IND 2026 Report

The world's 30 million nurses hold extraordinary, measurable power to save and improve lives, strengthen health systems, and hold societies together. ICN's 2026 International Nurses Day report, Empowered Nurses Save Lives, brings together the evidence for seven distinct nursing powers - trust, the professional, numbers, practice, care, proximity, and peace - each of which delivers transformative, data-backed improvements in health outcomes, access, safety, and resilience.

At a moment of rising health demands, deepening workforce shortages, and growing global instability, this report clearly shows that nursing is not a cost to be managed but a high-return investment that saves lives and secures health systems. It calls on leaders to invest for impact: to structurally empower nurses with the safe working conditions, fair pay, full scope of practice, education, and leadership that allow their powers to operate at full strength.