ICN - International Council of Nurses

Operated by nurses and leading nursing internationally, ICN works to ensure quality nursing care for all and sound health policies globally.

What's New

The UN agency for women is finally a reality!

The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement, including the nursing profession. Read more...

Taking on chronic disease.

National nurses associations from across the world joined ICN, C3 Collaborating for Health, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Pfizer Inc and Tobacco Free Nurses, in committing to action in addressing chronic disease globally. Read more...

New, fast and convenient e-Shop is now live!

Just click here to browse and purchase ICN publications and selected items or to make a donation to key projects such as the Girl Child Education Fund. Read more...

Haitian nurses.

The International Committee of the Red Cross honours nurse health-care heroes after earthquake http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/haiti-news-120710?opendocument.

International Nursing Review

This month focusing on: Chinese nurses’ experience in the Wenchuan earthquake

"The literature has reported that Chinese nurses played a key role in the Wenchuan earthquake.
These nurses’ made enormous efforts to save lives, though they considered that disaster relief practice was beyond the scope of normal daily nursing practice and found the challenges they confronted overwhelming. China is a country prone to both natural and man-made disasters that demand a good deal of preparedness for those involved in disaster nursing. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the knowledge, skill, experience and attitudes required for nurses responding to disaster." Learn more ...

Project Highlight

The Girl Child education Fund (GCEF) supports the primary and secondary schooling of the orphaned daughters of nurses in developing countries. Natural disaster, the HIV pandemic, the resergence of TB/MDR-TB and the spread of malaria are causing enormous premature death, leaving behind millions of orphaned children, including those of nurses. The girl child orphans left behind are frequently unable to access education and are particularly vulnerable to abuse. The GCEF is currently operating in Kenya, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. Learn more ...