International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated every year on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth to highlight the importance of nurses in the healthcare system and to honour them for their diligence and service to society.

The theme for International Nurses Day 2022 is Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health. IND 2022 focuses on the need to protect, support and invest in the nursing profession to strengthen health systems around the world.

Nurses are catalysts for positive transformation to build strong healthcare systems and to overcome the forces that threaten global health. The pandemic has put extra burden on health systems, in general, and the nursing workforce, in particular. There is need for investment and protection to nursing workforce.

The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (SDNM) 2021-2025 has prioritized four policy areas for strengthening the nursing workforce:

• educating enough midwives and nurses with competencies to meet population health needs;
• creating jobs, managing migration, and recruiting and retaining midwives and nurses where they are most needed;
• strengthening nursing and midwifery leadership throughout health and academic systems;
• ensuring midwives and nurses are protected and respected in safe and supportive service delivery environments.

Nurses are the largest group of health professionals providing essential healthcare around the world. Despite the critical role they play in health care, there is a shortage of nurses worldwide. There are not enough nurses to meet the development goals.  Every country needs a competent, motivated, well-distributed and supported health workforce as part of the global drive for universal health coverage, and nurses are central to these efforts.

The Indian Nurses Live Register developed by Indian Nursing Council and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India is an online registry which provides latest information of the currently practicing nurses, thereby helping the Government in better manpower planning and policy making for the nursing professionals in India.

Investing in nursing will help in achieving the objectives of Universal Health Coverage through improved health services and disease prevention and contributing to economic development (SDG8) and supporting other Sustainable Development Goals. 

#IND2022

Know more

Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (SDNM) (2021–2025)

International Nurses Day 2021

International Nurses Day 2020

References

https://www.icn.ch/what-we-do/campaigns/international-nurses-day

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/nursing-and-midwifery

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240033863

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1824688