On International Nurses Day, a New State of the World’s Nursing Report Charts a Path Toward Universal Health Coverage

As the world 's nurses celebrate International Nurses Day (IND), the International Council of Nurses issues a rallying cry to governments around the globe for urgent nursing support, following the launch of the second World Health Organization (WHO) State of the World 's Nursing (SOWN) report.

GENEVA SWITZERLAND / ACCESS Newswire / May 12, 2025 /As the world 's nurses celebrate International Nurses Day (IND), ICN issues a rallying cry to governments around the globe for urgent nursing support, following the launch of the second World Health Organization (WHO) State of the World 's Nursing (SOWN) report.

The SOWN report is a vital assessment of the global nursing workforce in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and underscores the urgent need for bold investments in nursing to address shortages, strengthen health systems, and promote resilience and economic stability.

The SOWN data presents a mixed picture. It highlights progress in areas such as advanced practice and nursing leadership, but indicates gravely concerning continued workforce shortages, inadequate compensation and working conditions, poor mental health support, inequities in the distribution and employment of nurses, and failures to fully enable nurses as practitioners and health care leaders.

ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano said:

"We welcome the SOWN 2025 report as an important milestone for monitoring progress and gathering the evidence needed to strengthen and support the nursing workforce to achieve global health goals. The report clearly exposes the inequalities that are holding back the nursing profession and acting as a barrier to realizing UHC. Delivering on health for all is dependent on truly recognizing the value of nurses and harnessing their power and influence to act as catalysts of positive change in our health systems."

ICN CEO Howard Catton, who is a Co-Chair of the SOWN report, said:

"In the five years since the first SOWN report, nurses have played a vital role in responding to multiple global crises and health challenges, yet support for the nursing workforce has been inconsistent and slow. As I highlight in my full briefing on the SOWN findings, the global nursing shortage remains largely unchanged, protections against violence are insufficient, and we are seeing poor compensation, inadequate measures to ensure safe staffing and mental health support, and striking inequalities in workforce distribution which have driven a surge in international recruitment and inequitable migration patterns.

'We are used to nurses safeguarding society from catastrophic health outcomes when disaster strikes, just as airbags deploy to protect us in a collision. But without immediate action to invest in and care for our nursing workforce, we risk a perilous future where the nursing airbag will not inflate to offer vital protection to individuals ' and populations ' health.

'The new SOWN report offers us a compass direction, a true north to guide us to build the strong, sustainable, supported nursing workforce we need to support the world 's health and achieve Universal Health Coverage. We now need the world 's leaders to follow this compass, which depends on facing up to the challenges and taking immediate action. ICN calls on governments worldwide to demonstrate the same courage and commitment that nurses show every day in serving their communities across the globe - by investing in nursing."

SOURCE: International Council of Nurses

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

© 2025 ACCESS Newswire. All Rights Reserved.