Nursing as a systems profession in One Health: opportunities across the Quadripartite action tracks

The One Health agenda has progressed from a conceptual acknowledgement of human–animal–environment interdependence to a global framework for coordinated action, exemplified by the Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022–2026). The Joint Plan sets out high-level objectives across six action tracks, while the 2023 national implementation guide supports countries in adopting and adapting those objectives to their own contexts. This paper examines nursing as a systems profession within One Health, using the six action tracks as an analytic framework. Across the tracks, we distinguish established nursing functions from opportunities for those functions to be more explicitly recognised, formalised and evaluated during national implementation. We identify four recurring functions: continuity and coordination; early recognition, monitoring and escalation; risk communication, education and community engagement; and the implementation of preventive and protective practices. Their application varies across action-track objectives, including outbreak preparedness and response, food safety, antimicrobial stewardship and environmental health. The scope and form of these contributions also vary according to professional regulation, education, workforce capacity, service configuration and participation in governance. We derive track-informed implications for national adaptation, workforce development, service design and research, and identify the conditions under which nursing contributions can be explicitly recognised and evaluated within national One Health implementation.