Year of the Nurse and the Midwife 2020

This year was designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, as a celebration of the work of nurses and midwives throughout the world. It will highlight the challenging conditions that they often face, and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Nurses and midwives make up most of the NHS workforce and constitute half of the health professionals worldwide. They care for people of all age groups, all sections of society, all creeds and ethnicity. They are often the first and only point of care in their communities.

The global nursing workforce is 27.9 million and approximately 90% of the nursing workforce is female, but few leadership positions in health are held by nurses or women.

Did you know? The world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives if it were to achieve universal health coverage by 2030 (data from the World Health Organisation).