The EU Commission said it had moved to support Member States in retaining nurses in their health systems and “make the profession more attractive to nurses.”
The EC said the signing of a “contribution agreement” with the WHO regional office for Europe (WHO Europe) would help towards this.
The agreement is funded with €1.3 million from the EU4 Health programme.
It will involve activities across all EU Member States over a 36-month period.
Particular focus will be given to those countries with significant shortages in healthcare workers, and specifically shortages in nurses.
Comment on the move came from Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
She said:
“Nurses are the backbone of our health systems and are critical in ensuring that patients receive high-quality, professional care when they need it.
“This action is a sign of our commitment to address the serious health workforce issues that many Member States are facing and to improve the resilience of health systems across the European Health Union. We are delighted to work with WHO Europe on this important initiative.”
Through close co-operation with the Member States, nurses’ organisations and social partners, the initiative will be tailored to specific needs at national and sub-national level.
The funding will include creating recruitment action plans, mentoring programmes to attract a new generation of nurses, drafting nurse workforce impact assessments to understand the problems behind what the EU calls “structural shortages” and strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of nurses.
The aim is also to implement training opportunities and actions to ensure the healthcare workforce can reap the benefits of the digital transformation.
