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Nursing and midwifery

(Photo: WHO/Alexander Kozachenko)

WHO/Europe works closely with Member States, government chief nurses, WHO collaborating centres and other partners, such as the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA):

  • to raise the level of nursing and midwifery education in the European Region;
  • to create evidence-based knowledge on nursing and midwifery;
  • to influence national policies that will lead to the provision of high-quality, accessible, equitable, efficient and sensitive health services.

Nurses and midwives comprise the majority of health care professionals in Europe and thus play a key role in the successful delivery of health services. In line with the growing international health workforce crisis, the WHO European Region currently faces serious shortages of well-qualified nurses and midwives.

To safeguard the future health workforce and the provision of high-quality health care, steps must be taken to ensure that nursing and midwifery are seen as attractive career options. Nurses and midwives must have a solid evidence-based education that enables them to meet the changing needs of a population by working, on their own and in teams with other professionals, along the entire continuum of health and illness. In addition, their work needs systematic evaluation to show its efficiency and effectiveness, and they need to be involved in decision-making for health policy.

Key publications 

  • 16th Annual Meeting of the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations and WHO (EFNNMA and WHO)
    Report on the EFNNMA and WHO meeting in Copenhagen at WHO Regional Office for Europe on 29-30 March 2012. The meeting was attended by representatives of nursing and midwifery associations of 16 Member States in the WHO European Region and observers from international associations and nongovernmental organizations. The main focus of the meeting was the role of Nursing and Midwifery professions in tackling Non-Communicable Diseases.
  • WHO European Region meeting of Chief Nursing Officers
    Report on the WHO European Region meeting of Chief Nursing Officers in Warsaw, Poland on 7–8 October 2011. Participants in this meeting had the opportunity to discuss WHO’s vision, key policies and strategies. These included Health 2020, the evolving European health policy framework; the Tallinn Charter on health systems; and the global strategic directions for nursing and midwifery.
  • Nurses and Midwives: A force for health (2009)
    This report sets out the findings from the third monitoring review of the situation of nursing and midwifery in Europe, undertaken in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region during 2008/2009. Thirty-five countries, constituting two-thirds of the Member States, provided information.

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