Every two years, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)designates a certain number of nurses to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal. The object of this Medal is to honour nurses and voluntary aides who have distinguished themselves in time of peace or war by:

•       exceptional courage and devotion to the victims of armed conflict or natural disaster,
•       exemplary services or a creative and pioneering spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education.

It is our pleasure to provide the names of 2011 recipients of the 43rd Award of the Florence Nightingale Medal.

On behalf of the international nursing community, we congratulate the nurses distinguished by this award.

Dear nursing colleagues,

We are very grateful for the warm messages and thoughtful donations from nursing colleagues around theworld.

As 4 months have passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami, JNA has closed the donationcampaign as of 14 July.
Once again, JNA genuinely appreciates the support and solidarity shown during the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Information regarding the JNA response to the 2011 Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake is updated in thefollowing website: http://www.nurse.or.jp/jna/english/index.html.

JNA will utilize your financial support to sustain those responses. Best wishes from your nursingcolleagues at the Japanese Nurses Association

In a first for the African continent, 30 national health professions organisations (dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy) and four patient organisations have discussed and endorsed the WHPA Abuja Call to Action on Counterfeit Medical Products when they met at the first-ever multi-professional workshop on counterfeit medical products in Africa, held 22-23 November, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Under the banner of the "Be Aware, Take Action" campaign against counterfeit medical products, this World Health Professions Association (WHPA) workshop aimed to tackle the serious challenge of counterfeit medical products worldwide. Co-hosted with WHPA by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the FIP African Pharmaceutical Forum, the workshop brought together 92 participants from Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. In attendance were also patient advocates from the Liberian United Youth for Community Safety and Development, Association of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Women and Children Alive, Community Health and Information Network.

The workshop targeted joint strategies amongst the five health professions, to identify, report and purge counterfeit medical products from the supply chain, and to empower patients to make the best decisions when it comes to acquiring, carefully checking and using medical products.

Keynote speaker, Mr Hashim Yusufu, Director of the Nigeria Federal Taskforce for combating counterfeit medicines (NAFDAC) and Chairman of the Africa regional task force on the prevention and control of counterfeit medical products, was adamant that the fight against counterfeit medicines can only be won with close collaboration among health professionals, civil society, regulators, police, customs and manufacturers. In Nigeria, NAFDAC is pushing for more deterrent legislations to be enforced against counterfeiters. The workshop recognised that counterfeit medical products are, above all, a public health problem and a threat to patient safety with grave consequences in terms of increased disease burden, mortality and costs for healthcare systems. This important event also sent a strong message urging all governments to implement and enforce relevant legislations and regulations that will prevent, control and reduce the incidence of counterfeit medicines.

Prof. Kofo Savage, speaking on behalf of the World Health Professions Alliance, stated, "As concerned physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, physical therapists and patient representatives, we are speaking out – because we are very worried about the dangers that counterfeit and falsified medical products pose to patient safety. Now is the time to act."

There was agreement on the need to raise awareness about this issue amongst health care professionals and the public in general, through campaigns and training initiatives. Likewise, participants agreed on the need for strong and clear laws and institutions that prevent, pursue and punish such crimes – laws that are written in collaboration with health care professionals' organisations and are based on their technical input.

In closing, the Honourable Minister, Prof Dora Akunyili, emphasized that, "As leaders representing nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, dentists and physicians, we must commit to accelerate our response to this problem by establishing inter professional collaboration so that health professionals and patient support groups can begin to tap from each other's core competencies in fighting this public health threat, among other key actions. This will be a long fight and I am with you all the way."

Source de la photo: obs/Verein Bündner Partnerschaft Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Haiti

Marianne Kaufmann, une infirmière bernoise, a été désigné «Suissesse de l'année 2010» le 8 janvier 2011 à Zurich.  L'infirmière bernoise de 27 ans travaillait à l'hôpital Albert-Schweitzer de Deschapelles à 80 km au nord de Port-au-Prince.  Le titre «Suisse de l’année 2010» à aussi été donné à Rolf Maibach, un médecin suisse qui travaille au même établissement où ils soignent gratuitement plusieurs dizaines de milliers de patients par an.  Ils étaient récompensés pour leurs engagements courageux et infatigables au service du peuple haïtien.

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The ICN Conference programme brings together 25 plenary and main sessions, ICN Network meetings and close to 700 symposia, concurrent sessions and poster sessions, selected from the 2 063 abstracts submitted by nurses from 74 countries worldwide. The deadline for Early-bird Registration is 31 January 2011. To register for the conference and for further information and regular updates on the programme, please visit www.icn2011.ch/ .

Keynote speaker Dr Mary Wakefield (www.hrsa.gov/about/organization/biowakefield.html), will address the conference theme Nurses Driving Access, Quality and Health, in the opening plenary on 5 May.
Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, was named administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) by President Barack Obama in 2009. HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA works to fill in the health care gaps for people who live outside the economic and medical mainstream. The agency uses its annual budget to expand access to quality health care in partnership with health care providers and health professions training programs.

Abstract sessions will run parallel with 25 main sessions addressing priority issues such as Changing scopes of practice, Health financing, Human resources, Positive Practice Environments, Mental health, Patient Safety, the Epidemic of Non-communicable Diseases, Nursing Ethics, Disasters, Migration, Tuberculosis, Telenursing and more. A thought-provoking debate will be held on the pros and cons of mandatory vaccination of health professionals. Along with the keynote session on the Conference theme, other plenary sessions will focus on the Role of Women in Building Healthy Nations and Social Movements Worldwide. All ICN Networks will have sessions during the Malta Conference to discuss current trends and priority issues.

The Florence Nightingale International Foundation luncheon will be held on Friday 6 May and tickets will be available online in February 2011.

The Professional Visits programme will take place 8 May and more detailed information will be available at www.icn2011.ch/ as the Conference approaches.

World AIDS Day on 1 December draws together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. The Day is one of the most visible opportunities for public and private partners to spread awareness about the status of the pandemic and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in high prevalence countries and around the world.

There are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, according to 2008 figures released by WHO. An estimated 2.7 million were newly infected with the virus and 2 million died of AIDS the same year. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV. In 2008, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 67% of HIV infections worldwide, 68% of new HIV infections among adults and 91% of new HIV infections among children. The region also accounted for 72% of the world’s AIDS-related deaths in 2008.

For more information go to: www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/World-AIDS-Day

The position of Coordinator, Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery has been re-advertised and the revised job description can be found on the WHO website and attached. We encourage you to consider this important position and/or encourage suitably qualified candidates to apply for this post.

For more information visit: https://erecruit.who.int/public/hrd-cl-vac-view.asp?o_c=1000&jobinfo_uid_c=23869&vaclng=en

ICN is delighted to announce a new interactive e-learning course on the care, prevention and management of tuberculosis and drug-resistant TB.  The new course, produced in collaboration with City University London, will be showcased at the World Lung Health Conference in Berlin, 11-15 November 2010.  Read more...

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with the Burdett Trust for Nursing* to support the implementation of the Global Nursing Leadership Institute (GNLI) from 2011 to 2013 which will ensure that nurses from low income countries can take part in this important programme through bursaries.  Read more …

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit, held in New York 20-22 September 2010, adopted a global action plan to achieve the anti-poverty goals by the 2015 target date and announced new funding commitments for women's and children's health and other initiatives against poverty, hunger and disease.  Read the outcome document for the Summit, adopted by the General Assembly by consensus on 22 September. Read more...

World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on November 14. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations.  The campaign slogan for 2010 is: Let's take control of diabetes. Now. Read more…

On 16 October 2010, World Food Day enters its 30th year. This auspicious occasion also marks the 65^th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The theme of this year’s observance is United against hunger, chosen to recognize the efforts made in the fight against world hunger at national, regional and international levels.

Uniting against hunger becomes real when state and civil society organizations and the private sector work in partnership at all levels to defeat hunger, extreme poverty and malnutrition. In this manner collaboration among international organizations plays a key strategic role in directing global efforts to reach Millennium Development Goal 1 – Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – which calls for halving the hungry people in the world by 2015.

The World Summit on Food Security, or the “hunger summit”, held in November 2009, adopted a declaration renewing the commitment made at the 1996 World Food Summit to eradicate hunger sustainably from the face of the earth. The Declaration also called for an increase in domestic and international funding for agriculture, new investments in the rural sector, improved governance of global food issues in partnership with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector, and more action to face the threat climate change poses to food security.

In 2009, the critical threshold of one billion hungry people in the world was reached in part due to soaring food prices and the financial crisis, a “tragic achievement in these modern days", according to FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. On the eve of the hunger summit, Dr Diouf launched an online petition to reflect the moral outrage of the situation. The “1 billion hungry project” reaches out to people through online social media to invite them to sign the anti-hunger petition at www.1billionhungry.org.

On this World Food Day 2010, when there have never been so many hungry people in the world, let us reflect on the future. With willpower, courage and persistence – and many players working together and helping each other – more food can be produced, more sustainably, and get into the mouths of those who need it most.

Food and Agriculture Organization

David Benton, ICN CEO, and Elizabeth Adams, ICN Nursing and Health Policy Consultant with representatives of 8 NNAs at the ICN Workforce Forum, in Tokyo, Japan September 16-17, 2010

 

 

 

 

The ICN Workforce Forum, hosted by the Japanese Nurses Association, was held in Tokyo, Japan on September 16-17, 2010.

Representatives from Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Republic of Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States of America attended. Each country presented a comprehensive national report, and ICN provided participants with the results of the 2010 Nurse Wage Questionnaire and the Nursing Workforce Profile Survey. In addition, ICN also presented on the Positive Practice Environments Campaign, socio-economic welfare activities and international health human resource information. Issues discussed included the impact of the global financial crisis, strengthening positive practice environments, pandemics, workload management including working hours, changes in government and the continuum of nursing.

The next Workforce Forum will be held in Sweden co-hosted by Vårdförbundet (The Swedish Association of Health Professionals) in September 2011.

Every year on October 17th, the international community observes the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, recalling that:

Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.

Fr. Joseph Wresinski.

This day is a key opportunity to think of the struggle against extreme poverty that takes place every day and of the rôle that everyone has to play in this fight. People living in extreme poverty have an equal right to endeavor alongside all citizens to create a better world where rights are respected for all.

August 12th 2010, marked the launch of the International Year of Youth. The theme of decent work and full employment ("From Poverty to Decent Work: bridging the gap") has been put forward by the United Nations as particularly relevant in light of the ongoing economic crisis. This is why the International Committee for October 17th suggests that 17th October 2010 is a key opportunity to emphasize the dialogue needed between the younger generation and others on the issue of youth.

Following the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 20th November 2009, the International Day for Eradication of Poverty in 2010 is a new opportunity to emphasize the urgent need to respect the human rights of youth.

To reach this goal, efforts undertaken to emerge from the economic crisis should encompass and reinforce a close dialogue between generations including those living in extreme poverty.

European Commission

Jacques Tapiero, President of Emerging Markets, Eli Lilly receives the World Business and Development Award from  Dr Rajiv Shah of USAID

ICN, a charter member and leading partner in the Partnership is delighted to see Eli Lilly honoured for its contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) by the International Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations Development Program. Lilly has demonstrated what can be achieved through successful partnerships in the battle against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and the clear linkage between  business practices and the achievement of the MDGs. Read Press release…

We are pleased to feature the first edition of WHPA Briefing on combating counterfeit medical products for WHPA partners and their member associations. It covers current developments concerning medicine safety and counterfeit medical products, including information about the ongoing work of the WHPA counterfeit medical products campaign and noteworthy national and international developments and findings.

WHPA-Newsletter

 

"Positive Practice Environments: Meeting the information needs of health professionals" is the new tool in the PPE Campaign toolkit. The central message of the Fact Sheet is that information access is critical for health professionals to provide safe, appropriate and effective care.  Read More...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today named former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet to head United Nations Women (UN Women), a newly created entity to oversee all of the world body’s programmes aimed at promoting women’s rights and full participation in global affairs.

The new body – which will receive a large boost in funding and become operational in January – merges four UN agencies and offices: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).

“UN Women will promote the interests of women and girls across the globe,” Mr. Ban told reporters in announcing the appointment. “Ms. Bachelet brings to this critical position a history of dynamic global leadership, highly honed political skills and uncommon ability to create consensus and focus among UN agencies and many partners in both the public and private sector.”

“I’m confident that under her strong leadership we can improve the lives of millions of women and girls throughout the world.”

Ms. Bachelet, Chile’s first female president who prioritized women’s issues throughout her tenure and since leaving office has been working with UNIFEM to advocate for the needs of Haitian women following January’s devastating earthquake, was chosen over two other candidates.

The new entity is set to have an annual budget of at least $500 million, double the current combined resources of the four agencies it comprises.

“As you know the creation of UN Women is the culmination of almost four years’ effort and today’s announcement has been made possible thanks to the hard work of the Member States and the many partners who share our commitment to this agenda, and this has been a top and very personal priority of mine,” Mr. Ban said.

He stressed that at next week’s UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) women and children will be “at the very core of our final push” to realize the ambitious targets for slashing extreme poverty and hunger, maternal and infant mortality, rampant diseases, and lack of access to education and health services, all by the deadline of 2015.

“We have a little more than three and a half months,” Mr. Ban said. “I will discuss this Sunday, when I appoint her formally, how we can make the process very speedy, so that we can appoint and recruit staff and we have to have our agendas. Basically we have all these structures in place. Now it is a matter of how we can speedily implement these structures and policy and visions.”

“I ask all the Member States and civil community leaders, and governments, and business communities, to render their full support and cooperation.”

Today’s announcement follows a unanimous General Assembly vote on 2 July to create a dynamic new entity merging the four offices focusing on gender equality. One of its main goals will be to support the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other inter-governmental bodies in devising policies.

It will also aim to help Member States implement standards, provide technical and financial support to countries which request it, and forge partnerships with civil society. Within the UN, it will hold the world body accountable for its own commitments on gender equality.

The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) praised Ms. Bachelet’s appointment.

“The creation of UN Women, unanimously approved by the United Nations General Assembly, was already an important development. It becomes even more significant now that a person with the talent and experience of Michelle Bachelet has been named to direct it,” Director-General Irina Bokova said.

“UNESCO is deeply committed to advancing the rights of girls and women in education, science, culture, communications and information. Gender equality is one of our global strategic priorities. Our organization will do its utmost to support Ms. Bachelet’s work at the head of UN Women and to collaborate with UN Women in all our domains of activity.”

Outgoing General Assembly President Ali Treki, in his final speech wrapping up the 192-member body’s 64th session, called the establishment of UN Women “an historic achievement that will hopefully consolidate and strengthen the efforts for gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

ICN was delighted to welcome 14 students from the Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing on 19 August. (read more)

The students were in Geneva for a study tour, organised by college President Dr Sachie Shindo, as part of the Preparatory Course for International Relief. They were particularly keen to learn more about disaster nursing and participation in relief efforts as well as the activities of ICN. The delegation from the College also included:

• Tomoe Watanabe, Associate Professor of Administrative Nursing & Global Health Nursing  and General Manager of Local Support in Human Caring Center
• Dr Rika Fujiya, Administrative Nursing & Global Health Nursing
• Ms Masami Inoue, Lecturer, Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing.

The dynamic, knowledgeable and enthusiastic students made the visit a great success.

Experts from 12 countries convened in Geneva, Switzerland to explore current patterns, types and causal and contributing factors of global nurse faculty migration, a phenomenon where nursing faculty leave their country of origin to work elsewhere. This international summit, convened by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) and supported by The Elsevier Foundation, was the first time an interdisciplinary group of leaders proactively addressed the critical need for qualified nursing faculty globally.

This visionary group concluded insufficient information and research-based evidence about nurse faculty migration existed and that much work needs to be done to prepare, recruit and retain faculty, ensure ethical migration and overcome the barriers faculty face when choosing to work in a country other than the one in which they initially qualified.

“The participation of these global leaders reflects the importance of the issue. The migration of nurse faculty is a topic that has been under-addressed up until now,” said STTI President Karen H. Morin, RN, DNS, ANEF. “And, it’s a global issue that is more acute in some areas of the world.”

When faculty cross borders they are faced with variances in health care delivery models; they endure cultural, linguistic and legal differences; and they face differences in education delivery models.

David Benton, ICN chief executive officer, commented, “This meeting, in addition to gathering and considering the available evidence, also looked at several future scenarios and their potential consequences for ensuring sustainability in current faculty preparation, recruitment and retention.  Identifying future solutions ahead of time in relation to faculty is critical to securing next generation quality practitioners.”

During the summit, contributors identified reasons faculty pursue opportunities in a country other than their own, which include push/pull factors, individual reasons and academic system trends. Some of these are similar to those impacting on front-line staff, but others are different.

Contributing factors identified include:

• Higher pay opportunities
• Access to research funding
• Career opportunities
• Provisions for post-basic education
• Disproportionate increase in workload without increase in resources
• Lack of interest in nursing faculty careers
• High educational costs associated with faculty training
• Opportunity to work with expert peers and participate in research collaborations
• Changes in minimum educational preparation

“The ability to educate more nurses is critical to improving health care quality across the globe,” said David Ruth, executive director of The Elsevier Foundation. “Only by taking these steps to understand how migration contributes to the nurse faculty shortage can we truly begin to effect change. We are proud to be at the forefront of this initiative.”

The group of experts included international nurse leaders and health care experts with areas of expertise including: academe, policy bodies, professional associations, government agencies, trade organizations, migration and economics.

In 2009, a survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing found that almost two-thirds of responding nursing schools pointed to a faculty shortage as the reason for not accepting more applicants.

Organizations such as the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, the National League for Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing have sought to quantify the problem, but little research exists in order to assess what can be done about these trends.

Information provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that there is an increase in international migration of skilled workers in health, education and new technology. And, the regulatory body for medicine in Pakistan has identified that faculty moving between universities mid-semester disrupts the learning process.

Summit findings will be compiled into a final report that will detail the factors surrounding this issue and suggest realistic, tangible and measurable next steps to address global faculty shortages.

Mission difficile pour l'agence ONU Femmes (available only in French)

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2010/07/21/mission-difficile-pour-l-agence-onu-femmes_1390519_3244.html

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.

UN Creates New Structure for Empowerment of Women — UN Women

Statement by the UN Secretary-General on the Creation of UN Women — UN Women

AIDS-Free World Speaks Out on the New UN Women's Agency

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.

Chronic Disease Launch Washington

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.

The International Committee of the Red Cross honours nurse health-care heroes after earthquake http://www.icrc.org/eng

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. It can include physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, and it cuts across boundaries of age, race, culture, wealth and geography. It takes place in the home, on the streets, in schools, the workplace, in farm fields, refugee camps, during conflicts and crises.

In recognition of the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, the United Nations has designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,

This year, the Center for Women's Global Leadership is running a campaign from November 25^th, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to December 10^th, International Human Rights Day to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a human rights violation. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates, including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. More information can be found on:
www.saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/2010-16-days-activism-against-gender-violence-campaign

ICN President Rosemary Bryant travelled to Haiti to meet with members of ICN’s NNA, the Association Nationale des Infirmières Licenciées d'Haïti (ANILH) and Haitian nurse leaders. Shown during a visit to a UNICEF temporary school are Rosemary Bryant (fourth from left) and Lucile Charles, ANILH President (fifth from left) with other members of the NNA.

Following the violent earthquake which struck Haiti in January 2010 and destroyed the nursing school in Port-au Prince, killing 200 students and faculty, ICN established a fund to support nurses and nursing in Haiti, comprised of contributions from member national nurses associations (NNAs) and individual nurses. The outpouring of support was fantastic.

On behalf of the ANILH members, Mme Lucile Charles, President of ANILH, expressed appreciation to all the contributing NNAs and individuals for funds donated and for the solidarity and caring the donations expressed.

"I thank ICN and all the individuals, nurse colleagues and NNAs that donated funds which have helped us enormously and allowed us to get to where we are today", she said. "As president of the NNA, I am in close contact with nurses throughout the country who keep me informed about the situation, and it remains very difficult. The gifts from nurses throughout the world, coordinated by ICN, have allowed us to continue to work to help the people of our country".

The fund is dedicated to supporting nurses and nursing in Haiti, according to the needs identified by the Association Nationale des Infirmières Licenciées d'Haïti (ANILH). Shortly after the earthquake, approximately US $50 000 was sent from the ICN Fund to assist in providing basic needs for nurses, such as tents, blankets, and hygiene supplies. The distribution of these supplies was coordinated by ANILH.

The ICN Fund also contributed US $5 000 to fund a special nationwide meeting of nurses in Haiti to assess the best approach to rebuilding the ANILH and nursing services in the country. Further funds will be used to support the plan to rebuild the Haitian NNA's physical structure and to support its programmes.

Response to the cholera outbreak

Following the outbreak of a cholera epidemic in October, the ICN fund provided US $20 000 to support volunteer nurses in the fight against the disease. This enabled 45 nursing students to undergo training in cholera care at ANILH in December. This month, they will join a further 50 nurses to commence work at the Geskio Centre in the Artibonite region of Haiti, supported by the ICN fund.

In addition ICN is collaborating with the Swiss Red Cross, the Association Suisse des Infirmières/Infirmiers (the Swiss member NNA), and the French-speaking Schools of Nursing in Switzerland, on a project to rebuild the national nursing school.

ICN President's visit to Haiti

In October 2010, ICN President Rosemary Bryant visited Haiti to meet with the ANILH and Haitian nurse leaders, to bring the moral support of the global nursing community, and to assist with pressing policy matters. Addressing the nurses of Haiti, Ms Bryant said "Through difficult times you have kept on climbing and continued to be the back bone of your health care system. You are indeed an inspiration to all of us and I applaud you!"

Bibliothèque Mobile

Eight French-language nursing mobile libraries (Bibliothèque Mobile) will be delivered to Haiti in January. They will be deployed in identified hospitals, clinics and nursing schools. The libraries have been donated by the Swiss Nurses Association (ASI), the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), the University Hospital Centre Vaud (CHUV) and Elsevier USA.

The newly updated strategic directions for strengthening nursing and midwifery services (SDNM) for the period 2011-2015 complements and builds on the 2002-2008 SDNM. It seeks to provide policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders at every level with a flexible framework for broad-based, collaborative action to enhance the capacity of nurses and midwives to contribute to:

• universal coverage
• people-centred health care
• policies affecting their practice and working conditions, and the
• scaling up of national health systems to meet global goals and targets.

The SDNM for 2011-2015 draws on several key World Health Assembly resolutions, and are underpinned by the associated global policy recommendations and codes of practice. (1,2) After two years of extensive research and consultation, a SDNM task force was developed, and a consensus on a range of specific activities revolving around 13 objectives in five interrelated key results areas (KRAs), was achieved:

• health system and service strengthening
• policy and practice n education, training and career development n workforce management and
• partnership.

Stakeholders, although free to prioritize certain parts of the framework to meet their own particular needs, are encouraged to adhere to the cornerstone of collaborative action, namely the common goal enshrined in the core SDNM 2011-2015 vision statement:

Improved health outcomes for individuals, families and communities through the provision of competent, culturally sensitive, evidence-based nursing and midwifery services.

To access the WHO Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Directions 2011-15 click here

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2010/WHO_HRH_HPN_10.1_eng.pdf

The 2011 GNLI will offer a unique global leadership development opportunity for senior and executive level nurses worldwide. The GNLI goals are that participants taking part in the GNLI will be better equipped to build strategic alliances, identify and develop their individual leadership capacity, acquire a deeper understanding of global health care challenges, effect positive policy change, take on higher leadership roles and develop lasting international leadership networks.

The 2011 GNLI will take place from 10-16 September and have a particular focus on effecting positive nursing and health policy and this theme will inform the content from international speakers and GNLI small group activities.

For more information click www.icn.ch/pillarsprograms/global-nursing-leadership-institute/

	Just back from a week-long site visit to Valetta Malta, ICN’s Director of Administration Myriam Gomez reports that all preparations are on track and Maltese nurses and government officials are very eager to welcome nurses from across the world.
Photo:Myriam Gomez with Paul Pace, President of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses at the beautiful Valetta harbour.

Dr Liisa Hallila, a Finnish nurse- entrepreneur working across borders, is the recipient of the 2011 International Achievement Award, bestowed by ICN’s Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF).  The FNIF Board selected Dr Hallila for her outstanding contribution to nursing education and management in many regions of the world.  Read more…

Today marks the 100^th anniversary of international Women’s Day.  It is the first International Women’s Day for UN Women, the UN agency for women which was finally established by the UN General Assembly in 2010, more than 60 years after the founding of the UN itself.

This year, International Women’s Day highlights the participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology. It also focuses our attention on the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work.

Message from Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet

International Women’s Day 2011: Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality

A hundred years ago today, women across the world took an historic step on the long road to equality. The first ever International Women’s Day was called to draw attention to the unacceptable and often dangerous working conditions that so many women faced worldwide. Although the occasion was celebrated in only a handful of countries, it brought over one million women out onto the streets, demanding not just better conditions at work but also the right to vote, to hold office and to be equal partners with men.

Read more: http://www.unwomen.org/news-events/international-womens-day/messages/

ICN has also been in contact with past President Hiroko Minami and current ICN Board Member, Masako Kanai-Pak and is relieved to report they are both safe.  Dr Minami reports that nurses are working to help people in many ways through governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including JNA and the Japan Society of Disaster Nursing.

JNA also reports that Japan is receiving a lot of help from many countries and on behalf of the Japanese they send their great appreciation to everyone in the world.

ICN is monitoring the quickly evolving situation as much as possible, though conscious of not putting undue pressure on JNA for communication as they need to manage such a dramatic situation.

ICN is pleased to announce that the Florence Nightingale International Foundation will once again be hosting a fundraising luncheon Friday 6 May 2011, as part of the  ICN Conference and CNR, Nurses Driving Access, Quality and Health, on in Valetta, Malta. Ticket reservations for this popular event can be made online at: www.icn.ch/Other-Items.html.  The cost of one ticket is 85 Swiss francs (65 Euros) and for a table of 11 the cost is 900 Swiss francs (690 Euros).  Each participant will receive a very special gift.

The keynote speaker this year will be the 2011 recipient of the International Achievement Award, Dr Liisa Hallila, an international expert in nursing education, management and nursing ethics.

The luncheon will be held at the Casino Maltese on Friday 6 May from 13h30 to 15h00.  Business attire is required for this event.

A new Multilingual Browser for the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) is available at ICNP® C-Space. We are excited to announce that in addition to other languages in the browser, we have just included Spanish and French. Please go to http://icnp.clinicaltemplates.org/icnp/ and click on the drop-down menu in the upper right hand corner to select language you want to use to browse the ICNP®.

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. The International Council of Nurses commemorates this important day each year with the production and distribution of the International Nurses' Day (IND) Kit. The IND kit 2011, contains educational and public information materials, for use by nurses everywhere.

The IND theme for 2011 is Closing The Gap: Increasing Access and Equity. The content of this year's kit, including the poster image are posted here as downloadable documents for use by individual nurses, associations, health ministries and health institutions. This material has already been disseminated to national nurses' associations worldwide. Though mainly planned around May 12 each year, IND activities continue for much of the year by nurses and others. We encourage nurses everywhere to make extended use of the Closing The Gap: Increasing Access and Equity kit throughout the year, through individual action and group activities.

Speaking in advance of military trials in Bahrain for more than 40 nurses, doctors and other health workers, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said:

“We are very concerned that healthcare workers appear to be being targeted for nothing more than treating patients in need, putting them in an intolerable position. We welcome the intervention of the UK government via its embassy in Bahrain and the International Council of Nurses.  We urge regimes to adhere to their national and international commitments to protect patients, nurses and doctors. They should also recognise that doctors and nurses are there to help the sick and injured wherever, and whoever, they are. We are alarmed at allegations of torture or other ill-treatment

of these healthcare workers. They should never be put in a position where they are punished for trying to do this job, and we would urge the authorities in Bahrain to ensure that the trial faced by these workers is fair and transparent.”

Notes to editors

The UK government via its embassy in Bahrain has submitted a formal request to the Bahraini authorities seeking access to the tribunals, where the nurses and doctors are being tried (due to appear 13 June) and that it is monitoring the situation closely. http://services.parliament.uk/hansard/Lords/bydate/20110524/writtenanswers/part006.html

The International Council of Nurses have also issued a joint statement with the World Medical Association, calling for fair trials for the health workers in Bahrain - http://www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/news/press_releases/2011_PR_10_Doctors_and_nurses_leaders_call_for_fair_trial_in_Bahrain.pdf

Amnesty International have raised concerns about the treatment of those detained http://amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/bahrain-faces-fresh-torture-claims-over-health-workers%E2%80%99-trial-2011-06-07 and issued an appeal for action http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE11/030/2011/en

For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit  http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.

Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation

Cumann Altraí agus Ban Cabhrach na hÉireann

Working Together

The Whitworth Building, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7

Tel: 046 9549315  Fax: 046-9542118

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.inmo.ie

PRESS RELEASE

Monday, May 16, 2011

INMO ADDS VOICE TO CONDEMNATION OF ARREST OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN BAHRAIN

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), have joined their colleagues, in the International Council of Nurses (ICN), in expressing alarm and concern for 24 nurses and 23 physicians who have been arrested in Bahrain. The health professionals, some of whom are Irish trained, were arrested when government authorities entered several hospitals in February and arrested those who had provided medical treatment to injured pro-democracy protestors. They have been charged with ‘anti-state activity’ as a result of providing care to these wounded civilians.

The INMO has been informed that several Irish trained doctors are facing trial this week. They have been accused of killing their patients and the rulers of the country are seeking their execution. The ICN has called for an immediate independent investigation into the charges laid against those arrested so that other healthcare workers can practice their profession in accordance with the ethical, health care and human rights commitments that underpin their professions.

INMO President, Sheila Dickson spoke today on the matter:

‘The INMO fully supports ICN’s call for an independent external investigation into the arrest of the healthcare workers in Bahrain. It is appalling that nurses and physicians can be charged with a criminal offense while fulfilling their professional duty. Human rights entitlements, medical neutrality and the ethical responsibility of healthcare professionals must take precedence over political issues in times of conflict.’

-end-

Issued by Aiveen Cleary, INMO media relations dept: 087 1210179

Violence against health care workers and facilities in conflict zones is a grave yet often unnoticed humanitarian issue today and is becoming increasingly common. It is not for nurses or doctors to decide who to treat, but rather it is our duty to offer services to all those in need.  Protecting health workers in doing their job is of foundational importance and is a key step in rebuilding trust and recovering from the dreadful consequences of violent conflict.

ICN commends and supports the ICRC Health Care in Danger project and the four year commitment to “safeguard the delivery of effective and impartial health care in armed conflict and other situations of violence.”According to ICRC research carried out in 16 countries across the globe, millions could be spared if the delivery of health care were more widely respected. "The most shocking finding is that people die in large numbers not because they are direct victims of a roadside bomb or a shooting," research leaders Dr Robin Coupland said. "They die because the ambulance does not get there in time, because health-care personnel are prevented from doing their work, because hospitals are themselves targets of attacks or simply because the environment is too dangerous for effective health care to be delivered."

For more information please see:

Millions affected by violence against health-care personnel and facilities

Health Care in Danger project page

ICN was delighted to welcome 10 students from the Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing on 24 August.

The students were in Geneva for a study tour, organised by college President Dr Sachie Shindo, as part of the Preparatory Course for International Relief. They were particularly keen to learn more about disaster nursing and participation in relief efforts as well as the activities of ICN. The delegation from the College also included:

• Ms Tomoe Watanabe, Associate Professor
  Ms Miwa Murata, Lecturer
  Mr Takeshi Niinuma, Assistant Professor

Karen Graham, a matron at the 11th of June Hospital in a residential area of Tripoli, told the BBC World Service about working in a hospital which is right in the thick of the fighting:

"It's absolutely horrific. Unfortunately we're in the residential area of Gargour and it is being defended with force from the rebels. There is a bridge about 20m from where I am in the hospital, and one side of the bridge is pro-Gaddafi and one side of the bridge is anti. They're chucking rocks and everything at each other, and it's just awful.
Last night there were massive rocket-propelled grenades and heavy arms fire, small arms fire, and that went on for about three to four hours. The patients are absolutely petrified. And the staff are petrified.
We had rebels inside our compound last night and they said they were trying to protect us but they were actually trying to gain a better vantage point at some snipers across the road. We're not daft. We could see exactly what they were doing.
They are respecting the fact that it's a hospital although obviously we can't really function as one of those at the moment, because we're in the middle of this battle. We're treating everybody and anybody - we don't discriminate at all”

Stray bullets

The streets are deserted, absolutely deserted and nobody can move outside. Even to go to my laboratory last night - I was dicing with death. It's not the fact that they are aiming at us - it's all the stray bullets that you've got to worry about.
Unfortunately we did get injuries last night - from people who were leaving the mosque and stray bullets hit them.
We're treating anybody and everybody - we don't discriminate at all. And they know that - there are no issues.
Overnight, Tripoli was pitch black. All the electricity got cut, we only just got power back. But to find a capital city completely in blackness, not one light, for miles and miles, it's an eerie thing. It is very unnerving.
We do have generators, and in terms of supplies we are doing OK compared to a lot of the government hospitals, which ran out of the basics months ago.

Duty of care

Last week they even ran out of oxygen. The local hospital, the central hospital, has got no scrub nurses.
They're all Libyan, they're all scared to come to work, so they can't actually carry out any operations.
The doctors are all setting up their own little clinics - out of the city - because it's not safe to work inside the city.
Would I leave if I could? No, I've got a job to do. I feel a duty of care to these people.
I'm the matron at this clinic and I've got a lot of nurses that look up to me. Although I've only been here nine months, I'm accepted in the clinic and I'm well thought of. I can't desert them when they really, really need me.
And now they really, really need me. I just want to be here and want to be a stabilising force and help them through this horrific time."

BBC © 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14631987

Rula al-Saffar’s release has been confirmed by Amnesty International. ICN is delighted to know that Rula has been released and that she is now able to get medical care. We hope that the legal process will be completed quickly and fairly to allow her to return to her normal life.

However, ICN does remain concerned that Ms Al-Saffar will be tried in a military court on Sunday 28 August 2011, even though she is a civilian.

For more information from Amnesty International please click here

'The Lancet has a commitment to improving global health, and this area gathers all our global health content in one location at www.thelancet.com/global-health Global health content is free to all users, so if you have an interest in this area, spend some time browsing our content.

World Reports and Perspectives articles are ideal for anyone who wants a personal view on a subject, and The Lancet Global Health Series, and Regional Reports and Commissions provide in-depth views for anyone seeking disease-specific or regional information.'

Adele Herwitz |    (Obituary in the Boston Globe newspaper)

HERWITZ, Adele 92, of Dedham, formerly of Brookline, died Sept. 4 after experiencing a major stroke........A woman ahead of her times, she developed a high-powered career championing the causes of nurses around the world. Born April 21, 1919, in Swampscott, MA, one of four sisters. Served as captain in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Earned bachelor's, then master's degree in nursing administration from Columbia University. Began long career as nursing-association executive in 1952. Loved being "in the thick of things." Represented American Nurses' Association at Martin Luther King Jr's famous Walk on Washington. Invited to tea with the Queen of England. Lived life to its fullest. Enjoyed taking classes, eating at local delicatessens, and delighting in the company of friends and relatives. Will be remembered for her lively wit and legendary matzoh balls. Predeceased by her elder sisters Martha (Herwitz) Brem and Ruth (Herwitz) Adelson. She leaves behind her youngest sister, Barbara (Herwitz) Axelrod; four nephews (Peter Brem, Jerome Brem, Andrew Brem, and Steven Axelrod) and one niece, Joan Axelrod-Contrada; and their families. Also leaves many close friends and professional associates, including "fourth sister" Thelma Shorr and protegee Virginia Maroun.

Representing WHPA at the Summit, the World Medical Association advocated for a complete approach to addressing the global rise in non-communicable diseases that links individual risk factors with social and economic determinants of health, conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the influences of society.  In particular, the WHPA urged Member States to:

• Adopt a holistic approach based on common risk factors.
• Extend the scope from a limited number of diseases to the broad field of NCDs
• Ensure equitable access to health care as a human right so as to address the dramatic disparities within and between countries.
• Promote a common approach that addresses and pays due attention to the link between non-communicable diseases and the social determinants of health, with a particular focus on the broader factors that influence behaviour and associated health risks.
• Emphasize primary health care as the way to strengthen health care systems through a comprehensive approach that integrates prevention, specialised treatment and rehabilitation supported by the enhancement of collaborative practice between healthcare professionals (integrated care).

You can access more information on the Summit on: www.who.int/nmh/events/un_ncd_summit2011/en/

And you can access more information on World Heart Day on the website of the World Heart Federation: www.world-heart-federation.org/

ICN is working in partnership with Sanofi, the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF), the Secrétariat International des Infirmières et Infirmiers de l’Espace Francophone (SIDIIEF) and the Association Française pour le Développement de l’Education Thérapeutique (AFDET) on a project called Connecting Nurses, which aims to provide a new kind of support and a stronger voice to nurses. The project includes an on-line contest called Care Challenge, available on www.care-challenge.com, where nurses can submit their ideas, share information and education with others in the field and nominate colleagues for an award in nursing excellence. This recognition programme is open to licensed nurses anywhere in the world. There will be a total of 20 awards for the best ideas, which will offer an incredible opportunity to develop the initiatives further and give them global recognition.  Sanofi will be launching Care Challenge in Paris on 4 October 2011.

ICN’s work in disaster nursing. 

On the occasion of International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction on October 13, ICN pays its respects to all those nurses working in disaster relief around the world. ICN supports nurses working in this area through our Disaster Response Network and through our many position statements and publications including:

Disaster response fact sheet

Displaced persons fact sheet

Terrorism and bioterrorism fact sheet

ICN Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies

 

ICN in collaboration with the Taiwan Nurses Association will be hosting the Forum on Credentialing and Regulation in Taipei, Taiwan from October 31 to November 2, 2011. 

The purpose of the annual Forum is to provide participants with an opportunity for interaction, information sharing and dialogue on international issues pertaining to credentialing and regulation. Invited participants are the National Nurses Associations with an interest in credentialing and regulatory organizations at the national level.

Currently there are 45 individuals from 17 countries registered to participate in the 2011 Forum. Topics to be discussed include Scopes of Practice and the Continuum of Care, Continuing Competence, Social Networking and its Implications for Credentialing and Regulation and the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Health Care Delivery, Capacity to Meet Standards and Scopes of Practice.

A report from the forum, once finalised will be posted on ICN website.

New evidence of unsafe care from Latin America

ICN is pleased to share with you the results of the recent Latin American Study of Adverse Events (IBEAS).  The first large scale study of this kind in Latin America, the IBEAS is the result of a collaborative effort between the governments of Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, as well as the Spanish Agency for Quality of the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality, the Pan-American Health Organization and WHO Patient Safety.

Highlights of the report show that:

• on any given day, 10% of the patients admitted to the participating hospitals were suffering from or were undergoing treatment for a hospital related adverse event;
• this risk doubled when taking into account the entire patient's stay at the hospital, with 20% of inpatients experiencing at least one harmful incident during their hospitalization; 
• more than half of those harmful incidents could have been avoided.

This evidence is a reflection of the reality of many other hospitals in transitional countries across the globe and it highlights the importance of addressing patient safety globally. 

The full report is available at:

English: www.who.int/patientsafety/research/ibeas_report_en.pdf

Spanish: www.who.int/patientsafety/research/ibeas_report_es.pdf

New guide released by World Health Organisation to support the education of nurses and other health professionals about patient safety.

ICN was pleased to be part of the Expert Working Group that contributed to the development of the World Health Organisation's newly released Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide. This guide was developed to assist universities and schools in the professions of medicine, nursing, midwifery dentistry and pharmacy in teaching and integrating the important concepts of patient safety in their curricula. The Guide is comprised of two parts, Part A is focused on building capacity of educators to teach the concepts of patient safety and Part B consists of eleven topic-based teaching modules. ICN President Rosemary Bryant in her forward to this Guide highlighted how nurses around the world have an important role to play in improving patient safety. She indicated that this guide raises awareness of the need to integrate patient safety into the curriculum of all health professionals and provides a common knowledge base while also allowing for flexibility for each discipline to make its unique contribution.

www.who.int/patientsafety/education/curriculum/Curriculum_Tools/en/index.html

ICN is delighted to announce that, in response to international pressure, Bahrain’s attorney general has overturned the sentences of the 20 health professionals and ordered retrials.  We are pleased to hear that the proper processes will be followed and that the health professionals will be allowed to present their defence.  However, we remain vigilant on the final outcome.
Roula al-Saffar, a leader of the Bahraini Nursing Society, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison, was quoted as saying, “I am shocked, but at the same time I am very happy. It is a new start for us.  I hope that they will hear us out this time...We would like to thank all the nurses who joined our call for justice”.

To mark World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2011, ICN is highlighting its work to fight non-communicable disease. WHO estimates that more than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes. This number is likely to more than double by 2030 without intervention. Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

The potential for nurses to contribute to improvement in the health of populations across the world through attention to chronic disease prevention and care has never been greater.  There is an urgent need for nurses everywhere to take the initiative and engage with all parts of the community and all sectors to address the growing threat chronic diseases pose to global health and well being.

To that aim, ICN has produced several documents on non-communicable disease prevention which are available here:

ICN Fact Sheet on Obesity:

www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/publications/fact_sheets/13d_FS-Obesity.pdf

International Nurses Day Kit 2010: Nurses leading chronic care: www.icn.ch/publications/2010-delivering-quality-serving-communities-nurses-leading-chronic-care/

WHPA NCD Campaign: Together making a difference against NCDs: www.whpa.org/whpa-ncd-campaign.pdf

WHPA Health Improvement Card: http://www.whpa.org/ncd_campaign_health_improvement_card.htm

WHPA statement on NCDs and social determinants of health: www.whpa.org/WHPA_statement_NCD_SDH.pdf

Information available only for Members

ICN recently heard from the president of the Thailand Nurses Association, Jintana Yunibhand, on the situation in Thailand following the recent floods. She reports that many nurses are still missing, and many others have lost their homes and belongings in the flood. Chulalongkorn University and the NNA building have been turned into a relief camp. Jintana is volunteering her expertise to provide health screening and care for psychiatric mental health and chronic illness clients in the relief camp every day. It is reported that the flooding will remain in Bangkok for two more weeks.

As part of the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)’s counterfeit medical products campaign ‘Be Aware, Take Action’, WHPA is holding a two-day workshop on combating counterfeit medicines in Prague, Czech Republic, on 21-22 November 2011.

This meeting aims to bring together representatives of health professions organisations and relevant national and regional authorities to:

• Share information on the situation of counterfeit medicines in the region, and share best practices and measures taken in different countries by the various health professions;
• Debate how to encourage actions aimed at reducing the entry of counterfeit medicines in this region;
• Consider sustained and collaborative action plans involving the various healthcare professions in each country participating in the workshop, to combat counterfeit medicines continuously for the next 12 months;
• Reach a collective commitment to give priority to the issue of counterfeit medicines through a regional "WHPA Call to Action", as a commitment and collaboration of the health care professions in this serious problem.

More information on the counterfeit campaign can be found on: www.whpa.org/counterfeit_campaign.htm

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The trial of the 20 health professionals resumed in Bahrain on 9 January 2012. Their lawyers have asked the court to lift the travel bans imposed on them in order to allow them to return to work.  In addition, their lawyers have requested the court to write a document ensuring that confessions obtained under torture are not used in the case. The next trial session will be held on 19 March 2012.

The WHO's Executive Board has nominated Dr Margaret Chan for a second term as Director-General of the Organization. This nomination will be submitted for approval to the 65th World Health Assembly, scheduled to meet in Geneva from 21–26 May 2012. If confirmed by the World Health Assembly, Dr Chan's new term will begin on 1 July 2012 and continue until 30 June 2017.

ICN welcomes the appointment of Dr Ala Alwan as the new WHO Regional Director for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region, starting 1 February 2012. Dr Alwan is a native of Iraq. From 2008 until the end of 2011, he was Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at WHO Headquarters, where he led WHO's work that resulted in the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011 of the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.

As nurses, we can all contribute to inspiring the future of girls on International Women’s Day 8 March 2012, and throughout the year. One way ICN is doing just that is through the Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF) which supports the primary and secondary schooling of girls under the age of 18 in developing countries whose nurse parent or parents have died. ICN also promotes women’s health and actively opposes female genital mutilation. 

The Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF), a signature initiative of FNIF, supports the primary and secondary schooling of girls under the age of 18 in developing countries whose nurse parent or parents have died. Your donation to the Girl Child Education Fund will go towards school fees, uniforms, shoes and books. We are currently supporting 188 girls: 30 in Kenya, 33 in Zambia, 37 in Swaziland and 88 in Uganda. All these are the orphaned daughters of nurses who would otherwise not have been able to attend school. Below you will find links to more information on this project and how to support the project and keep these girls in school.

Read more on the GCEF: www.fnif.org/girlfund.htm

The health of women and girls is of crucial importance to the International Council of Nurses. Two of the Millennium Development Goals directly target women: Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women and Goal 5 Improve maternal health. Targeting women is also been recognised as an effective way to achieve many of the other goals. Women disproportionately suffer from hunger, disease, environmental degradation and impoverishment

Position statements

• Breastfeeding
• Elimination of female genital mutilation
• Women’s health
• Child labour
• Rights of children

Fact Sheets

• The Human Papillomavirus
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
• ICN on Birth Registration
• ICN on Poverty and Health: Breaking the Link
• Childhood Nutrition
• ICN on the Girl Child
• Maternal and Infant Nutrition
• Prevention of Child Abuse
• Safeguarding the Childhood of Children
• Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective into the Health Services
• Equal Opportunity: Gender Issues
• Women’s Health
• Women and Stroke
• Female Genital Mutilation

Publications

• Birth Registration Toolkit
• Adult and Childhood Immunisation - An Update from ICN

The appeal hearing of 20 health professionals resumed in Bahrain on 8 March 2012 before the civilian High Criminal Court of Appeal, following three previous hearings on 9 January, 28 February and 4 March. During the 8 March hearing five prosecution witnesses were called to testify. The defence lawyers reiterated their request made in previous sessions to include the reports of torture and the forensic examinations included in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report in the case file. Although this request had been accepted in a previous session, the reports have not yet been included.  The next hearing is scheduled on 15 March, when defence witnesses should testify.

On the occasion of World TB Day 24 March 2012 ICN focuses its attention on tuberculosis.

ICN has been building global nursing capacity in the prevention, care and treatment of TB in all its forms as part of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership since 2005. Experienced nurses, working mainly in the TB and HIV fields, are trained to cascade information to nursing colleagues and other health workers with the purpose of making improvements to patient care delivery.  Using this approach ICN has prepared over 1300 nurses in 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe since 2005. These nurses have in turn rolled out the training to over 56000 nurses and allied health workers.  ICN’s TB Guidelines are available on-line in six languages (www.icn.ch/projects/guidelines-for-nurses/). ICN has also developed an exciting new resource on the care, prevention and management of tuberculosis which provides practical tools to nurses and those working with patients, families and communities affected by TB, including drug-resistant TB. The course is widely applicable for all settings, while also dealing with the challenges of providing care when resources are scarce and the workload is high: Interactive e-learning course on the "Care, prevention and management of tuberculosis"

ICN TB fact sheets

• Tuberculosis
• Tuberculosis Exposure in the Health Care Setting: Prevention of Occupational Transmissions

This year's World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that gender equality is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative.

The Report stresses that despite the overall progress, primary and secondary school enrollments for girls remain much lower than for boys for disadvantaged populations in many Sub-Saharan countries and some parts of South Asia.  ICN’s Girl Child Education Fund seeks to address this issue by supporting the primary and secondary education of girls under the age of 18 in four sub-Saharan African countries.  For more information go to www.fnif.org/girlfund.htm:

The Report focus on four priorities for domestic policy action:

• Addressing excess deaths of girls and women and eliminating gender disadvantage in education where these remain entrenched.
• Closing differences in access to economic opportunities and the ensuing earnings and productivity gaps between women and men.
• Shrinking gender differences in voice within households and societies.
• Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations.

Information available only for Members

ICN calls on governments to promote healthy ageing and prevent chronic conditions.

Ageing and health is the theme of this year's World Health Day.  Looking at the age pyramid of our societies we see the number of older people is increasing globally requiring complex care needs.  Part of this demographic change relates to the fact that we are having fewer children.  This means there will be fewer people to provide care for the increased number of elderly with more complex care need.

Although, this population ageing can be seen as a success story for public health policies and for socio-economic development, it also has serious health implications.  The increase in life expectancy results in a greater number of older persons in need of a wider range of health services, including health promotion, illness prevention, rehabilitation, acute/chronic care and palliative care.

This translates to increased cost largely due to increase in disability and non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. However, ageing doesn't have to be a time of illness and disability. Through concerted efforts in disease prevention and promotion of healthy ageing, we can prevent or postpone many chronic conditions and disabilities. 

Moving towards a more positive outlook the risk factors for the many chronic diseases associated with ageing are generally few and can be prevented with few effective interventions. This should make promotion of healthy ageing and prevention of chronic conditions a high priority for nurses.  That is why ICN calls on governments to put policies, programmes and intersect oral strategies to promote healthy ageing and prevent chronic conditions. More than ever there is greater need for health promotion, disease prevention, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action for health, building healthy public policy, implementing early detection and screening, and appropriate care and support programmes for ageing societies. Nurses are key to delivering and coordinating these services.

However, ageing is also affecting the nursing workforce.  Over the next 10 to15 years many industrialised countries will experience a large exodus of nurses from their workforce as nurses retire just at a time when demand for nursing and health care is on the rise.  Finding ways to retain older nurses is a challenge of increasing importance to health systems throughout the world.

Nursing faculty are also ageing.  In many countries today the average age of nursing school staff members is 50.  When combined with a shrinking pool of young nursing teachers, this affects the ability of schools to educate sufficient numbers of nurses to meet current and future demand.

As nurses, we need to be prepared for the future by increasing our knowledge of what ageing means to health care systems around the globe.  ICN is pleased to provide you with some resources on ageing:

Fact sheets:

• An Ageing Nursing Workforce
• Dementia
• Elder Abuse
• ICN on Healthy Ageing: A Public Health and Nursing Challenge
• Nutrition for Older Adults
• Osteoporosis: The Silent Thief
• Shingles (Herpes Zoster)

Position statements

• Nursing care of the older person

According to the World Health Organization, Immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions. It prevents between 2 and 3 million deaths every year. Immunisation is key to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4 on reducing under-five mortality by two thirds by 2015.  Many of these deaths occur from diseases that can be prevented with vaccines. 

Immunisation is also a key strategy to ensure global health security and for responding to the threat of emerging infections. Immunisation is also a key strategy to ensure global health security and for responding to the threat of emerging infections.   In addition to reducing disease, suffering and death, immunisation also reduces the strain on health care systems and in many cases saves money that can be directed to other health services.

Health care workers who work with patients have an increased risk of exposure to vaccine-preventable diseases, and of passing those infections to other patients.  As a result, health-care systems around the world recommend the immunisation of health care workers against certain infectious diseases.  The rationale for this is three-fold.  Vaccination against key diseases will protect the health care workers, protect their families and protect their patients. 

ICN publication on Adult and Childhood Immunisation - An Update from ICN

Relevant ICN fact sheets on:

• Immunisations for Health-Care Workers: Influenza and Hepatitis B
• Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI)
• First Do No Harm: Auto-Disable Syringes for Immunization Safety
• Immunisation Safety: An Essential Nursing Function
• Immunisation Safety: Safe Waste Disposal Practices Saves Lives

WHO immunisation fact sheets:

• www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/factsheets/en/index.html

The World Health Organization has developed this training course to improve the knowledge of health professionals on the associations and implication of climate change on human health and enhance stronger and more efficient participation of the health sector in addressng climate change challenges.  The training course is designed for public health professionals who are actively involved in the management and decision-making process related to health programmes. The course will also give a good foundation for non-medical professionals involved in addressing the health challenges posed by climate change.

The Training Course consists of 19 sessions in the format of PowerPoint slides and text notes. A “Participants’ Guide”, a “Facilitators’ Guide”, associated bibliography and key reference documents, copies of two IPCC glossaries, and a list of acronyms used in the course are provided. www.who.int/globalchange/training/health_professionals/en/index.html

With this year’s theme of “promotion of occupational safety and health in a green economy”, the International Day for Health and Safety at Work provides nurses a great opportunity to advocate and promote green initiatives at our places of work. (Read more…)

The health care industry produces more than 2.4 million tons of waste each year and is one of the largest consumers of energy in many communities (Sattler B & Hall K 2007).   As with other service industries hospitals occupy large, complex buildings surrounded by concrete and asphalt surfaces; they use high-volume food services, laundry, high-speed transportation, and paper, packaging and disposable supplies (Jameton A & Pierce J 2001).

Nurses have been concerned about the environment since the time of Florence Nightingale who wrote in her Notes on Nursing of the importance of clean air and clean water.   Since then, nurses have been involved in promoting healthy environments for health care, including safe waste disposal, efficient energy use and environmentally responsible policies.  As patient advocates and a key member of health teams worldwide, nurses are well positioned to advocate for environmentally friendly workplaces.

Relevant ICN publications and web links:

• ICN Fact sheets on Occupational Health and Safety: www.icn.ch/publications/occupational-health-and-safety/
• Climate and Health Press Release
• Durban Declaration on Climate and Health
• Durban Global Climate and Health Call to Action
• ICN Guidelines on Coping with violence in the workplace
• ICN Guidelines on Occupational Health and Safety Management Programme for Nurses
• ICN  Position Statement on Occupational health and safety for nurses
• ICN Position Statement on Abuse and violence against nursing personnel
• ICN Position Statement on Reducing the impact of HIV infection and AIDS on nursing and midwifery personnel
• Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Addressing Climate Change in Health Care Settings 

The fourth Triad meeting of the International Council of Nurses, the World Health Organization and the International Confederation of Midwives will be held on 18-19 May 2012.  Participants will include ggovernment chief nursing and midwifery officers, representatives of national nursing and midwifery associations and regulatory bodies Topics covered will include nruses and midwives contribution to the prevention and control of NCDs; nursing and midwifery educational competencies, curriculum and scopes of practice to effectively address NCDs; and nursing and midwifery engagement in policy setting and health system strengthening.

Through ICN, member nursing associations have a seat at many of the highest policy tables; one of the most important of which is the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO.  The WHA is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. ICN successfully advocates for the inclusion of nurses in national delegations to these meetings and provides briefings and information material to our members who are part of their country delegations or the ICN delegation to the Assembly. 

For this year’s WHA, ICN will be making interventions on: WHO reform (WHPA); prevention and treatment of NCDs (WHPA); global burden of mental disorders (ICN); substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/counterfeit medical products (WHPA); and WHO’s human resources annual report.  Of particular concern to ICN is nursing’s absence from WHO, which will undermine key programme targets and goals.  See article on front page and ICN fact sheet.

Other issues of importance to nursing

• Monitoring of the achievement of MDGs
• Social determinants
• Health systems strengthening
• Prevention and control of MDR-XDR/TB
• Global health sector strategy on HIV/AIDS

The International Council of Nurses is a founding member of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition.  The purpose of the Coalition is to promote respect for international humanitarian and human rights laws that relate to the safety and security of health facilities, health workers, ambulances and patients ensuring they are safe and secure during periods of armed conflict or civil violence.  Through this effort, the Coalition promotes the effective functioning of health services, the protection of health infrastructure, and the safety of health workers during periods of armed conflict. 

The Coalition promotes effective functioning of health services, protection of health infrastructure, and safety of health workers during periods of armed conflict.  Its objectives include:             

• Strengthening international mechanisms
• Increasing evidence on dynamics of attacks
• Developing practical strategies for protection
• Increasing accountability for violators of international law

In January 2012, the Coalition made an intervention at the WHO Executive Board calling on WHO to develop and implement methods for systematic collection of data on attacks on health facilities, workers, and transport and patients in conflict areas.

The intervention  quoted a report released by the International Committee of the Red Cross last August which concluded that, “in terms of number of people affected, violence, both real and threatened, against health-care workers, facilities and beneficiaries is one of the biggest, most complex, and yet most under-recognized humanitarian issues today.”  This ICRC report, Health care in Danger” was endorsed by ICN and can be accessed on www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/reports/4073-002-16-country-study.pdf

Relevant ICN publications and web links:

• ICN Position Statement on Nurses’ role in the care of detainees and prisoners
• ICN Position Satement on Armed conflict: Nursing’s perspective
• ICN Position Statement on Towards elimination of weapons of war and conflict

The theme for International Family Day 2012, "Ensuring work family balance", is a key concern for many nurses.  Nursing is a profession often chosen for its flexibility and adaptability.  However, the downside of this can also be low pay, night shifts, and overtime.  ICN believes that nurses must take control of their careers and futures in their quest for self-determination as professionals.  Towards that aim, ICN has developed several career guides for nurses which can be accessed here:

ICN /ICHRN publications

• It’s Your Career: Take Charge / Career Planning and Development
• Job Evaluation
• What you need to know about senior employment opportunities and contracts
• Decent Pensions: The Issues
• Decent Pensions for Nurses

ICN Fact sheets:

• Nurses and Overtime
• Equal opportunity: gender issues
• Incentive systems for health care professionals
• Nursing Personnel Pensions
• Positive practice environments for health care professionals

ICN Position Statements

• Career development in nursing
• Nurses and shift work
• Part-time employment
• Socio-economic welfare of nurses

On the occasion of World Cancer Day, 4 February 2012, ICN calls attention to our work in this area. 

• Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008 (Globocan 2008, IARC 2010)
• Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.
• The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.
• About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the five leading behavioral and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use.
  (WHO 2011 Fact Sheet)

• ICN position statement on prevention of cancer
• ICN Fact Sheet on HPV
• ICN project on NCDs and NCDs Survey
• ICN press releases :
  Health Professions Unite to Issue Warning on Global Epidemic of Non-Communicable Diseases
  Nurses are the ‘front line’ answer to tackling NCDs but need greater support, says survey
• International Nurses Day Kit 2010: Nurses leading chronic care

On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2012, ICN encourages its members to collaborate with other health professionals and government bodies for the total ban of tobacco use and smoking in public places and to lobby for changes in environmental health policy such as smoke-free public places.  We also encourage tobacco users to consult their health care practitioner for help in quitting.  Smoking is one of the prime causes of non-communicable disease, along with, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol. 

Tobacco facts from WHO:

• Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death.
• Tobacco use is the single most important risk factor for cancer
• Nearly 6 million people are killed by tobacco each of which more than 600,000 are people exposed to second-hand smoke.
• Unless we act, it will kill up to 8 million people by 2030, of which more than 80% will live in low- and middle-income countries.

ICN is committed to:

• A total ban on tobacco use.
• Preventing and eliminating tobacco use by nurses and nursing students.
• Implementing a smoke-free policy within ICN, including encouraging national nurses associations (NNAs) to adopt a smoke free policy for their premises, meetings and other events. 
• Working with other international governmental and non-governmental organisations, and health professions’ organisations to combat the tobacco epidemic.
• Working with NNAs to support implementation of the WHO Frame Work Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Relevant ICN publications:

• Nurses for Tobacco-Free Life
• Tobacco use and health
• IND Kit 2010

In March this year, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization gave a strong speech on Galvanizing global action towards a tobacco-free world at the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapore.

Her keynote address hit straight to the point:

Tobacco use is the world’s number one preventable killer. We know this statistically, beyond a shadow of a doubt. In a world undergoing economic upheaval, with populations ageing, chronic diseases on the rise, and medical costs soaring, tackling a huge and entirely preventable cause of disease and death becomes all the more imperative.

We know that tobacco directly harms the user’s health in multiple ways. We know that tobacco products kill their consumers.

We know that tobacco smoking, like a drive-by shooting, kills innocent bystanders who are forced to breathe air contaminated with hundreds of toxic chemicals. We know what tobacco exposure during pregnancy does to the fetus, another innocent, blameless, and entirely helpless victim.

We know that tobacco use is not a choice. It is a powerful addiction. The true choice is between tobacco or health.

Criticizing the tobacco companies’ dirty tactics, Dr Chan urged society to step in where governments are beginning to fail.

Experience has shown that, when government political resolve falters or weakens under industry pressure, coalitions of civil society can take up the slack and carry the day. We need this kind of outcry, this kind of rage.

Shaping public opinion is vital. If tough tobacco legislation wins votes, politicians will back it, and fight back against industry.

Dr Chan concluded with her own personal marketing campaign to the tobacco industry.

“We’ve come a long way, bullies. We will not be fazed by your harassment. Your products kill nearly 6 million people each year. You run a killing and intimidating industry, but not in a crush-proof box. Tobacco industry: the number and fortitude of your public health enemies will damage your health.”

…We can, and must, stop this industry’s massive contribution to sickness and death, dead in its tracks.

The full speech can be accessed on: www.who.int/dg/speeches/2012/tobacco_20120320/en/index.html

Information available only for Members

The 2012 theme for World Environment Day on 5 June is Green Economy: Does it include you? The health care industry is a major user of energy and generator of waste.  ICN is very aware that health care contributes significantly to environmental problems and, in turn, that environmental problems, especially climate change, can affect human health directly.

Health care treatment generates millions of tons of health care waste each year.  This waste represents a serious risk to the environment if not properly managed and disposed.  ICN believes all nurses have a duty to reduce or eliminate the negative impact of health care waste on individuals, communities and the environment.  Nurses, as professionals, need to be aware of the consequences of the health care waste produced by the health sector.

ICN is also concerned that climate change can affect human health directly, such as through impacts of heat stress, death and injury due to floods and storms; and indirectly through changes in disease patterns and in the ranges and numbers of disease vectors, such as mosquitoes, water quality, air quality, and food availability and quality.

In particular, ICN is concerned that the more than three billion people, who presently live in poverty across the world, will be seriously affected by climatic changes, as they are more dependent on natural resources, more vulnerable to infectious diseases and more prone to suffer the impact of disasters such as flood, drought, fires, and storms. This will seriously impair attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

ICN Publications on Health and the Environment:

• Health Care Waste Management – Handbook for Nurses
• Climate and Health Press Release
• Durban Declaration on Climate and Health
• Durban Global Climate and Health Call to Action

ICN position statements on:

• Health care waste: role of nurses and nursing
• Nurses, climate change and health

Reports from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• Green Economy Report: This report seeks to motivate policy makers to create the enabling conditions for increased investments in a transition to a green economy.
• 21 Issues for the 21^st Century:  This report delivers an international consensus and a priority list of the top emerging environmental issues alongside options for action

 

ICN is deeply concerned by the decreasing numbers of nurses at the country, regional and headquarter levels of WHO. The absence of nursing expertise is evident within WHO’s technical and professional positions, and in the composition of its technical advisory bodies and expert committees. 

Over the years ICN has been lobbying WHO through letters, interventions at the Executive Board and World Health Assembly and meetings with WHO leadership to increase the number of nurses in WHO.

Data from the WHO human resources annual report of December 2011 reveals 0.7% of professional staff are nurses and 90.5% are medical specialists. Dieticians and nutritionists (at 2.6 %) and pharmacists (at 2.0%) have greater representation than nurses.

In May 2011 at the ICN Conference in Malta, ICN Board of Directors and the CNR passed an emergency resolution calling on WHO to fill the nursing post and recruit suitably qualified nurses in WHO.  This year, we are following up on this resolution:  we have updated our fact sheet ; ICN President Rosemary Bryant has written to the WHO Director General to urgently address this matter; and there will be a major push with delegations at WHA.  We urge you to discuss this with your ministries if you have the opportunity to do so.

This year the World Day Against Child Labour will provide a spotlight on the right of all children to be protected from child labour and from other violations of fundamental human rights.   On this day, ICN calls for support for its Girl Child Education Fund to enable the orphaned daughters of nurses to remain in school and not be forced into child labour. 

• To donate to the Girl Child Education Fund, click here.
• To read Mercy’s story, click here
• To read Lynn’s story, click here

A recent study by the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) has found that one in seven orphaned and abandoned children in low and middle-income countries is a child labourer.  The study, Positive Outcomes for Orphans, was funded by the US National Institute for Child Health and Development and was led by Kathryn Whettan.  The resulting research article, Child work and labour among orphaned and abandoned children in five low and middle income countries found that, orphaned children “not attending school were 4 times more likely to engage in child labour than those in school, and children who were engaged in child labour were twice as likely to not attend school compared to children who worked fewer than 28 hours.”

Another significant and distressing finding was that female children were more than twice as likely to be engaged in child labour.  The report highlights the burden of unpaid domestic “chores” which often prevents girl children from attending school, interfering with their educational attainment and future wellbeing. 

ILO statistics show that the elimination of child labour in Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind other regions of the world. “Sub-Saharan Africa has the greatest incidence of children in economic activity – 28.4 per cent of all 5-14 year-olds, compared to 14.8 per cent for Asia and the Pacific and 9 per cent for Latin America.”

UNICEF regards education as a powerful means of preventing child labour. Their 2011 report “State of the World’s Children” indicates that only 63% of primary school age girls in sub-Saharan Africa are attending school (65% for boys).  The 2012 report points out that, “Domestic workers, most of them girls, are isolated and subject to the whims and arbitrary discipline of their employers, from whom they may suffer abuse. Sexual abuse is frequent but seldom prosecuted.”

More information from ICN:

• Safeguarding the Childhood of Children
• ICN on the Girl Child
• ICN position statement on Child labour

ICN is relieved to announce that nine Bahraini health professionals, including Rula al-Saffar, President of the Bahrain Nursing Society, today saw their convictions overturned.  We remain concerned over the future of the nine health professionals who were convicted, but whose sentences were reduced. 

The health professionals were arrested in March and April of 2011 during anti-government protests. Having originally received prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years at a military court, the health workers sentences were overturned in October 2011 and a civilian trial was held in its place.  ICN has repeatedly called for their immediate and unconditional release.

"Doctors and nurses have a moral and ethical duty to treat everyone that comes into the hospital irrespective of their political affiliation, their religion, or their ethnicity, said David Benton, ICN Chief Executive Officer.  “We emphasize the critical importance of protecting health workers in order that they may exercise their duty to care for all in peace time or during times of conflict.”

"Navigating Nightingale" is a new iPhone app guiding you on a walk along the banks of the river Thames in London in Florence Nightingale’s time. Along the route, important features and buildings are highlighted that retell the story of her pioneering work in sanitation, nursing and hospital reform. This innovative “complimentary reality” guide created by AIM25, Centre Screen Productions and King’s College London is available to download for iPhone, iPad, Mac, for PC, or apk for Android on the iTunes App Store, Amazon, or Android Market.

The Florence Nightingale Institute in the Netherlands has created a portrait of Florence Nightingale made up of photographs of 100 Dutch role models in nursing, an innovative way of celebrating the contributions of nurses.  The Institute researches, collects, and transmits knowledge about the history of the care and nursing professions. 

ICN was represented at the triennial NI2012 in Montreal by Nicholas Hardiker (Director, ICN eHealth Programme), Amy Coenen (Director, ICNP Programme, Claudia Bartz (Coordinator, ICN eHealth Programme), Tae Youn Kim (Knowledge Management Director, ICNP Programme), and Kay Jansen (Terminology Developer, ICNP Programme).

Based on the theme, Advancing Global Health through Informatics, an overview of the Congress included the following aims:

 

• Generate and share information, knowledge and research in health care settings
• Examine the impact of Health IT (HIT) and ICT experience on nursing practice, education, management, research, health policy, global health, and patient-centred care
• Update knowledge and skills related to trends, developments, and innovations in HIT, ICT, health and health care
• Seek insight into upcoming priorities and future directions for nurses and other members of the healthcare team in the expanding environment of HIT-enabled practice
• Make long-lasting connections with like-minded professionals committed to advancing global health

 

A panel presentation about the ICN eHealth Programme and an ICNP workshop were provided by ICN during the Congress.

In follow-up of the international conference “Ensuring tomorrow’s health: workforce planning and mobility”, held on 7-9 December 2011 in Brussels, the project RN4CAST published an article on “Patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of hospital care” highlighting findings from 13 countries which shows that in hospitals with better work environments and fewer patients in each nurse’s workload, patients and nurses both reported higher standards of care and patients are more satisfied, and that improvement of hospital work environments might be a relatively low cost strategy to improve safety and quality in hospital care and to increase patient satisfaction.  The full article has been published in the British Medical Journal and is available here.

WHO's Patient Safety Programme  recently released the results of the first multi-country study on hospital adverse events, conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean and African Regions of WHO.  The results show that

• almost a third of patients impacted by harmful incidents died, 14% sustained permanent disability and 16% sustained moderate disability.
• 4 out of 5 incidents were preventable.
• 34% of observed incidents resulted from therapeutic errors, 19% from misdiagnosis and 18% were related to surgery.
• the major causes of the harmful incidents observed were related to the training and supervision of clinical staff, the availability and implementation of protocols and policies, and communication and reporting.

 

The Adverse Events Study carried out in 26 hospitals from two African countries: Kenya and South Africa and six Eastern Mediterranean countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen used a collaborative model with the objective of measuring harmful events occurring in these hospitals.

It is the first large scale study which attempts to measure patient harm in hospitals in these regions and the results show that patient safety concerns are as important in these regions as had been previously recognized in more economically developed ones.

The world population has reached 7 billion.  An estimated 524 million people in 2010 were aged 65 or older – 8% of the world’s population.  By 2050, this number is expected to nearly triple to about 1.5 billion, representing 16 percent of the world’s population (WHO 2011).  What does this mean for health care and, particularly, for nurses?

Although, this population ageing can be seen as a success story for public health policies and for socioeconomic development, it also has serious health implications.  The increase in life expectancy results in a greater number of older persons in need of a wider range of health services, including health promotion, illness prevention, rehabilitation, acute/chronic care and palliative care.

The world’s ageing population will require a shift of focus from acute disease to chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and osteoporosis.  In addition, with chronic illness often comes disability, meaning that long-term care services, such as nursing homes, home health, personal care, adult day care, and congregate housing, will become much more important sources of care.

The ageing of the population and the increase in chronic illnesses impact considerably on health care costs and put increasing demands on a health workforce already over-worked and facing shortages.  In addition, the health workforce is also ageing.  Over the next 10 to15 years many industrialised countries will experience a large exodus of nurses from their workforce as nurses retire just at a time when demand for nursing and health care is on the rise.  Finding ways to retain older nurses is a challenge of increasing importance to health systems throughout the world.

Ageing is also affecting nursing faculty.  In many countries today the average age of nursing school faculty is 50.  When combined with a shrinking pool of young nursing faculty, this affects the ability of schools to educate sufficient numbers of nurses to meet current and future demand.

ICN is addressing these problems in several ways.  First, we closely monitor nursing resource issues and we have established two centres to assist us.  One, the International Centre on Nurse Migration, addresses migration issues, data and policy in particular.  The second is the International Centre for Human Resources in Nursing (ICHRN).  An online resource, the Centre’s goal is to inform policy making by helping nurses and others remain up to date with national, regional, and global human resource issues and trends. As well, ICN is tracking other workforce data and has three forums where national nursing associations meet to discuss workforce issues.

We are also addressing the growing tide of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Further reading:

WHO report on Global health and ageing

UNFPA State of the World Population 2011

As part of its Valuing Health Workers research and advocacy project, VSO International has issued its latest country report from Uganda. Our Side of the Story is based on the experiences of 122 health workers working in the government sector and in private health service provision.

Health workers in Uganda spoke of their difficulties, including; poor working conditions, low pay and a lack of essential medicines in the facilities in which they work.  However, doctors, nurses and midwives also talked of the satisfactions in doing their job – how good it felt when a patient who was sick, got well again because of their care. We know that poor attitudes and unethical behaviour exist within the health workforce but we found that health workers wanted to do a good job and serve their communities well: “Making people happy makes me happy,” said one respondent.

When it comes to policy discussions and “human resources for health”, the voices of health workers are rarely heard. Health workers often come across as “passive recipients”, rather than active participants in debates about their recruitment and retention.  VSO’s Valuing Health Workers initiative listens to the views of health workers and gathers evidence to advocate for change.

In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week, ICN continues to uphold the mother’s right to make an informed choice about infant feeding.  We consider that breast milk is the food of choice for infants and that, as a general principle, exclusive breastfeeding should be protected, promoted and supported for the duration of six months as a global public health recommendation.  This includes providing information, counselling and guidance to all HIV infected mothers about the risks and benefits of feeding options most suitable for their situation, in line in with those recommended in the UNICEF/UNAIDS/WHO guidelines (Read more…)

Breastfeeding has an extraordinary range of benefits (UNICEF):

• it has profound impact on a child’s survival, health, nutrition and development;
• breast milk provides all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals an infant needs for growth for the first six months, and no other liquids or food are needed;
• breast milk carries antibodies from the mother that help combat disease. 
• the act of breastfeeding itself stimulates proper growth of the mouth and jaw, and secretion of hormones for digestion and satiety;
• breastfeeding creates a special bond between mother and baby and the interaction between the mother and child during breastfeeding has positive repercussions for life, in terms of stimulation, behaviour, speech, sense of wellbeing and security and how the child relates to other people;
• breastfeeding also lowers the risk of chronic conditions later in life, such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, childhood asthma and childhood leukaemias;
• breastfed infants do better on intelligence and behaviour tests into adulthood than formula-fed babies.

ICN Publications on Breastfeeding:

• Maternal and Infant Nutrition
• Breastfeeding
• Distribution and use of breast milk substitutes

WHO’s 10 facts on breastfeeding

With just over a month to go before the closing of submission of abstracts to the ICN Congress we are pleased to say that abstracts submissions have been coming in greater numbers than anticipated. We encourage you to go to http://www.icn2013.ch/en/abstracts to ensure you submit your abstract before the closing deadline on 14 September 2012.  We take this opportunity to remind you that registration for the ICN Congress opens on the same date - 14 September 2012.  The Congress will feature many dynamic speakers including Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al-Hussein, who will deliver the keynote address on Equity and Access to Health Care, and Anne Marie Rafferty, who will present the Virginia Henderson lecture.  The Congress will once again feature a Student Nurses Assembly (18 May 2013) and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation Luncheon (21 May 2013).  For more information on the ICN Congress to be held in Melbourne, Australia 18-23 May 2013, please go to www.icn2013.ch

There are more than 300 million indigenous peoples in the world, on every continent and representing many cultures. However, indigenous peoples are over represented among the world’s vulnerable groups, suffering low incomes, living in poor conditions, and lacking adequate access to employment, education, safe water, food and health care services. Nurses have an important role in improving the health status of indigenous people throughout the world through the delivery of culturally appropriate health care and the development of quality health services.

As we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day on 9 August, ICN calls on its members to promote cultural competence both in the way health care services are delivered, and in the behaviour of health care providers with respect to Indigenous Peoples.  Some of our members are already doing just that:

At its biennial convention in June, the Canadian Nurses Association expressed its support that nursing be included in all levels of First Nations Health Council/Authorities’ planning for the delivery of health-care services to First Nations/Aboriginal communities; and further, that First Nations/Aboriginal Nurses be included in the planning and delivery of those services.

The New Zealand Nurses Organization’s Te Rau Kōkiri campaign aims to achieve pay parity for Māori and Iwi health workers, who earn up to 25% less than their colleagues in hospital settings. Their goal is to ensure that the Māori and Iwi provider workforce is valued equitably and to encourage that workforce to remain in the vitally important Māori community health sector.  Pay parity will mean better health and well-being for all New Zealanders. You can find out more about their campaign on: www.nzno.org.nz/home/campaigns/te_rau_kōkiri

The Australian College of Nursing (formerly the Royal College of Nursing Australia) offers scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the field of Indigenous health.  The Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme aims to assist Indigenous students to obtain professional qualifications and take their skills and knowledge back to Indigenous communities in need of quality health care.

ICN is heeding the global call to action to develop and engage in partnerships with and for youth towards building a better world.  In 2007, ICN launched the ICN Student Nurse Network to recognise the important role students play as future members of the nursing profession.  (Read more about the Student Network).

CHILD2015 addresses the information and learning needs of those responsible for the care of children in developing countries, including mothers, fathers and family caregivers as well as health workers. Its remit includes children’s rights to health and healthcare, and the social determinants of health.  If you would like to join this email forum, please go to www.hifa2015.org/child2015-forum/

Nursing History:  ICN is delighted by the increased interest in the history of the nursing profession.  At the ICN Congress in Melbourne, a main session will be held on this subject entitled On the Shoulders of Giants: Nursing History.  More information on this session and other events at Congress is available on the Congress website. In addition, we are pleased to highlight that the Board of Directors of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine have signed an agreement to manage the original site of Clara Barton's Missing Soldier's Office. Clara Barton, an American Civil War nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, ran the Missing Soldiers' Office following the war, responding to over 63,000 letters, publishing lists of the names of the missing and eventually identifying the fate of over 22,000 men. The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office is now undergoing restoration.  For more information email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to www.civilwarmed.org/clara-barton-missing-soldiers-office/

As part of ICN’s overall commitment to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, ICN continues ANTP in Ethiopia and Kenya in July 2012 in partnership with the Ethiopian Nurses Association and the National Nurses Association of Kenya, and the Dialogue on Diabetes and Depression with the support of the Lundbeck Institute and Lilly Research Laboratories.

The ANTP aims to improve the awareness, recognition and management of co-morbid diabetes and depression. The training sessions, led by a prestigious international and African faculty, provided 60 nurse trainers from throughout Ethiopia and Kenya with essential skills in tackling the challenges faced by patients with both diabetes and depression.

Nurses are the frontline professionals who address the key challenges of co-morbid management of patients with diabetes and depression. Launched in October 2011 with ToT activities in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda, the Programme will be extended to other global regions in later phases.

K24 TV in Kenya recently reported on the ANTP and their broadcast can be seen on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJrtVF2oBNM

The World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union have published a new National eHealth Strategy Toolkit.  

Developed as a guide to assist countries to develop a national eHealth vision, an action plan to achieve that vision, and a framework by which results can be monitored and evaluated, it  provides governments, their ministries and stakeholders with a solid foundation and method for the development and implementation of a national eHealth vision, action plan and monitoring framework. 

The Toolkit is available on www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/str/D-STR-E_HEALTH.05-2012-PDF-E.pdf