As follow-up to the March 2005 Consultation, ICN convened an International Summit on the Global Nursing Workforce, which was held on 24 May 2005 during ICN’s 23rd Quadrennial Congress in Taipei, Taiwan. Nurse leaders from research, management, practice and education joined representatives from health sector planning and human resources development to exchange ideas, opinions and solutions on priority workforce issues.

The Summit and findings from an on-site survey validate the five priority areas of intervention for ICN and nursing. The five areas are:

• Macroeconomic and health sector funding policies;
• Workforce policy and planning, including regulation;
• Positive practice environments and organisational performance;
• Recruitment and retention; addressing in country maldistribution, and out migration; and
• Nursing leadership.