Nurses are the voice to lead

Representing the single largest group of healthcare professionals, working in the heart of the community, in all settings, and caring for patients throughout the life course, nurses have the potential to be influential agents of change and innovation, not only for the health of a society but also for the numerous other dimensions of life that are affected by it. More and more nurses are taking charge of implementing game-changing ideas and methods to improve access to healthcare. For example, in the Netherlands a group of nurses have designed and set up a system of neighbourhood home visit services to bring tailored and humanised nursing care directly to ‘hidden’ patients living in their own homes with untreated severe chronic wounds. The ‘Buurtzorg’ model enables nurses to gain personal and contextualised insights on the needs of their patients, ensuring they receive the care they need, increasing the quality of nursing work and reducing costs simultaneously. In Brisbane, Australia, the nurse-led Inclusive Health, Micah Projects, brings tailored healthcare services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness, poverty, social exclusion, mental illness, disability and domestic violence. This has resulted in improved health and quality of life, reduction in hospital visits, and a significant reduction in hospitals costs. While these two examples show how nurses are leading access to care, there are many other ways that nurses are taking the lead. One of them is in policy. Through the International Council of Nurses, nurses have played a key role in the development and implementation of some key pieces of policy, such as the WHO Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, and the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth. These two high-level reports are key to the future of nursing, ensuring that governments understand the need to invest in the health workforce in order to achieve both Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. Today, nurses are reclaiming their contributions to science, health and the overall wellbeing of nations; they are leading the way to better health systems by being politically involved and professionally assertive. Leadership in nursing is not exclusive, and experience has shown that anyone has the potential to incur changes where they see a need. This is the strength of nursing; the vastness of its practices and environments means nurses, more than any other healthcare profession, work in all settings with all types of communities; we learn to understand them and are in a position to develop needs-based solutions. Nurses’ sphere of influence as healthcare professionals goes beyond the individuals, families, groups and communities they work with. It extends throughout the health sector to nursing and midwifery colleagues, medical colleagues, allied health colleagues, and those with policy, management and fiscal responsibilities. In order to develop nursing leadership, ICN has three leadership programmes to assist in preparing nurses and other health professionals for management and leadership during health sector change and reform, and enhance their contribution to health services. The Leadership for Change (LFC) programme aims to prepare nurses and other health professionals for leadership roles in nursing and the broader health sector during these challenging times of health system change and reform. To assist senior nurses and other health professionals at a country, region or organisational level to: • Engage in the development of health and social policy; • Be effective and dynamic leaders and managers; • Align the contribution of the profession in socioeconomic, professional and regulatory developments; • Maintain and advance their own competence and to identify, develop and support future generations of leaders.