EFNNMAThe 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.

EFNNMA – how to become a member

EFNNMA collaboration with WHO

Nursing Now

Nurses and midwives: a vital resource for health - Technical briefing, WHO 64th Regional Committee Meeting, 17 September 2014

Roadmap

World Health Day 2020 - Support Nurses and Midwives

World Health Day 2020 - Support Nurses and Midwives
EFNNMA welcomes the release of “The state of the world’s nursing 2020” report on the occasion of World Health Day. Governments, health system, professional societies now are supported with important data that will inform decisions and guide systems to improved nursing resources planning.
“Our fight against COVID-19 has once again brought home how fundamental the nursing profession is to society and to all of us. Faced with the most exceptional circumstances and toughest working conditions, nurses across the European Region and the world have met the challenge with bravery, compassion and professionalism. They, together with all frontline health workers, deserve our deepest thanks and respect,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“It is high time we give the nursing profession the recognition it deserves. Today, as we mark World Health Day, and in the future, countries must invest in nurses and support them to work to the full extent of their training and scope of practice. In so doing, our skilled and dedicated nursing workforce will have the strength and resources to build a healthier Europe,” he concluded.
In the European Region, there are 7.3 million nurses, or about 79 nurses per 10 000 people. Distribution of nurses from country to country significantly varies putting some health systems under the risk, which is devastating at a time of Covid-19 pandemic.
Age structure of the workforce, percentage of nurses coming close to the age of retirement and percentage of nurses born and trained in other countries put the light on the acute needs of developing stronger domestic resources. Global recommendations of the Report are all relevant to the situation in the European Region.
 
Ten recommendations for a strengthened nursing workforce
To equip the world with the nursing workforce it needs, WHO and its partners recommend that all countries:
1.    increase funding to educate and employ more nurses;
2.    strengthen capacity to collect, analyse and act on data about the health workforce;
3.    monitor nurse mobility and migration and manage it responsibly and ethically;
4.    educate and train nurses in the scientific, technological and sociological skills they need to drive progress in primary health care;
5.    establish leadership positions, including a government chief nursing officer, and support leadership development among young nurses;
6.    ensure that nurses in primary health-care teams work to their full potential, for example, in preventing and managing noncommunicable diseases;
7.    improve working conditions, including through safe staffing levels, fair salaries, and respect for rights to occupational health and safety;
8.    implement gender-sensitive nursing workforce policies;
9.    modernize professional nursing regulation by harmonizing education and practice standards and using systems that can recognize and process nurses’ credentials globally; and
10. strengthen the role of nurses in care teams by bringing different sectors (health, education, immigration, finance and labour) together with nursing stakeholders for policy dialogue and workforce planning.
 
The Report released in English is supported with Executive summaries in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish and can be found here >>

Back to news list