Event highlights
Lithuania is stepping up efforts to address nursing retention and recruitment, including an ageing nursing workforce, low attractiveness, health worker migration, concerns around mental well-being and regional disparities in access to care. During International Nurses Week, the Ministry of Health convened a series of national discussions to strengthen dialogue between stakeholders and identify solutions to build a more sustainable workforce for the future.
These discussions form part of a broader national programme of health workforce reform, including legislative changes, education reforms, expanded professional competencies and measures to improve workforce sustainability.
The Government's commitment is reflected in its 2024–2029 Health Workforce Recruitment and Retention Plan, which sets a clear objective of reducing projected workforce shortages by 2029 through expanded training opportunities, recruitment of diaspora health professionals and stronger retention measures.
Across the country, a range of events brought together key stakeholders from across the health system and education sector to build a shared understanding of workforce challenges and identify priorities for action across education, policy and practice.
The parliamentary conference “Our nurses – Our future. Empowered nurses save lives” marked the culmination of the week and a broader year-long national campaign to strengthen the nursing profession. Bringing together policy-makers, academic institutions, nursing students, health professionals and WHO/Europe, the initiative reflected a growing national commitment to addressing current and future workforce challenges.
Speaking at the conference, interim Minister of Health Marija Jakubauskienė underscored the importance of investing in the nursing workforce as the strategic pillar of future health care systems. “We are facing new challenges, and this profession requires more than we used to do. This year, our priority is strengthening nursing based on 3 pillars: attracting, retaining and returning.”
Discussions focused on findings from WHO/Europe’s Mental Health of Doctors and Nurses (MeND) survey and explored opportunities to strengthen workplace support for nurses and doctors. Participants examined ways to improve the attractiveness of nursing careers, strengthen the education pipeline, expand nurses’ professional autonomy and advanced practice, strengthen their contribution across the continuum of care – particularly in primary health care and long-term care – and harness digital solutions to support people-centred service delivery.
WHO supports Lithuania's nursing workforce priorities
As a trusted partner of the Ministry of Health, WHO/Europe participated in the week's activities and engaged with nursing students, educators, clinicians and health leaders to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing the profession in Lithuania.
During visits to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) and the University Hospital Heart Centre, WHO/Europe met with students, faculty members and health professionals to discuss their experiences, aspirations and perspectives on the future of nursing.
Across these discussions, participants highlighted 3 common priorities:
- expanding nurses’ roles and professional autonomy in all areas, including primary care;
- protecting and supporting the nursing workforce; and
- attracting more people to the profession.
Discussions across the country confirmed a shared commitment to continue working together to strengthen nursing education, improve working conditions and ensure that nurses are supported to play their full role in delivering high-quality, people-centred care across Lithuania.
Participants also highlighted the importance of strengthening nursing leadership, career development opportunities and competency-based professional development to ensure a resilient and future-ready nursing workforce.
Strengthening collaboration through the Nursing Action project
WHO’s collaboration with Lithuania is supported through the Nursing Action project, launched in September 2024 and funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) under the EU4Health programme.
The project supports countries in developing tailored, evidence-based solutions to improve the recruitment and retention of nurses, strengthen working conditions and increase the attractiveness of the profession for both young people and second-career professionals.
The project also provides opportunities for participating countries to exchange good practices and jointly develop innovative policy solutions to strengthen the nursing workforce across Europe.
“Participation in the Nursing Action project provides an opportunity to share international best practices, strengthen the prestige of the nursing profession, improve working conditions and develop sustainable solutions for the future,” said Jurgita Platakytė, interim Adviser to the Minister of Health of Lithuania.
“Lithuania is implementing comprehensive reforms to strengthen the nursing workforce by expanding professional competencies, investing in education and creating better conditions for nurses to build long-term careers,” she added. “International collaboration through the Nursing Action project enables us not only to learn from other countries, but also to contribute Lithuania’s experience to strengthening nursing policy across Europe. Ultimately, these efforts contribute to a stronger health system, improved patient safety and better health outcomes for the population.”