[Excerpt from publisher]The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist Member Countries in strengthening the management of their nursing and midwifery workforce and, through this, to assist in strengthening health care delivery and strategies for improving health. In particular, they aim to assist Member Countries to avoid or minimize the impact of the global crisis in nursing and midwifery, by assisting them to effectively manage nursing and midwifery issues, including the problems of continuing shortage and maldistribution of nursing and midwifery personnel along with an inappropriate skill mix.