Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care

By: Maibam Ranita Devi
Each year, ICN leads the celebrations on International Nurses Day, held on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, this year them 2024- Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care
ICN has chosen to focus IND 2024 on the economic power of care with the aim to reshape perceptions and demonstrate how strategic investment in nursing can bring considerable economic and societal benefits.
Nurses provide care and leadership to address global health challenges everywhere, as a nurse( Community Health Officer) to led a PHSC- Ayushman Bharat Health And Wellness center- Ayushman Aarogya Mandir in each and every corner of the country to serve the better health care services in every rural places of India often at great personal risk. They are the essential life force for health, yet our healthcare systems worldwide have fallen short and failed to value, protect, respect and invest in this precious resource. The world has mistakenly taken nurses for granted, treating them as an invisible and inexhaustible resource. That should however now stop for the sake of nurses and global health. Nurses are key to healthier communities, responsive societies, thriving economies and powerful nations. Now is the right time for policy makers, national and local decision-makers to take decisive steps to build and optimise an enduring, strong and sustainable nursing workforce.
Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) for full range of services across the continuum of care. This center in India is located in the rural places in every corner with a population of 5000 and above. The government of India launched the Community Nursing Officers’ role towards improving quality care to enhance the health of every citizen. Our role in each centre is multifaceted. Clinical, managerial, recording reporting and public health education management roles. Till now, no any cadre creation has taken place around the county (India) as the DO letter has already issue from the Ministry side. Now we need strong policy maker and good governance to implement Community Health Officer Cader from Nursing Background.
The Community Health Officer Nurses’ from AIACHO Platform representing as a vice president Charter for Change presents some policy actions that governments and employers must take to create and sustain health care systems that are safe, affordable, accessible, and responsive and shift nurses from being invisible to invaluable.
To provide quality care services we need strong policy maker to implement especially for nurses and every state must implement Government Nursing Directorate as to fulfil the –
The International Council of Nurses’ Charter for Change presents 10 policy actions that governments and employers must take to create and sustain health care systems that are safe, affordable, accessible, and responsive and shift nurses from being invisible to invaluable. International Council of Nurses #IND2023 #INDCHARTER
– Protect and invest in the nursing profession to rebuild health systems that can deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage to improve global health. Recognise and value health and health care as an investment not a cost. Secure commitments for investment to maintain equitable and people-centred care.
– Urgently address and improve support for nurses’ health and well-being by ensuring safe and healthy working conditions and respecting their rights. Put in place systems to ensure safe staffing levels. Ensure protections against violence and hazards in the workplace and implement and enforce international labour standards on the rights of nurses to work in safe and healthy supportive environments ensuring physical as well as mental health protections.
– Advance strategies to recruit and retain nurses to address workforce shortages. Improve compensation for nurses to ensure fair and decent pay and benefits, and uphold positive practice environments that listen to nurses and provide them with the resources they need to do their jobs safely, effectively and efficiently. Fund professional governance, recognition and development activities across career trajectories. ICN’s International Nurses Day 2023 – CHARTER FOR CHANGE – Our Nurses, Our Future.
– Develop, implement and finance national nursing workforce plans with the objective of self-sufficiency in the supply of future nurses. Align resources to support a robust workforce to deliver essential health services, reverse unemployment and retain talent. When international migration takes place, ensure it is ethical, transparent, monitored and delivers equal mutual benefits for sending and receiving countries as well as respecting the rights of individual nurses. Undertake system workforce planning and monitoring across the care continuum.
– Invest in high-quality, accredited nursing education programmes to prepare more new nurses and advance career development for existing nurses. Design curricula so that nurses graduate with the right skills, competencies and confidence to respond to the changing and evolving health needs of communities and support career progression from generalist to specialist and advanced practice.
– Enable nurses to work to their full scope of nursing practice by strengthening and modernizing regulation and investing in advanced nursing practice and nurse-led models of care. Reorientate and integrate health systems to public health, primary care health promotion and prevention, community, home-based and patient-centred care.
– Recognize and value nurses’ skills, knowledge, attributes and expertise. Respect and promote nurses’ roles as health professionals, scientists, researchers, educators and leaders. Involve nurses in decision-making affecting health care at all levels. Promote and invest in an equitable culture that respects the nursing profession as leading contributors to high quality health systems.
– Actively and meaningfully engage national nursing associations as critical professional partners in all aspects of health and social care policy, delivery and leadership as the experienced and trusted voice of nursing. Build local, national and global multilateral partnerships.
– Protect vulnerable populations, uphold and respect human rights, gender equity and social justice. Place and uphold nursing ethics at the centre of health systems’ design and delivery so all people can access health care that is equitable, non-discriminatory, people-centred and rights based, and without the risk of financial hardship.
– Appoint nurse leaders to executive positions of all health care organisations and government policy making. Strengthen nursing leadership throughout health systems and create and sustain nursing leadership roles where they are most needed.
Standing as a Professional nurse today here I would like to Quote that –
R – Recognise the nurse
R – Received the quality care Service
R – Render the appropriate Scale of pay
R – Recruitment rules of different Nursing cadre to be set in all the states.
R – Remember Nursing is the nation’s largest healthcare profession, with nearly 4.7 million nurses nationwide.
(The author is Community Health Officer, PHSC-HWC-AAM Awang Wabagai, Recipient of Florence Nightingale Awardee, 2019)