Washington, DC, 25 April 2020 (PAHO)—On 24 April 2020, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held a webinar on the State of the World's Nursing Report to present the main results of the report about the nursing situation in the Region of the Americas.
More than 240 participants attended the webinar, including nurses from the Ministries of Health and Colleges of Nursing, members of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers and Nursing Associations.
The report, released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Nursing Now on the occasion of World Health Day 2020, highlights the contributions of and challenges facing the world’s nearly 28 million nurses, who account for more than half (59%) of all health workers globally.
Some of the results presented in the webinar are: 30% of the world’s nurses is in the Americas, or some 8.4 million nurses, of whom 87% are female; the Region has 83.4 nurses per 10,000 population, 51% of the countries in the Americas reported the existence of advanced roles in nursing, and 30% of the nursing workforce is aged 55 or older in the Region.
The conclusions and next steps discussed in the event include the need to increase the number of registered nurses; improve the distribution of nursing professionals; increase the male workforce; improve data on professionals in rural areas; discuss the option for an initial exam for the profession; invest in interprofessional education, and invest in the training and employment of nurses with advanced roles.
The State of the World Nursing Report’s call to action is that governments need to invest heavily in nursing education, creating nursing jobs, and promoting nursing leadership to ensure sufficient number of nurses with the right skills for effective, equitable, and sustainable health systems.
The key themes and presentations of the webinar included:
- Investment in education, labor market, and planning of human resources for health.
Fernando Menezes. Unit Chief, Human Resources for Health - The situation of nursing in the Region of the Americas - Silvia Cassiani. Regional Advisor on Nursing and Allied Health Personnel Development
- Comments by Oscar Ocho - Director/Senior Lecturer UWI School of Nursing, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center - Trinidad and Tobago
- Comments by Nancy R. Reynolds - Professor and Associate Dean of Global Affairs, Co-Secretary General Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centers in Nursing and Midwifery, Co-Director WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Information, Knowledge Management and Sharing Johns Hopkins School of Nursing-USA
- Comments by Patricia Davidson - Dean of the John Hopkins School of Nursing, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center.
