President's Message - 

In May, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report that presents evidence submitted by 194 countries on nursing education, employment, migration, regulation, working conditions, and leadership. It provides analysis of the nursing workforce at global, regional, and country levels, with some surprising findings.

The number of nurses is growing, but there remains inequity with the distribution. Approximately 78% of nurses work in countries representing 49% of the global population.

Nurses are mobile. Worldwide, 1 in 7 practicing nurses are born in a country different from where they work. Migration varies greatly by country with 23% of nurses in high-income countries and 1% of nurses in lower middle-income countries born in different countries. Nurse migration is understandable when considering salaries. The median entry level wage for nurses in the European region of the world is 5 times higher than in the African region. In addition, low-income countries graduate more nurses than there are jobs in that country. Even though the need for nursing care is great, the healthcare system in the country is not able to hire nurses. To be able to work, many nurses from low-income countries must migrate. The inequity of the distribution of nurses is expected to become even more pronounced.

Nursing education programs vary with 3-year (53%), 4-year (31%) and 2-year (9%) programs. However, nursing education is moving toward bachelor’s degrees. For all countries, development and retention of faculty and securing clinical sites are a challenge.

The WHO reports 62% of countries recognize the role of advanced practice nurses (APN), although credentialing and advanced education are not always linked to the role. By income classification, low-income countries reported the highest percentage of APN roles (74%) optimizing higher skilled nursing professionals where physicians are unavailable. In all countries that recognize APN practice, restrictions on nursing scope of practice limit nurse-led care despite the empiric evidence they provide safe high-quality care. Restrictions on practice may be related to gender discrimination, with nursing as a largely female discipline. The WHO recommends the removal of unnecessary restrictions on nurse led care.

I encourage you to read the WHO report in full, available without cost at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240110236/. IHCNO provides resources and a communication platform for all home care nurses worldwide. Our committees’ projects promote excellent clinical care, education, research, and advocacy. We offer you opportunities for leadership and learning with like-minded home care nurses.

Susan Hinck, PhD, APRN, GCNS-BC
President, International Home Care Nurses Organization

Welcome to our newest members!

These members have joined our international nursing community since January 1, 2025:

Thank you to our 2025 donors - we appreciate your support of IHCNO:

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2025 Webinar Series

Into The Future: Advancing Home-Based Nursing Practice Webinar Series

This series is an opportunity for nurses to obtain updated home health care information and tools that foster effective patient-centered communication, care planning, and innovative service modalities - all of which are essential for improved patient health outcomes, safety, quality of life, and alignment between the care provided and the needs and wishes for care of the patients.

Registration is still available for On-Demand recordings and CE credits.

Click here for registration information