APNA Position: Global Strategic Priorities for Nursing

In February 2023, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) adopted key elements of The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (2021–2025) as an APNA Position.

Below are fundamental aspects of the report’s strategic priorities which reflect the APNA position and align with current and future APNA initiatives:

Education

Strategy: “…nurse graduates match or surpass health system demand and have the requisite knowledge, competencies, and attitudes to meet national health priorities.”

• Priority: “Align the levels of nursing…education with optimized roles within the health and academic systems.”
• Priority: “Optimize the domestic production of…nurses to meet or surpass health system demand.”
• Priority: “Design education programmes to be competency-based, apply effective learning design, meet quality standards, and align with population health needs.”
• Priority: “Ensure that faculty are properly trained in the best pedagogical methods and technologies, with demonstrated clinical expertise in content areas.”

Jobs

Strategy: “Increase the availability of health workers by sustainably creating nursing…jobs, effectively recruiting and retaining…nurses, and ethically managing international mobility and migration.”

• Priority: “Conduct nursing [workforce] planning and forecasting through a health labour market lens.”
• Priority: “Ensure adequate demand (jobs) with respect to health service delivery for primary health care and other population health priorities.” · Priority: “Reinforce implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.”
• Priority: “Attract, recruit, and retain…nurses where they are most needed.”

Leadership

Strategy: “Increase the proportion and authority of…nurses in senior health and academic positions and continually develop the next generation of nursing…leaders.”

• Priority: “Establish and strengthen senior leadership positions for nursing…workforce governance and management and input into health policy.”
• Priority: “Invest in leadership skills development for…nurses.”

 

Service Delivery

Strategy: “…nurses work to the full extent of their education and training in safe and supportive service delivery environments.”

• Priority: “Review and strengthen professional regulatory systems and support capacity building of regulators, where needed.”
• Priority: “Adapt workplaces to enable…nurses to maximally contribute to service delivery in interdisciplinary health care teams.”

Global strategic directions for nursing and midwifery 2021-2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Approved by the APNA Board of Directors April 11, 2023.

View the full report from the World Health Organization.