The theme for International Nurses Day this year (12 May 2021) is ‘Nurses: a voice to lead—a vision for future healthcare’. This is an opportunity, globally, to show how nursing will look in the future and how the profession will lead in transforming the next stage of healthcare.
In 2020, the World Health Organization's first ever State of the World's Nursing report was released (WHO et al, 2020). This report used data gathered from 191 countries. Its key message is that governments need to create nursing jobs as well as invest in nurse education and leadership. This is not a new message, well at least not to nurses in the UK. This has been our mantra for many years and for many years it has gone unheeded. Nursing is a safety-critical profession and this cannot be forgotten, there is still much to be done. However, the report is a useful contribution to the progress of the profession.
In the UK, large numbers of nursing posts remained vacant as we went into the pandemic. Government and ministers must take note of the report's recommendations and invest in nurses. As we emerge from the pandemic, the nursing profession must be recognised for its key role in the provision of positive health and care outcomes across the UK. This recognition must include financial remuneration that is appropriate to the skill and outstanding contribution of the profession. In order for nurses to continue providing safe and effective care, safe staffing levels and the filling of the tens of thousands of unfilled nursing jobs must be a priority.
Dave Dawes (2021), Chair of the Council of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), describes the RCN's position on the economics of nurses' pay, the impact on nursing and how the RCN plans to challenge the Westminster Government.
To ensure that our profession flourishes and reaches its full potential, nursing needs to be a key part of health-policy decision making at the highest levels, making its mark and contributing from its unique perspective. This is an important requirement so as to future proof and advance nursing over the coming decades.
Nurses and nurse leaders also have a key role to play in making clear what impact nurses and nursing have on care outcomes. They must continue to generate and disseminate the evidence for the effectiveness of those nurse-led interventions where nursing and nurses have made an impact at an individual, community and population level.
During COVID-19, health and care services have had to undertake a major transformation, with nurses leading and sustaining this transformation. It has also allowed us to be innovative and creative.
The need to ensure nursing's current vacancies are filled is important. There is also a need to further increase the workforce so as to respond appropriately to the evolving health needs of diverse populations and to address any workforce planning issues and a further depleting nursing workforce. This will require concerted investment and planning.
Let us not be defined by COVID-19. Of course we should be proud of the contribution we have all made in response to the pandemic. Our full repertoire of skills and in-depth knowledge means we are able to adapt and respond to pandemics and myriad of other health crises that we manage on a day-to-day basis, responding to the needs of individuals, families and communities. For many decades, nurses have been leading on infection prevention and control, improving public health and delivering vaccination programmes and we will, for decades to come, stand tall and rise to health and care challenges as we lead and enhance service provision locally, nationally and internationally.