As part of the Heart of Healthcare: Celebrating Our Nurses campaign, the World Patients Alliance is advancing formal advocacy outreach to strengthen global attention to the nursing workforce.

Through these advocacy letters, WPA calls for recognition of nurses to be matched by practical policy action. Nurses are central to safe, timely, respectful, and patient-centred care. Supporting nurses is therefore not only a workforce priority. It is also a patient safety priority.

WPA’s advocacy letters are being developed in three rounds to support the goals of the campaign and to keep nursing workforce issues visible within global health policy discussions, and empower nurses through practical system-level action.

This includes safe working conditions, wellbeing support, sustainable workforce planning, and meaningful nursing leadership in health decision-making.

As part of this outreach, WPA is engaging key global health stakeholders, including the World Health Organization, relevant health partners, and National Nurses Associations.

Round 1: Workforce challenges and the urgent need for systemic improvements.
Round 2: International Nurses Day recognition translated into structural policy support.
Round 3: Working conditions, mental health support, and long-term retention strategies.

Together, these advocacy letters support one clear message: patient-centred care depends on a safe, supported, and sustainable nursing workforce.

The letters featured below are the versions addressed to the Director-General of the World Health Organization., highlighting the urgent need to strengthen policy support for the nursing workforce.

These letters form part of WPA’s wider advocacy outreach to ensure that nursing workforce priorities remain visible in global health policy, patient safety discussions, and health system planning.

As part of the second round of advocacy under the broader Heart of Healthcare: Celebrating Our Nurses campaign, WPA has issued a dedicated advocacy letter aligned with the International Nurses Day 2026 theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” and connected to its Patients’ Hats Off to Nurses Initiative. The letter has been addressed to the World Health Organization, healthcare stakeholders, and nursing associations, carrying a clear message that public appreciation for nurses must be matched by practical and sustained action, including stronger workforce investment, safer working environments, better mental health and wellbeing support, and the inclusion of nursing leadership in health policy and decision-making.

The advocacy letter featured below is the version addressed to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. In this letter, WPA calls for the global recognition of nurses under International Nurses Day 2026 to be translated into structural policy support for the nursing workforce.

– Formal recognition of nursing workforce protection, retention, and advancement in national health planning
– Sustained investment in workforce sustainability
– Safe clinical environments, including safe staffing, burnout prevention, and workplace mental health support
– Nursing leadership in health policy formulation, crisis planning, and health system design

Date: 25 May 2026
Issued by: World Patients Alliance

The first advocacy letter highlights the global nursing workforce challenge and its direct impact on patient safety. It calls for practical action to address unsafe workloads, workforce shortages, wellbeing gaps, and retention challenges.

The letter reinforces that safe, patient-centred care depends on a supported and sustainable nursing workforce.

– Safe staffing and manageable workloads
– Mental health and wellbeing support for nurses
– Improved working conditions and access to essential resources
– Stronger retention strategies to reduce workforce pressure

Date: 3rd March 2026
Issued by: World Patients Alliance