On 17 June 2015, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) held the first professional consultation on the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health (HRH) that will be on the agenda of WHO Executive Committee in January 2016 and then to the World Health Assembly in May 2016.

 

The consultation, which was held just prior to the ICN Conference in Seoul, stressed the key role of nurses in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr Jim Campbell, Executive Director of GHWA and Director of the Health Workforce Department described the Global Strategy goals and indicators; and a panel of nursing leaders provided expertise on what is being done, what should be done, and what changes might be needed to the strategy.

 

Following the presentations, 250 representatives from National Nursing Associations (NNAs) provided input into the Global Strategy and direction for WHO and ICN.

 

The key messages that resulted from the WHO HRH Strategy consultation are:

 

 Nurses have a key role to play in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),particularly Goal 3 related to Health and Well-Being.

 

 Universal Health Coverage will only be accomplished with a thoughtful and appropriate deployment of and support for health human resources, and particularly nursing, given the competencies and number of nurses throughout the world.

 

 WHO and member states need data on health and nursing human resources at local, country and international levels in order to make informed decisions. These data must include not just numbers, but competencies, locations of practice, and quality of outcomes. Nursing research has a critical role to play in creating and explaining these data

 

 Policies related to health human resources must be evidence-based, and nurses have a key role to play at policy tables.

 

 Documentation of the role and work of nurses in creating, supporting and maintaining health and health systems is critical.

 SDG on Health and Well-Being focuses on people-centeredness. Given nursing’s involvement with people in all sectors of care and throughout the lifespan, nurses have a particularly important role to play in supporting public engagement in achieving the people-centeredness of health systems and programmes.

 

 

 According to Dr Campbell, “health workforce is not a recurrent cost but a return on investment”. ICN agrees with this statement, and has identified a number of key investments to be made for a robust and sustainable workforce, including, but not limited to, education at many levels, regulation, research and policy development.

 

ICN encourages the NNAs and all nurses in attendance to participate in further consultations within their countries, and in developing action plans for the implementation of the key HRH strategies. In addition, ICN stresses the importance of nurses being included in the country delegations to the World Health Assembly 2016 when Global Health Strategy will be debated and decided. ICN will continue to be engaged in providing direction on the Global Strategy

for HRH to WHO and other international partners. A Global Health Strategy will require highlevel collaborative efforts to move this agenda forward. ICN supports the establishment of a multi-agency coalition and stands open and ready to partner and participate in this ongoing dialogue.

 

Note for Editors

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations representing the millions of nurses worldwide. Operated by nurses and leading nursing internationally, ICN works to ensure quality care for all and sound health policies globally.