Nursing and health: organically intertwined

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) The "Nursing Now" campaign that was launched last week by the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland, under the patronage of HRH Princess Muna and World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is yet another reminder of how much nursing and health are organically intertwined and their enjoyment cannot be separated from one another.

Princess Muna is WHO patron for nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and president of the Jordan Nursing Council. She is experienced in the role of nursing in the promotion and enjoyment of the right to health.

"Good health and well-being" is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2015.

The right to health figured highly on the SDG's list as it is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of all other goals that are essential for comprehensive and sustainable development.

It is hard to conceive of the right to health in isolation from the nursing profession, yet, many countries are facing increasing hardships in recruiting people to serve as nurses in hospitals and other health facilities.

Some traditions and religious constraints stand in the way of women in nursing roles, and these undercurrents need to be addressed by a concerted campaign portraying and promoting the nursing profession as a highly honourable profession that is indispensable for humanity in times of peace or war.

On the other side of the equation, nurses need and deserve proper remuneration to encourage them to enter the profession. Low wages and absence of employment benefits are exactly the wrong policies if countries seek to promote the nursing profession.

The "Nursing Now" campaign could be the kind of effort needed to promote the nursing profession that must be duplicated nationally and regionally as well.

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