SPOTLIGHT ON WORKFORCE
From a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle
A vicious cycle of underfunding and losing health workers due to poor or unsafe working conditions is threatening universal health coverage, but with funded country-level workforce plans, we can turn this cycle into a virtuous one
Many studies, including the International Council of Nurses and Saudi Patient Safety Center’s white paper on Nurse Staffing Levels for Patient Safety and Workforce Safety, have shown the link between healthy workers and patient safety. In addition, safety and protection are essential for retaining the health workforce that is facing a critical shortage, is expensive to replace and is difficult to produce in rapid order. In 2021, the WHO issued its Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021–2025, which argued for the need to invest in nursing jobs, education, leadership and practice. And ICN’s 2022 report, Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and Respect Rights to Secure Global Health, added two additional policy focuses: protect the rights of nurses and other healthcare workers to build a strong healthcare system, and invest in and care for the health and well-being of nurses and other healthcare workers. At the end of the day, all roads lead to health, as evidenced by the interdependence of so many of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3 on good health and well-being. Nurses are everywhere. We recognise the deep interconnectedness of all these challenges as well as the need to help lead system level transformation.
How and why is a healthy health sector workforce essential for making all other parts of the healthcare system and community work, to deliver health for all? With rising geopolitical tensions around the world, countries have many competing interests with both political and financial implications, causing economic and financial fragmentation. Spending on health care increased by an average of 1% of gross domestic product in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries during the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine, rising energy costs and disruptions to supply chains have now increased the cost of health care in many countries and added pressure on government budgets. However, we have learned from the pandemic that investment in health care – and particularly in the healthcare workforce – must be a priority if we are to rebuild strong and resilient health systems to meet future demands and deliver universal health coverage by 2030. As Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, has said many times, “There is no health without health and care workers”.
Interview with Pamela Cipriano, president, International Council of Nurses
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Health: A Political Choice – From Fragmentation to Integration
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