Global strategic directions for strengthening nursing and midwifery 2016–2020

Overview

Nurses and midwives are critical in the delivery of essential health services and are core in strengthening the health system. Acting both as individuals and as members and coordinators of interprofessional teams, nurses and midwives bring people-centred care closer to the communities where they are needed most, thereby helping improve health outcomes and the overall cost-effectiveness of services.

They help to promote and maintain the health and wellness of an ageing population within the community, in line with the concept of active ageing. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, they can contribute to reductions in newborn, infant and maternal mortality in their role as skilled birth attendants and providers of neonatal care.

They provide a wide range of services in hospital settings, from accident and emergency through to palliative care. And as key players in crisis and post-crisis situations, they contribute to the risk communication, response planning and multisectoral participation aspects of emergency preparedness programmes; and provide services ranging from trauma management to mental health and rehabilitation in post-emergency recovery.

The development of the Global strategic directions for strengthening nursing and midwifery 2016–2020 followed an extensive consultative process. It included experts from all WHO regions, including leading academicians; educational institutions; government chief nursing and midwifery officers; policy-makers; WHO collaborating centres on nursing and midwifery; students; nongovernmental organizations and civil society; professional associations; and individual nurses and midwives.

The process began with an expert consultation in Jordan in April 2015, followed by a second consultation in Geneva in September 2015, and a web-based global consultation from December 2015 to January 2016. The final expert consultation took place in Geneva in January 2016.