Nurses guide patients through care pathways, escalate patient concerns, and ensure continuity of care. To do this work more effectively nurses need adequate time, resources and support. The World Patients Alliance (WPA) places this connection between nurses’ working conditions and patient care at the center of its Heart of Healthcare: Celebrating Our Nurses campaign.
In 2026, WPA published two advocacy letters, dated 3 March and 25 May. The March advocacy letter addressed issues and challenges nurses face in daily practice. The May advocacy letter called for sustained support for nurses through national health planning and a greater role for nursing leaders in decisions. The campaign also invited public recognition of nurses and shared patient and advocate experiences of their care. This blog examines how health leaders can plan for nursing needs, improve working conditions and involve nurses and patients in workforce decisions.
Plan the nursing workforce around patient needs
In its State of the world’s nursing 2025 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a global shortage of 5.8 million nurses in 2023. It projects that the shortage will fall to 4.1 million by 2030. This projected decline is a positive global trend, but a substantial shortage would remain. The global figures do not show which countries will have enough nurses to meet patients’ needs.
WHO reports that about 78% of the world’s nurses work in countries that together have 49% of the global population. This leaves about 22% of nurses in countries where the other 51% of the population lives. WHO warns that this uneven availability can limit access to essential health services. It also reports that low and middle income countries face difficulties in training nurses, hiring them and helping them remain in practice.
Health ministries need to know where nursing posts remain vacant and which healthcare facilities lack enough nurses to meet patients’ needs. They also need to identify communities that have difficulty accessing care and understand why nurses leave. Local information on vacancies, staff turnover, workloads and demand for care, alongside the experiences of nurses and patients, can guide hiring and retention decisions. Workforce plans should match nurse training with resources to hire graduates and opportunities for professional development.
Nurses’ working conditions matter for patient care
Workforce planning must also consider the conditions nurses face after they are hired. The State of the world’s nursing 2025 report identifies better working conditions and mental wellbeing support as priorities for 2026 to 2030.
The report also examined whether countries had national or local mental wellbeing support for health workers. Using country data available from 2018 to 2023, it found that 28 of the 66 countries reporting on this measure said they had such support (42%). The measure covers health workers generally. It does not show whether nurses can access help in practice.
Healthcare organisations can review workloads and safety concerns with nursing teams, address gaps in essential resources and make mental wellbeing support accessible. Health authorities can check whether workforce plans address the problems nurses encounter in their day-to-day work.
Patients can help assess whether changes are improving care. They can describe whether they receive clear explanations, have their concerns addressed and experience continuity of care. Healthcare organisations can review this feedback alongside nurses’ experiences, workload data and patient safety information to identify where further action is needed.
Include nurses and patients in workforce decisions
WPA’s 25 May advocacy letter calls for nursing leadership in health policy, crisis planning and health system design. Health leaders can involve nursing leaders when setting workforce priorities and ask nurses providing care to assess staffing and safety proposals before decisions are made. Their experience can help show whether a proposed change will work in practice.
Patients and patient organisations also need a role before plans are final. Patients can explain how proposed changes may affect access to care, communication and continuity. Patient organisations can bring these concerns into planning discussions and help decide how the results will be assessed. Health leaders should explain how input from nurses and patients shaped their decisions.
WPA’s two published rounds of patients testimonials under the Heart of Healthcare: celebrating our nurses campaign, offer examples of what patients and advocates value in nursing care. The first round includes reflections on communication, safety and respect. In the second, Ravi Ruparel describes support from nurses over eight years of monitoring and treatment after a bladder cancer diagnosis. Regina Kamoga describes how nurses help people understand their care and feel respected in settings with limited resources. J.S. Arora draws on his thalassemia treatment experience to emphasize trust, clear communication and dignity in long-term care.
These accounts show what patients and advocates value in nursing care. Health leaders can consider them alongside nursing expertise and local evidence when reviewing proposed workforce changes.
Turn campaign messages into practical action
Through the Patients’ Hats Off to Nurses initiative, WPA recognized nurses from a patient perspective. The campaign’s testimonials brought patients and patient advocates experiences into that discussion. WPA’s two advocacy letters called on health leaders to match recognition with practical workforce support. Together, these activities connect what patients value in nursing care with the decisions needed to support nurses.
Health authorities and healthcare organisations now need to decide which staffing and workplace problems they will address. They should commit resources to those changes and review with nurses and patients whether working conditions and care improve.