world. As the campaign comes to an end, I urge countries to invest in nurses, so they are supported, protected, motivated, and equipped to deliver safe care’’.
Nursing Now executive director Barbara Stilwell added: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the nursing profession. We cannot let the new WHO strategy gather dust on a shelf – governments need to follow its clear recommendations and account for their progress. Nurses around the world will be watching them’’.
Annette Kennedy, President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), said: “Alongside the WHO, ICN has been a proud partner of the most successful global nursing campaign the world has seen.
“Nursing Now has energised the profession, changed public perceptions and demonstrated clearly to political leaders that nursing is the solution to affordable, accessible and high-quality health care. It is a profession the world simply cannot afford not to invest in.
“The Nursing Now groups have been working with ICN and WHO to develop the next global Nursing and Midwifery strategy that will be adopted at this week’s World Health Assembly.”
Nursing Now’s final report, Agents of Change, recommends:
- Nurses should be “confident and creative agents of change”; work to break down divisions between different specialisms; and use data to lobby politicians for better investment;
- Employers need to involve nurses in designing services and appoint them to board-level roles;
- Governments should commit to implement the recommendations set out in the WHO’s Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery.
View the final report here.
Watch the Duchess of Cambridge’s video below: