Strategic Leadership for Nurses and Midwives: A Policy Pathway to Stronger Health Systems

Nurses and midwives comprise the majority of the global healthcare workforce, playing an essential role in maternal, newborn, and emergency care. As the primary point of contact in most health systems – from district hospitals to remote communities – their frontline experience provides unique, real-time insight into patient needs and clinical realities. It is therefore essential that their voices are central to policy development at every level.

Despite their expertise, nurses and midwives remain significantly underrepresented in decision-making. Meaningful policy leadership must extend beyond executive roles to include frontline clinicians, educators, and managers. Strengthening these leadership pathways is necessary to unlock the full potential of this workforce and drive equitable health outcomes.

This WHA79 side event will feature impact stories from global nursing and midwifery leaders. These case studies demonstrate how inclusive governance from national policy infrastructure to facility-level models both builds resilient health systems and accelerates progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. The session will conclude with a call to action for stakeholders to invest in and scale these necessary leadership models.

Event Objectives
1. Demonstrate, through impact stories and case studies, how leadership by nurses and midwives in policy and decision-making drives progress for priority health outcomes.
2. Explain how nursing and midwifery leadership structures at the national, ministerial, district, and facility levels support health system strengthening, including workforce development, education and training, and safe, high-quality service delivery.
3. Identify actionable policy and governance mechanisms that embed nursing and midwifery participation in decision-making processes at all levels, highlighting national executive and organizational and unit levels, to support sustainable health system performance.