Nurse shortage branded a ‘global health emergency’

A shortage of nurses across the world, including in countries that provide nurses for international recruitment, has created a global health emergency, according to the latest report from the International Council of Nurses.

The report, Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System Effectiveness, lays out the devastating impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on nurses around the world.

It urged that investment in a well-supported global nursing workforce was needed if health systems around the world were to recover and be rebuilt effectively.

It also warned against reliance on the “quick fix” of international recruitment instead of investing in nursing education, as this was contributing to staff shortages even in countries with a long tradition of educating nurses to work in higher income countries.