APNA Position: State of the World’s Nursing

On April 14, 2020, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) adopted the World Health Organization’s report, State of the World’s Nursing Report – 2020, as the position of APNA. See below for excerpts from the report which reflect the APNA position:

“Nurses are critical to deliver on the promise of ‘leaving no one behind’ and the global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They make a central contribution to national and global targets related to a range of health priorities, including universal health coverage, mental health and noncommunicable diseases, emergency preparedness and response, patient safety, and the delivery of integrated, people-centered care.

No global health agenda can be realized without concerted and sustained efforts to maximize the contributions of the nursing workforce and their roles within interprofessional health teams. To do so requires policy interventions that enable them to have maximum impact and effectiveness by optimizing nurses’ scope and leadership, alongside accelerated investment in their education, skills and jobs. Such investments will also contribute to the SDG targets related to education, gender, decent work and inclusive economic growth.”

(p. 4 of Executive Summary)

The World Health Organization calls upon governments and relevant stakeholders to leverage the evidence in this report to:

• Invest in the massive acceleration of nursing education – faculty, infrastructure and students – to address global needs, meet domestic demand, and respond to changing technologies and advancing models of integrated health and social care;
• Create at least 6 million new nursing jobs by 2030, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, to offset the projected shortages and redress the inequitable distribution of nurses across the world;
• Strengthen nurse leadership – both current and future leaders – to ensure that nurses have an influential role in health policy formulation and decision-making and contribute to the effectiveness of health and social care systems.

(p. 3 of Executive Summary)

Approved by the APNA Board of Directors April 17, 2020; Reviewed February 2024

View the full report from the World Health Organization.