Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesHealthcare

ICN: Investing in the Future of the Global Nurse Workforce

Lea Sims of the Care Anywhere Podcast interviews Howard Catton from the International Council of Nurses about the global nursing workforce shortage. They discuss ICN's initiatives to improve working conditions and policy reforms, highlighting the need for international collaboration to enhance nursing roles in universal health coverage.

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Healthcare teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

Promoted content from Care Anywhere on MarketScale.

By Lea Sims · · CapacityCareerCollaborationDevelopment
Share

Key takeaways

01

The global nursing workforce faces a projected shortage of 13 million by 2030.

02

ICN advocates for sustainable workforce initiatives and policy reforms.

03

Investing in nursing enhances patient outcomes and supports economic growth.

Free workspace

Turn your Healthcare expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

In the latest episode of Care Anywhere, host Lea Sims sits down with Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), to discuss the state of the global nursing workforce. As a respected figure in global nursing, Howard shares insights from ICN's recent findings, addressing a projected global shortage of 13 million nurses by 2030. This shortage, compounded by factors like the aging workforce, pandemic-driven burnout, and policy delays, underscores the urgent need for sustainable workforce solutions.

A projected global shortage of 13 million nurses by 2030 underscores the urgent need for sustainable workforce solutions.

Howard highlights ICN's work on the Sustain and Retain and Recover to Rebuild initiatives, which emphasize workforce investment, better working conditions, and policy reforms aimed at retention and professional development. He discusses the "COVID effect"—the exacerbated burnout and early retirement many nurses face—and emphasizes how ICN's advocacy supports the creation of "decent work" conditions globally, essential for retention and future workforce growth.

Lea and Howard also explore ICN's advocacy efforts to make nursing roles integral to universal health coverage and advanced practice. Howard underscores the economic value of investing in nursing, which benefits patient outcomes, public health, and broader economic growth. He calls for international collaboration to push governments towards sustainable healthcare workforce policies, reflecting on successes, such as the recent enactment of a Nursing Act in South Korea, which serves as a model of effective healthcare policy reform.

The economic value of investing in nursing benefits patient outcomes, public health, and broader economic growth.

This episode sheds light on ICN's comprehensive strategy to elevate nursing worldwide and the critical steps needed to secure a resilient, skilled workforce capable of meeting future global health challenges.

Follow Along for More Episodes of Care Anywhere!

Care Anywhere

Part of this channel

Care Anywhere

Global healthcare workforce challenges explored by TruMerit experts.

Visit the channel

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Healthcare starts with a company putting its clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Service-line buyers vet vendors quietly, and your clinicians become the proof they find while doing it.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

LS
Lea Sims
B2B Weekly

The week in Healthcare, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Healthcare: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Healthcare buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Healthcare expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers into the articles, video, and social content Healthcare buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Healthcare Insights

TheraPanacea's CEO says software, not hardware, will scale radiotherapy

TheraPanacea's CEO says software, not hardware, will scale radiotherapy

TheraPanacea CEO Nikos Paragios said at ASTRO 2026 in Boston that vendor-agnostic AI software like ART-Plan can raise radiotherapy throughput on existing machines. A February 2025 Lancet Oncology study puts the global linac shortfall at 30%, with 36 of 181 countries owning no linac, limiting how far software alone can go.

  • 01A February 2025 Lancet Oncology study found a global median Linac Shortage Index of 130, a 30% capacity shortfall, and 36 of 181 countries with no linac at all.
  • 02Bundled adaptive systems already exist: Varian’s Ethos won FDA clearance in February 2020 and RaySearch demoed automated replanning at ASTRO, but buyers still need to validate acceptability and sign-off workflows.

Oct 29, 2026

Berg Insight expects 160 million home medical monitors in care programs by 2030

Berg Insight expects 160 million home medical monitors in care programs by 2030

Prescribed connected home medical monitors are forecast to grow from 92.7 million in 2025 to 159.7 million by 2030. Fastest growth is in diabetes, remote ECG and medication compliance, spread across many suppliers. Berg and IoT Business News argue value depends on integrating data into workflows.

  • 01159.7 million prescribed home medical monitors expected by 2030, growing at 11.5 percent annually from 92.7 million in 2025.
  • 02Sleep therapy is the largest connected segment, followed by diabetes with 19.5 million connections at end of 2025, with fastest future growth in diabetes, remote ECG and medication compliance monitoring.
  • 03Clinical value increasingly depends on integrating data across devices into workflows: vendors combine hardware, software, analytics and interoperability with existing healthcare systems.

Oct 26, 2026

Zocdoc's first acquisition in nearly 20 years is an insurance checker

Zocdoc's first acquisition in nearly 20 years is an insurance checker

Zocdoc has bought Sohar Health, its first acquisition in nearly 20 years. Sohar's software finds and verifies a patient's insurance coverage from a name and birth date. Zocdoc wants that check to work across its Care Access Network, which lets insurers, consumer apps and AI tools embed Zocdoc's clinician search and scheduling on their own websites and apps.

  • 01After nearly 20 years without an acquisition, Zocdoc's first purchase is the insurance check that sits between a patient's search and a booked appointment.
  • 02For practices that pay Zocdoc per booking, the sharper question is how often coverage verified at booking matches what the front desk confirms at check-in.

Oct 24, 2026

Explore More Healthcare Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Healthcare.

Browse Healthcare Hub

About the Experts

LS
Lea Sims

Host, Care Anywhere Podcast

Lea Sims is the host of the Care Anywhere Podcast, focusing on global health workforce development. She engages with experts and thought leaders to discuss evolving healthcare practices and workforce shortages. Her work emphasizes critical intersections shaping healthcare's future.

HC
Howard Catton

CEO

International Council of Nurses

Howard Catton is the CEO of the International Council of Nurses, involved in addressing global nursing workforce challenges. He advocates for workforce investment and policy reforms, emphasizing the economic value of nursing in healthcare systems.

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Healthcare and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512