This is the first ever International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, designated by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020a) in recognition of the contributions they make to patients' lives. It also highlights the nursing shortages and the risks posed by barriers to recruitment. The WHO estimates that the world will need an additional 9 million nurses and midwives by 2030 and action is needed now to achieve this (WHO, 2020b). These are scary statistics. Nurses make up the largest number of health professionals in the NHS workforce and this is an opportunity for showcasing talent and diversity within the profession and an opportunity to encourage young people to consider nursing as a rewarding career.
This is also an opportunity to share knowledge and best practice. The Association of Stoma Care Nurses (ASCN) UK is uniting with the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists (WCET) this year for a joint conference (www.wcet-ascnuk2020.com) during which these skills and diversities will be shared with the aim of achieving collaborative discussion and improvements to the delivery of care. It is tempting to concentrate purely on the specialism with which we are familiar, but it is important to have a broad vision of the issues that pertain to all nurses and the wider profession. Sharing our successes with international peers can only strengthen our knowledge and positions as leaders in nursing.
Awards are important—they allow us to celebrate great achievements and acknowledge the true vocational aspect of nursing. The British Journal of Nursing hosts annual awards, with stoma care being one of the prestigious categories. These awards are highly prized and hard earned. To be a nominee or recipient is recognition of confirmation from peers of the valued contribution made to the specialty.
I would encourage you to think about nominating a colleague for an award—the next opportunity will be coming up for Stoma Care Nurse of the Year at the joint WCET/ASCN UK conference in October.
My last editorial talked about the issues we face in light of the Brexit challenge. The UK is now in a transition period, which gives us an opportunity to negotiate for a sustainable and collaborative future. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (2019) has five key priorities for nursing, which are measured with a traffic-light system to indicate progress:
A score of red indicates no firm commitment made by the UK Government to resolve the issue and amber indicates some commitment but no agreement to resolve. The RCN has given an overall score of amber—a warning that UK organisations' influence within European alliances may be diminished once we are no longer part of the EU's policy-making arrangements (RCN, 2019).
The impact on research programmes and recruitment could be huge. Not only will we remain chronically under-resourced, but a lack of funding for research will have an enormous impact in years to come. I am hopeful that this will not be the case. I challenge all of us to do what we can to prevent this and raise the flag ever higher for the resources we need and to continue to make a difference. Covid-19 has certainly presented the NHS with a challenge—let us hope that the crisis remains a manageable one.