The great nursing brain drain and its effects on patient safety | Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control | Full Text

The great nursing brain drain and its effects on patient safety | Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control | Full Text

The great nursing brain drain and its effects on patient safety

• Alexandra Peters, 
• Rafael Palomo & 
• Didier Pittet 

Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control volume 9, Article number: 57 (2020) Cite this article

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Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared 2020 the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife”. On May 5th of this year, for the annual celebration of the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign, the WHO will focus on the critical role of nurses and midwives in promoting public health. The brain drain of healthcare workers (HCWs) leads to unequal distribution of nurses and midwives around the world, which affects the quality of care provided to patients. This phenomenon should be addressed as a global problem as it highlights staff shortages in the health system.