Achieving Universal Health Care in the Pacific: The need for nursing and midwifery leadership. Review Paper

The quality of healthcare services and outcomes in the Pacific vary widely, with some countries enjoying some of the world's longest life expectancies, others have high rates of maternal and child mortality and relatively low life expectancy. Nurses and midwives make up more than two thirds of the regional regulated healthcare workforce. This paper argues that if countries are to meet Universal Health Coverage nursing and midwifery leaders need to be explicitly involved in shaping policy at the highest levels of government to optimise individual and community health both now and in the future. Using United Nations 2019 declaration towards building a healthier world, this paper provides a rationale for inclusion of these leaders into national and regional decisionmaking forums related to health policy to provide an informed voice in ministerial deliberations on health policy. We suggest that following several comprehensive regional and global studies, South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alliance and the newly developed Pacific Heads of Nurses and Midwifery provide a vehicle for this to occur. As outlined in the WHO Strategic Directions, it is now time to embed Chief Nurses in national and regional health policy development.