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Nursing and midwifery

    Overview

    To safeguard the future health workforce and the provision of high-quality health care, steps must be taken to ensure that nursing and midwifery are seen as attractive career options. Nurses and midwives must have a solid evidence-based education that enables them to meet the changing needs of a population by working, on their own and in teams with other professionals, along the entire continuum of health and illness. In addition, their work needs systematic evaluation to show its efficiency and effectiveness, and they need to be involved in decision-making for health policy.

    Impact
    Nurses and midwives comprise the majority of health care professionals in Europe and thus play a key role in the successful delivery of health services. In line with the growing international health workforce crisis, the WHO European Region currently faces serious shortages of well-qualified nurses and midwives.
    WHO response

    WHO/Europe works closely with Member States, government chief nurses, WHO collaborating centres and other partners, such as the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA):

    • to raise the level of nursing and midwifery education in the European Region;
    • to create evidence-based knowledge on nursing and midwifery;
    • to influence national policies that will lead to the provision of high-quality, accessible, equitable, efficient and sensitive health services

     

    Our work

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    Strengthening nursing and midwifery

    Strengthening nursing and midwifery

    WHO
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    Overview

    WHO/Europe is an important player in global efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. As requested by health ministers from all parts of the European Region, WHO/Europe provides strategic support for the key objective of strengthening nursing and midwifery by:

    • regularly meeting with government chief nurse or midwife officers to discuss how to strengthen roles and functions for nurses and midwives and develop strategies for implementation of the Munich Declaration at national level;
    • working closely with the European Forum for National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA) to assist nurses and midwives to have WHO recommendations incorporated into national policy and practice;
    • developing guidelines for basic, higher and continuing nursing and midwifery education, such as a curriculum for the family health nurse, which has been pilot-tested in various educational institutions in Europe;
    • providing technical guidance to individual Member States, focusing on improving workforce capacity and education, the quality of care, and health-related regulations and legislation.

    Publications

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    Technical brief on strengthening the nursing and midwifery workforce to improve health outcomes: what is known about advancing roles for nurses: evidence and lessons for implementation

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, policy-makers and the wider public recognized the important contribution nurses made to the fight against the pandemic and...

    Technical brief on strengthening the nursing and midwifery workforce to improve health outcomes: Government Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers (GCNMOs) in the WHO European Region

    Recognizing the critical contribution of the nursing and midwifery professions to health systems, population health and efforts to achieve the Sustainable...

    Related WHO collaborating centres

    WHO collaborating centres are institutions that form an international collaborative network carrying out activities to support WHO’s programmes at all levels. They provide an opportunity for WHO to utilize their inherent expertise for the benefit of all Member States.

    View the list of related collaborating centres

    Related health topics