Feature Stories 2020: World Health Organization designates 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife

In honor of the 200^th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, considered the founder of modern nursing, the executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the year 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.

According to WHO, nurses and midwives comprise nearly 50% of the global health workforce. The world needs nine million more nurses and midwives to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. WHO is leading the development of the first-ever State of the World’s Nursing report, which will be launched in April 2020.

For the 18^th consecutive year, nurses rank the highest by a wide margin for their honesty and ethics among a list of more than 20 professions, according to the most recent Gallup poll. The 2019 poll indicates that 85% of Americans rated nurses’ honesty and ethical standards as “high” or “very high.”

The College of Nursing & Health Sciences will celebrate the Year of the Nurse and Midwife during the Pinning Ceremony to be held on May 7 in the Main Auditorium.