International Council of Nurses calls for immediate action: "caring for the wellbeing of nurses strengthens economies"
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) today launched a landmark report backed up by a new survey, warning of a deepening crisis in the wellbeing of the global nursing workforce and providing compelling evidence for urgent investment in nurses to improve health outcomes, strengthen ec
GENÈVE, CH / ACCESS Newswire / April 16, 2025 / The International Council of Nurses (ICN) today launched a landmark report backed up by a new survey, warning of a deepening crisis in the wellbeing of the global nursing workforce and providing compelling evidence for urgent investment in nurses to improve health outcomes, strengthen economies, and build more resilient societies. ICN says the report and survey launched ahead of International Nurses Day (IND) 12 May, provide concrete evidence of both the depth of the crisis in nursing and the solutions. ICN, the global voice of nursing, says International Nurses Day this year should be both a celebration of nurses but also a rallying cry for action based on the new evidence from the report and survey.
Cover image of ICN IND2025 Report and related survey
The survey, authored by the Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre, Assessing the Global Sustainability of the Nursing Workforce: A Survey of National Nurses' Association Presidents, collects firsthand reports from 68 NNAs on trends in the stability and sustainability of the nursing workforce between 2021-2024. ICN's IND2025 report Our Nurses. Our Future. Caring for Nurses Strengthens Economies provides further evidence of the strain many nurses are experiencing due to chronic underinvestment and presents evidence-based solutions for strengthening nurse wellbeing as a path to population health and economic productivity.
ICN's President, Dr Pamela Cipriano, said:
"The publications we are launching today show that many of the world's nurses are at breaking point, pushed into burnout and facing enormous physical, mental, and emotional pressures. Unacceptable working conditions, inadequate compensation, and a failure to protect nurses from workplace violence and occupational hazards or provide opportunities to advance and practice at full scope are driving this crisis, which affects not only nurses but the health of entire populations.
'The survey results also underscore a failure to protect nurses' safety. A shocking 86.2% of nurses' associations reported experiences of violence from patients or the public, yet a third of countries had no policies in place to protect nurses from workplace violence. Our IND report highlights how direct attacks on nurses and healthcare workers in conflict settings have also dramatically increased.
'This situation is unacceptable and untenable. We must take urgent and decisive action to put nurse wellbeing at the centre of health systems and enable nurses to provide essential care, support thriving populations and economies, and advance Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals."
ICN's CEO, Howard Catton, noted that despite mounting evidence of the nursing workforce crisis, many leaders and decision makers continue to make the wrong choice by prioritizing short-term solutions over the sustainable investments needed to address the root causes of the health workforce emergency.
He commented:
"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 dangerous future where no airbag will inflate, where we won't have nurses to come to the rescue when we need them most. Recent developments such as US funding cuts to education, health, and international aid only adds to this risk.
'It is a smart and strategic investment in the health and prosperity of all people, with the total potential value of initiatives to improve nurses' wellbeing is estimated at $100-300 billion based on capturing lost workforce productivity alone."
Contact Information
Richard Elliott
Director of Communications and Events
elliott@icn.ch
0041 79 900 55 43
SOURCE: International Council of Nurses
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