ICN calls for urgent investment to support safer care for all children on World Patient Safety Day 2025
On World Patient Safety Day 2025, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) joins the World Health Organization (WHO) and global health partners to call for urgent investment in safe, child-centred care for every newborn and young person worldwide.
This year’s theme, “Safe care for every newborn and every child,” emphasizes the importance of protecting the right to safe, high-quality health care for children and serves as a vital reminder that unsafe care in early life can have lasting consequences for children and their families. Children are especially vulnerable to the harms of unsafe or missed care due to their developmental stages, unique health needs, and dependence on caregivers, and care must be tailored to their specific needs.
ICN President José Luis Cobos Serrano emphasized the pivotal role of nurses in safeguarding children’s health and called for urgent action to support safe care. He said:
“As the largest and most trusted health profession, nurses are central to delivering safe and effective care to the world’s newborns and children every day in every setting imaginable, from hospital bedsides to communities and homes. Let us not forget that nurses care for people from birth to death, throughout their lives, and we ensure patient safety at all times.
‘However, urgent action is needed to support nursing workforces and health systems to be able to deliver safe care. Many of the world’s nurses are under enormous pressure, working in settings that are understaffed, underresourced, and unsafe.
‘ICN’s recent reports clearly show that when there are too few nurses or when nurses are burned out from constant stress, we see major risks to patient safety, from increased medication errors to higher infection rates, falls, and other harms. When we do not give nurses the resources to deliver safe care — which includes time for emotional support, advice, and education — children and their parents suffer. By investing in adequate staffing levels and supports, we can ensure that every child receiving care is not only safe but also seen, heard, and supported.”
In 2017 alone, 25 million neonates and children were affected by sepsis, resulting in approximately 3 million deaths, and WHO reports that millions of deaths occur annually due to unsafe care.
ICN CEO Howard Catton commented:
“We know that about 50% of patient harm is preventable. That means that by resourcing our health systems and equipping and enabling strong, sufficient health workforces to deliver safe care, we can prevent millions of children from experiencing preventable harm and save countless young lives.
‘It is now time to recognize and value nurses as champions of child safety. Nurses spot early signs of deterioration, prevent medication errors, and provide essential emotional and physical support to children and their families. Much of this vital work often goes unseen, yet it is precisely this breadth of nursing care that forms the backbone of safe, effective, and equitable services for the youngest patients. By strengthening the nursing workforce, we can make safety the standard from the very start.”