Abstract
[This is an excerpt.] The World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Originally designated in recognition of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday, and intended to draw attention to the critical role of over 28 million nurses and nurse midwives worldwide, the WHO had little foresight into the significance of their declaration when they made their decision in 2019.1 Given the impact of the COVID pandemic, the WHO expanded the Year of the Nurse and Midwife to the Year of Health and Care Workers in 2021.2 The goal of this declaration was an expression of appreciation and gratitude for the unwavering service and dedication of health care workers during the COVID pandemic. Another objective was to engage stakeholders in a dialog focused on the protection of health care workers’ rights and the improvement of work and practice environments. While well intended, progress toward improved nursing workforce conditions has been slow to emerge, with little progress made thus far. [To read more, click View Resource.]
