The European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA) is the voice of nursing and midwifery within WHO European Region.Working in partnership and strategically with WHO and other key stakeholders we aim to influence health policy, improve the quality of health services and the health of people across the 53 Member States of the Region. We are passionate advocates of the central and unique contribution that Nurses and Midwives make to individual and population health and well-being across Europe and are committed to ensuring both professions are supported to deliver excellence in their practice. As the nature of care changes we believe that strengthening and developing the nursing and midwifery workforce through the provision of lifelong learning and research delivers excellence in public health and people-centered healthcare.
Nurses and midwives: a vital resource for health - Technical briefing, WHO 64th Regional Committee Meeting, 17 September 2014
Strengthening nursing and midwifery to maximize their potential and enable their full contribution to Health 2020 implementation was the focus of a technical briefing on Wednesday 17 September 2014, at the 64th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe. The draft policy framework “European strategic direction for strengthening nursing and midwifery in support of Health 2020 goals” and the “Compendium of good practices in nursing and midwifery” formed the basis for discussions.
EFNNMA invested its efforts in collecting the practice cases reflecting advanced roles of nurses and midwifes and developing the both documents and at a later stage supported the organization of the briefing. The Briefing was highly attended by official country delegates and allowed to present the documents, the position of WHO and EFNNMA, the official supportive position of Finland, England, and Israel, and of the International Council of Nurses and European Commission. EFNNMA Steering Committee members explicitly supported the countries' actions on internal discussions of the documents and their approval for the sake of improved Health services for Europe.
We would like to use this opportunity to urge all national associations of nurses and midwifes to be proactive during 2014-2015 and initiate/engage into the national dialog, to additionally emphasize the value of nursing and midwifery cadres, to share with the national Ministries best example and great outcomes achieved by nurses and midwifes across the European region. EFNNMA from its side will continue to closely collaborate with WHO on the upcoming events and the joint plan of actions.