Filenews 4 September 2024
A contribution agreement was signed by the World Health Organization and the European Union to help countries with shortages of nursing staff.
The deal, as announced, "is funded with €1.3 million from the EU4Health programme and will include activities in all EU Member States for a period of 36 months."
Particular emphasis will be given to countries with significant shortages of nursing staff.
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said: "Nurses are the backbone of our health systems and their role is vital to ensure that patients receive high-quality professional care whenever they need it. This action is a sign of our commitment to address the serious shortages of healthcare staff faced by many Member States and to improve the resilience of health systems across the European Health Union. We are delighted to be working with WHO Europe on this important initiative."
"Through close cooperation with Member States, nursing staff organisations and social partners, the initiative will be adapted to respond to specific needs at national and subnational level."
The funding will include developing recruitment action plans, creating mentoring programmes to attract a new generation of nurses, carrying out impact assessments on nursing staff to understand the problems leading to structural shortages, designing strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of nursing staff, as well as providing training opportunities and implementing actions so that healthcare workers can reap the benefits of digital transformation."
It is reminded that the problem of shortage of nurses is already found in Cyprus, while a campaign by the Ministry of Health is already underway, which aims to attract nurses and encourage secondary school graduates to choose nursing schools for their studies.
