EdD, RN, FAAN FFNMIRSCI, President and CEO, CGFNS International, Inc. Email:
PhD, MscN, Ed.M, RN, FFNMRCSI, FAAN, Director, Center of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship, OPI Rome Italy;Email:
Prof Inferm. 2020 Jun-Sep;73(3):129-130. doi: 10.7429/pi.2020.733129.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of nursing supply flows, domestically and internationally. Its impact at the country-level has further highlighted preexisting nurse supply gaps and the effect of staffing shortages. Internationally, the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains. The world has witnessed the closing of borders, the interruption of travel, and, in some countries, the restriction of outflows. The State of the World's Nursing Report (SOWN) (WHO, 2020) noted a shortfall of almost six million nurses immediately pre-COVID-19, a shortage suffered particularly by low- and middle-income countries. This is of major concern given that increased international outflows of nurses in the new post-COVID era could undermine, even more than before, the readiness of those countries to meet healthcare demands (ICN, 2020). In this default scenario, some, but not all, highincome destination countries will continue to rely on international inflow of nurses to a significant extent, as they did pre-COVID- 19, further exacerbating the suffering of poor countries. Put simply, without country-level policy changes related to the nursing workforce and backed by international organisations, pre-COVID-19 trends of increased nurse flows from low- to high-income countries will likely continue. In this scenario, the iniquitous maldistribution of nurses may become more pronounced. This "do nothing" option risks undermining both country-level progress towards the attainment of Universal Health.
新冠疫情暴露出国内外护理供应流的脆弱性。它对国家层面的影响进一步凸显了先前存在的护士供应缺口和人员配备短缺问题。在国际上，疫情扰乱了全球供应链。世界见证了边境关闭、旅行中断，在一些国家，还出现了人员外流限制。《世界护理状况报告》（世卫组织，2020 年）指出，在新冠疫情之前，全球护士短缺近 600 万人，中低收入国家的护士短缺问题尤为严重。鉴于在新的后新冠时代，更多的护士外流到国际上，可能会比以前更削弱这些国家满足医疗保健需求的准备程度（国际护士理事会，2020 年），这令人严重关切。在这种默认情况下，一些（但不是全部）高收入目的地国家将继续在很大程度上依赖国际护士流入，就像新冠疫情之前那样，这将进一步加剧贫穷国家的困境。简而言之，如果没有与护理劳动力相关的国家政策变化，并得到国际组织的支持，那么从低到高收入国家的护士流动增加的新冠疫情前趋势可能会继续下去。在这种情况下，护士的不公平分布可能会更加明显。这种“不作为”的选择有可能破坏各国在实现全民健康方面取得的进展。
