Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1212411
February 17–March 23, 2020 4 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com ON THE QUICK Nursing & Healthcare News For direct links to the websites cited, find these articles at WorkingNurse.com International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife WHO calls for 9 million new nurses in next decade 2020 isn't just the Year of the Nurse — the World Health Organization (WHO) has also declared this the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Expanded Role The World Health Organization is a big fan of nurses and mid- wives, and says the world needs more of them — a lot more. In fact, the target for WHO's Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 initiative is 32.3 million nurses and midwives worldwide by decade's end, about 9 mil- lion more than the current total. In addition to encouraging member nations to add almost 900,000 more nurses and midwives each year for the next decade, WHO's strategic goals include promoting substantial investments in nurse- and midwife-led health services, nurse leadership and nurse specialists as well as expanding the role of nurses and midwives in primary care, community health and health promotion. WHO also wants its member nations to take steps to pro- tect nurses and midwives from workplace violence and ensure that they can practice to their full potential as respected mem- bers of the care team. The organization says building a robust nursing and midwifery workforce "is one of the most important things we can do to achieve universal health coverage and improve health globally." Inspiring Stories As part of WHO's yearlong celebration, the organization is cur- rently preparing an important document: the State of the World's Nursing Report. This report, which will be released on April 7, will provide a comprehensive look at the current global nursing work- force and nurses' vital contributions to global healthcare. In the meantime, you can find more information about WHO's commitment to nursing, including inspiring stories of the achievements of nurses and midwives around the world, on the organization's website, www.who.int. WN STILL MOST TRUSTED Gallup poll reaffirms robust public trust in nurses G allup has kicked off the Year of the Nurse in style with new poll results demonstrating that nurs- ing (again!) remains America's most trust- ed profession. Ethics and Honesty If you ever find yourself feeling a little worn down at work, you can take some consolation in the fact that most of the people you encounter in everyday life, on the Metro or at the grocery store have extraordinary respect for your profession. For almost 20 years, nursing has consis- tently topped Gallup's annual poll ranking the ethics and honesty of various pro- fessions. The latest poll, conducted in December and released January 6, con- tinues that trend: Eighty-five percent of respondents ranked nurses' ethics and honesty as "high" or "very high." That's fully 19 percentage points higher than engineers (who were sec- ond, with a 66 percent rating), 20 per- centage points higher than medical doctors (who ranked third overall, with a 65 percent rating) and 21 points higher than pharmacists (who ranked fourth, with a 64 percent rating). Keeping the Faith There's nothing ambivalent about the poll results. Thirty-one percent of respon- dents rated nurses' ethical standards as "very high," the poll's best possible rank- ing. By comparison, only 20 percent of respondents rated physicians' honesty and ethics "very high," the poll's second-best figure. Almost no respondents — a mere 1.4 percent — rated nurses' hon- esty as lower than average. "I am extremely proud that nurses everywhere have been bestowed this wonderful accolade by the people whose lives they touch every day," says ANA President Ernest Grant, RN, Ph.D., FAAN. "The fact that nurses have been con- sistently voted the most honest and ethi- cal professionals is a testament to the public's trust. We'll work hard to keep their good faith throughout 2020 and beyond. I couldn't think of a better way to enter into the 'Year of the Nurse.'" WN ANA President Ernest Grant