Nursing leadership: governments urged to manage global health during the post-pandemic period

Abstract

Introduction. 2020 is becoming a milestone in human history. The nursing profession is on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic and the syndemic of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) in healthcare systems and communities around the world. Body. The impact of this health crisis has drawn attention to the importance of leadership and diversity of roles of nursing professionals when it comes to confronting the pandemic. Nurses make up 50% of the healthcare system's human resources. However, job insecurity, moonlighting, government authorities who underestimate them, and structural violence have all led to tremendous work pressure and a higher rate of morbidity and mortality. This has led to reflection on the need to plan global healthcare and for governments to strengthen the nursing profession so that it can face the pandemic as well as the CNCD syndemic—which remains the leading cause of death worldwide—and attend to healthcare needs in the post-pandemic. Conclusion. In this context, it is urgent to rethink and reflect on the conditions in which nursing has been leading the world toward health during te pandemic and syndemic, and on he role which it should play in the post-pandemic. At the same time, governments around the world should seriously commit to dignifying and strengthening the nursing profession in all its dimensions, so that nurses can lead the march toward global health.