Empowering and supporting nurses uplifts entire populations. As the world’s largest health profession, the nursing workforce is central to strengthening health systems, improving patient outcomes, and building resilient, equitable, and prosperous societies. Leaders around the world have acknowledged the importance of making nursing expertise accessible across countries, particularly when addressing health workforce agenda including shortages, decent working conditions and migration. Nursing organizations today emphasize the importance of collaboration and reforming healthcare delivery to shape a unified and effective global health vision. Presently the focus is on the vital importance of nurses in all global health goals and the vital role of nurses in preparedness and response, the need for direct investment in the nursing workforce, and the importance of safe work environments.
In this context, the Malaysian Journal of Nursing (MJN) has championed the strengthening of nursing leadership and highlighted the importance of incorporating frontline experiences into health policy development. Therefore, MJN actively promotes and supports leadership development as a key strategy for enhancing nursing capacity and reinforcing the healthcare workforce. This current issue highlights and brings together various initiatives focused on advancing nursing leadership. In this manner the present issue stands as a reflection of the critical role of empowered nurse leadership in driving meaningful and sustainable improvements in health systems worldwide.