Global Nursing Workforce Centre (GNWC)

An initiative of the International Council of Nurses and CGFNS International 

Now in development, the Global Nursing Workforce Centre (GNWC) will be a clearinghouse for research from around the world focusing on the nursing workforce. In addition to collecting and organizing nursing workforce research papers and publications, the Centre will analyze findings to identify trends, summarize policy recommendations, and highlight data and policy gaps.

The Centre will disseminate information and share data with key stakeholders and conduct and publish its own reports. Its focus will be on the nature, organization, and contributions of the nursing profession in the context of global health workforce preparedness and deployment within countries and across borders.

Why is the Centre needed?

The post-pandemic reality after COVID-19 and the major health challenges being faced around the world have increased the demand for nurses, both in quantity and experience. Advanced and specialized nursing practice and nurse-led models of care are key enablers in addressing population health demands. Similarly, high-quality jobs and decent and fair employment conditions are key to retaining the current nursing workforce and building for the future. These issues echo across all regions and country income levels.

While there is a wide range of potential data sources and a consistent stream of new research related to the nursing workforce, there is currently no central repository to showcase this work. Nor is there a consistent global approach to addressing how research and trend analysis can further the impact of the nursing profession in developing policy and health workforce solutions.

The new Centre will address this need by providing a unique focus on the collection of data and research on the nursing workforce and aligning this to policy and practice solutions that will support the delivery of improved global health.

What the Centre will do

The Global Nursing Workforce Centre will collate existing research and develop its own studies and analysis to support nursing workforce, education, and service development in the following ways:

Establish an accessible repository for existing nursing workforce studies categorized by major themes.

Produce reports summarizing existing data, identifying trends and omissions in workforce studies.

Raise awareness of nursing workforce characteristics through a research portfolio covering pay, conditions, wellbeing, career advancement, migration, and other issues/topics.