Celebrating World Health Organisation’s Year of Nurses and Midwives
Nurses and Midwives play an extremely important role in healthcare. Renowned for working tirelessly and in high pressure situations, nurses have devoted their lives to others’ wellbeing. They are often the first point of contact for sick and injured people and in some cases are the only healthcare providers.
Even with such an important role, nurses endure tough and erratic working conditions to deliver the care their patients need. Challenges that nurses and midwives face almost daily include;
- Understaffing
- Workplace violence
- Burnout
- Sharps injuries
In a year-long effort to highlight these challenging conditions and advocate for increased investment in the nursing and midwife workforce, the World Health Organisation (WHO) have named 2020 the Year of The Nurse and Midwife. The event falls on the year of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday. Nightingale is most commonly known as the founder of modern nursing following her service in the Crimean War.
Nurses and Midwives make up almost 50% of the global health workforce. Nurses and Midwives have been identified to be key to achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 because of the importance of their role in society’s wellbeing. This is in accordance with the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a “blueprint” for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) is also known as the “good health and well-being” goal, which aims to ensure healthy lives, and promote well-being for all at all ages by improving healthcare and preventing the spread of diseases. To achieve good health and well-being, WHO estimates that the world will need an additional 9 million nurses and midwives – doubling the current number – within the next 10 years. As at the end of 2019, the UN suggests that more needs to be done if we are to achieve SDG 3 by 2030.
Following the publication of the 2019 SDG report, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs urged in a statement: “Achieving human well-being and eradicating poverty for all of the Earth’s people[…] is still possible, but only if there is a fundamental—and urgent—change in the relationship between people and nature, and a significant reduction in social and gender inequalities between and inside countries.”
2020 year of the Nurse and Midwife is a huge step in the right direction in changing peoples’ mindsets and attitudes. WHO encourages individuals and organisations to raise awareness for the occasion by recognising the status of nurses and midwives and their vital role in the wellbeing of all. Toolkits for this promotion are available on the WHO website. Organisations such as:
have already publicly recognised the event!
Anyone can celebrate and show their appreciation for nurses and midwives. WHO has also published a list of ideas on how people can get involved in this celebration. Taking part in public events, engaging communities, and getting active on social media with the official hashtag (#SupportNursesAndMidwives) are just some of many suggestions.
Qlicksmart will be attending several events and congresses this year as a part of the celebration of nurses and midwives, and to further improve safety in their working environments. Qlicksmart will be advocating at events such as: the AORN Global Surgical Conference, the ACORN International Conference, and the HCP Hospital O.R. and Surgical Conference. Check out the Qlicksmart’s events calendar to find all events our team will be attending in 2020.