During National Nurses Week (May 6 – 12), the International Council of Nursing (ICN), a group of more than 130 national nursing associations with a mission of advancing the profession, promoting nurses’ wellbeing, and advocating for health (ICN, n.d.), released a new report, International Nurses Day 2024: The Economic Power of Care. This 94-page report suggests that the worldwide nursing shortage is impacting not only health but also wealth. Dr. Pam Cipriano, president of the International Council of Nurses, calls for governments to “invest in nursing and reap the rewards that will surely follow” (Stewart et al., 2024, p. 4).

Poor health and the lack of accessible care carry a huge price tag, especially for low- and middle-income countries (Stewart et al., 2024). That price tag is estimated to be 15% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) (Stewart et al., 2024). GDP is the value of goods and services produced (Callen, n.d.). In terms of cash, that amounts to about $1.4 to $1.6 trillion per year—again, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. The ICN report projects that the return on investment could range from $2 to $4 for every $1 invested in health improvement (Stewart et al., 2024). While I’m no economist, that sounds like a pretty good return!

But they cannot do it without us—nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners.

ICN recommendations include the following (Stewart et al., 2024):

• Investing in nursing job growth. The worldwide nursing workforce needs to double to achieve universal health coverage, which the World Health Organization (2023) describes as all people having “access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship” (Overview, para 1).
• Optimizing nurses’ roles and responsibilities, including advanced practice nurses. This recommendation allows health systems to operate more economically while delivering high-quality care.
• Focusing on healthcare across the continuum, especially primary healthcare. Nurses are key to providing “health promotion and preventive measures and the delivery of care outside of hospital settings” (p.8).
• Investing in “high-quality education and continuous professional development opportunities [emphasis added] to ensure that nurses possess the competencies required to meet the evolving health needs of communities…” (p. 9).
• Safeguarding the well-being of nurses. Healthcare environments should allow nurses to thrive mentally, emotionally, and physically.
• Supporting nurses with the equipment and resources needed to provide optimal care. Not only does this recommendation benefit the healthcare consumer/partner, but it also reduces occupational hazards for nurses.
• Protecting nurses in all settings. This protection extends to physical harm, occupational hazards, and psychological stress to promote resilience.

They cannot do it without us.

As you can see, nursing professional development practice is threaded throughout these ICN recommendations. In fact, each of the “Big 6” responsibilities in the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice are needed (Harper & Maloney, 2022). For example, investments in high-quality education require us to partner with academia to ensure clinical placements. Expanding the nursing workforce requires our expertise to orient new staff and evaluate their competence. As the ICN report acknowledges, we must provide continuing education to ensure nurses can “meet the evolving needs” of healthcare consumers/partners. Furthermore, we must engage in role development to ensure adequate preceptor availability for newly licensed nurses or for nurses transitioning into various healthcare roles across the continuum of care. Finally, we must engage in inquiry to identify best practices for achieving these aims.

The ICN report includes a “call to action for global health leaders and policymakers” (Stewart et al., 2024, p. 11) with five directives:

• Empower nurses
• Invest in education and workforce development
• Enhance working conditions
• Acknowledge and compensate fairly
• Promote nursing’s role in society

They cannot do it without us.

To realize the “benefits of investing in nursing and nurses” (p.10), which include improved health and quality of life; economic growth; stronger, prepared healthcare systems; and less poverty and improved gender equality, healthcare leaders must invest in nursing professional development.

They cannot do it without us.

Unfortunately, many of our leaders do not realize the monetary value NPD brings to our organizations. And some of us don’t either. Although we have evidence of NPD value from ANPD-sponsored research studies (Harper, MacDonald et al., 2023; Harper, Maloney et al., 2023), you must demonstrate your value to your organization. To do that, you must know your organization’s strategic priorities—including patient outcomes—and act to improve those outcomes through NPD initiatives. For example, how much have you increased newly licensed nurse retention through your nurse residency program or by developing preceptors to ensure a positive transition to practice? How much have you reduced staff turnover by developing wellness programs to reduce burnout? How have your educational programs improved stroke treatment times or reduced unplanned readmissions for pneumonia patients? These outcomes are money in the bank!

They cannot do it without us.

But, if you don’t know the answers to the questions above, your organization’s leaders might think otherwise. Here’s your call to action:

• Empower yourself by investing in your professional development: If you don’t know how to show your value, learn how.
• Collect data about your organization’s outcomes. Start by downloading and completing ANPD’s NPD Value by the Numbers Worksheet.
• Identify measures from the worksheet that your department already impacts.
• Determine the financial impact of that impact using ANPD’s Known Costs Table.
• Share your findings with your organization’s leadership.

Don’t let your leaders think they can do it without us, because they can’t.

Access the ICN report.

References

Callen, T., (n.d.). Gross domestic product: An economy’s all. Finance and Development. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved May 14, 2024 from https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/Series/Back-to-Basics/gross-domestic-product-GDP#:~:text=Measuring%20GDP,the%20borders%20of%20a%20country.

Harper, M. G., MacDonald, R., Maloney, P., & Aucoin, J. (2023). The ongoing value of nursing professional development. Nursing Economics, 41(1), 32 – 39, 50.

Harper, M. G., Maloney, P., Aucoin, J., & MacDonald, R. (2022). Findings from the 2021 organizational value of nursing professional development practice study, part 2: Relationships between NPD staffing and organizational outcomes. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 38(5), 265-272. DOI: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000919

International Council of Nurses, (n.d.). Who we are. Retrieved May 14, 2024 from https://www.icn.ch/who-we-are

Stewart, D., Adynski, G., Bertoni, K., Catton, H, Chopra, M., Contandriopoulos, D., Duckett, S., Lafortune, G., Lauer, J., McClelland, A.., Needleman, J., Parish, C., Shannon, G., Spetz, J., Thompson, R. A., & Wagner, L. M. (2024). International Nurses Day 2024: The economic power of care. International Council of Nurses. Retrieved May 14, 2024 from https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/2024-05/ICN_IND2024_report_EN_A4_6.1.pdf

World Health Organization. (2023, October 5). Universal health coverage (UHC). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/universal-health-coverage-(uhc)