The Office of the Chief Nurse was established by the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in 2017. The mission of the Office is to advocate for and amplify the voices of nurses and midwives across the world and to support the work of WHO to strengthen nursing and midwifery in regions and countries.

The Office of the Chief Nurse is led by the Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu, from the Kingdom of Tonga. Dr Tuipolutu was appointed to the role in December 2022, taking over from Elizabeth Iro, the first Chief Nursing Officer at WHO, who held the position from 2017-2022. 

A key role of the Office is to provide leadership to nurses and midwives worldwide. To facilitate this, the Office  set up the Nursing and Midwifery Global Community of Practice, a virtual network enabling collaboration and networking. Network participants benefit from discussion forums, live lecture programmes, facilitated workshops and dissemination of WHO documents and tools. The first major initiative in the tenure of Dr Tuipolutu is the launch of the Initiative: 25x25x25:Emergency Care Saves Lives. The goal of the Initiative is to provide training in basic emergency care for 25% of nurses and midwives from 25 countries by the end of 2025.