Home  Global Nursing Workforce Project Project Communiqué No. 3- July 2005

 

Project Communiqué No. 3         July 2005

 

 

 

Global Nursing Review Initiative:  Policy Options and Solutions
Supported by the Burdett Trust for Nursing

 

Introduction

Project News

Contact

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This is the third issue of the Project Communiqué for the Global Nursing Review Initiative: Policy Options and Solutions.  The purpose of the communiqué is to keep interested parties informed of the International Council of Nurses’ work on the global nursing workforce shortage, and to share related news in the area of health human resources (HHR).

Project News
Publications

In March 2005, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and its sister organisation, the Florence Nightingale International Foundation, released a series of issue papers examining specific global and regional aspects of the nursing workforce. ICN’s initial report, The Global Shortage of Registered Nurses: An Overview of Issues and Actions, identifying the policy and practice issues and solutions impacting the supply and utilisation of nurses, accompanies these publications.  The papers are available on the Project website at www.icn.ch/global

High Level Consultation on the Global Nursing Workforce

Some fifty representatives of governments, employers, donors, trade unions, policy analysts, planners, researchers and professional nursing organisations from all regions of the world met in Geneva, Switzerland 14 -16 March 2005 at the invitation of ICN to identify priorities and actions to deal with the critical imbalance and shortage in the nursing workforce worldwide.

Participants called on global and national partners to take immediate action along the following lines:

Action at the global level

• Increase resources to support the development of comprehensive human resource strategies;
• Explore using global health funds to strengthen human resource delivery infrastructures, including education;
• Form strategic alliances between governments, donors, agencies, educators, regulators, unions and associations;
• Build capacity in the area of human resource planning and management;
• Build national self-sufficiency to manage domestic issues of supply and demand;
• Support international code for ethical recruitment; effective monitoring of international flows; regulation and independent monitoring of international recruitment agencies; and respect for international labour instruments; and
• Improve access to high-quality technical assistance.

Action at the country level

• Consider the range of nursing personnel required to meet national health needs;
• Embrace new models of care, with an emphasis on primary care, and new technologies;
• Address issues of skill mix and the delegation/devolution of some tasks to other workers; and
• Improve workloads and working conditions.

International Summit on the Global Nursing Workforce
As follow-up to the March 2005 Consultation, ICN convened an International Summit on the Global Nursing Workforce, which was held on 24 May 2005 during ICN’s 23rd Quadrennial Congress in Taipei, Taiwan. Nurse leaders from research, management, practice and education joined representatives from government, health sector planning and human resources development to exchange ideas, opinions and solutions on priority workforce issues.

The Summit and findings from an on-site survey validate the five global priority areas for policy intervention identified by ICN. These are:

• Macroeconomics and health sector funding policies;
• Workforce policy and planning, including regulation;
• Positive practice environments and organisational performance;
• Retention and recruitment; addressing in country maldistribution, and out migration; and
• Nursing leadership.

Next Steps
A detailed report and plan of action to address the global nursing shortage will be made available shortly.

Other HHR News
International Centre on Nurse Migration
On May 24th 2005, ICN and the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) launched a much-needed global resource, the International Centre on Nurse Migration. The announcement was made at the close of the ICN International Summit on the Global Nursing Workforce, held in Taipei, Taiwan. The Centre is an international resource for the development, promotion and dissemination of research, policy and information on nurse migration.

The Centre's website, www.intlnursemigration.org, will act as a portal for policy, research studies and other information regarding migration trends and statistics.

Fifty-Eighth World Health Assembly
The 58th session of the World Health Assembly addressed the issue of international migration of health personnel. A resolution was adopted requesting the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to intensify efforts to fully implement resolution WHA57.19 and to strengthen WHO's programme on human resources for health.

For more information visit http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA58/WHA58_17-en.pdf

To obtain further information on the
Global Nursing Review Initiative: Policy Options and Solutions,
please contact Patricia Caldwell at
 or visit our project website at  http://www.icn.ch/global/

International Council of Nurses
3, place Jean-Marteau
1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 908 0100
Fax: +41 22 908 0101