State of the World's Nursing Report 2020: Investing in Education, Jobs and Leadership

This report published jointly by the World Health Organization, the International Council of Nurses, and Nursing Now provides evidence and policy options for the global nursing workforce and calls on making an investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership. The report analyzes data from the National Health Workforce Account (NWHA) for 191 member states and assesses progress related to the projected shortfall of nurses by 2030; it reports that the world does not have a global nursing workforce that is sufficient for achieving universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. Over 80% of the world's nurses are found in countries that account for only half of the world's population, and the global shortage of nurses (5.9 million nurses) is concentrated in low- and lower middle-income countries. The report features five major sections addressing: the role of the health workforce in achieving the 2030 Agenda; the role of nursing in achieving universal health coverage, dealing with epidemics, and achieving population health; policy levers to enable the nursing workforce; the current status of evidence and data on the nursing workforce; future directions for nursing workforce policy. The report calls on all member states to invest in nurses in order to contribute to health education, gender, and decent work and economic growth SDG targets across the globe. The report is accompanied by an executive summary and the NWHA data portal that features country profiles with key statistics on the nursing workforce.