The World Health Organization (WHO) has made a historic move by designating 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife,” which has been supported by leading nurse organizations around the world. With the changes in healthcare we are seeing from a national and global perspective, and not to mention the honoring of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale and the Nursing Now initiative, the timing could not be more perfect. One of the most spirited discussions across the globe is whether all people have a right to healthcare. When we look at this from a humanitarian perspective, we all have a right to health care, and in order to achieve optimal health and maintain it, education, support, and care are often involved.

Nurses are at the center of care. It is our relationship with the people and their communities that facilitates optimized health outcomes. Throughout history, nursing, as a profession, has developed many theories and models of care that reflect a better understanding of the definition of health such as the social and behavioral determinants of health and the needs of individuals within the community.

Wolters Kluwer recognizes the importance of nurses and midwives and their impact on people and health in general. We support the important work nurses and midwives do every day, and the impact they have on the people they serve. Throughout the year, we look forward to bringing you information and resources reflected in our practice, research, and educational products that support your work and professional development.

I have been a nurse since 1984, and a nurse practitioner since 1998, and am forever honored to be a member of this remarkable profession, humbled daily by the many stories I hear from nurses around the world, regarding the impact they are making on people’s lives.

I celebrate each and every one of you and the contributions you are making in providing quality care to those in need. Let’s make 2020, not only the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, but the year that every person on the planet can truly say, I am lucky to have had my life touched by a nurse.

Anne Dabrow Woods, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, FAAN
Chief Nurse; Health Learning, Research & Practice, Wolters Kluwer
Nurse Practitioner, Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital
Adjunct Faculty, Drexel University