International Council of Nurses Meeting Brief Singapore

The Singapore Nurses Association hosted the International Council Nurses (ICN) Congress 2019 in Singapore from 27 June to 1 July. Thousands of nurses from around the world gathered to discuss the many ways in which nurses work to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), not only through universal access to health and quality health care, but also by addressing social determinants of health such as education, gender equality and poverty.

As part of this event the Council of National Nursing Association Representatives, ICN’s global governing body, convened for a meeting 25-27 June to discuss the priorities and future directions for nurses, setting the tone for the presentations and discussions of the Congress.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, was a surprise visit to the Congress, congratulating nurses and partner organizations on the 120th anniversary of ICN. As a strong supporter of the nursing and midwifery profession, he reiterated his support for health workers in their vital role towards achieving UHC,

“It is such a great honour to be here with you. This is a force to reckon with… A force that can realise health for all. A force that can realise universal health coverage… and more than 50% of the workforce is nurses and midwives.”

“We simply cannot achieve universal health coverage and the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals unless we empower and equip nurses and midwives, and harness their power.

Nurses and midwives make up almost half of the world’s health workforce. 

They are important not just because of their numbers, but because of the vast range of health services they provide.

They deliver safe, effective, respectful and quality care.”

With 2020 being the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, Dr Tedros encouraged every country to send one nurse and one midwife to the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2020 as “[t]he world must hear their voices and their stories”.

During the Congress, forty-five speakers delivered presentations covering a wide range of topics across nursing areas such as quality improvement, role expansion, regulatory models, patient safety, multidisciplinary teamwork, recruitment and retention, continuing professional development and more.

The need for ICN Policy and Advocacy was highlighted through the ‘Disaster Nursing: How prepared are we?’ and ‘Technology and Digital Health’ presentations. With a strong culture of ensuring patient safety and quality improvement, policy and advocacy are pivotal to achieving and preserving these outcomes. Presentations focused on the central role of nurses, nurse leadership for global health transformation, achieving “Health for all” despite the global health challenges, and the future of nurses.

The ‘Nursing Leadership: Understanding Cross-Cultural Considerations and Navigating Political Agendas’ presentation highlighted the significance of nurse leadership and empowerment to deliver better outcomes by driving the health policy.

Partner Symposiums featured a variety of nursing topics including nursing competencies, regulation, patient safety, education and many more. At the core, many of these presentations reiterated the need for increased nurse recognition, impact and mobility as fundamental for achieving health for all. Dr Tedros supported this with his announcement of the establishment of an annual recognition award for nurses and midwives, open to every country and region, in conjunction with ICN and Nursing Now!

The Global Network of World Health Organization Collaborating Centres (GNWHOCC) held a side meeting at the ICN Congress on Sunday 30 June after the surprise visit by Dr Tedros.

Mrs Elizabeth Iro and Dr Carey McCarthy were welcomed to the meeting to discuss the goals, process and progress of the State of the World Nursing (SOWN) report and the importance of the report in providing a global picture of the nursing workforce.

It was announced at the ICN Congress that Jhpiego will assist WHO with the SOWN report, which will cover how the nursing workforce will drive progress towards the Triple Billion Goals and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), describe the nursing workforce at all regional and global levels, and merge evidence and best practice in policy-relevant areas.

Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma Nursing) reported on the October 2018 Global Strategy Summit which identified common priorities to foster collaboration between global nursing organisations. Sigma Nursing has also launched the Global Regional Councils in each region of the world and has been building a global nursing and midwifery database. Sigma Nursing has offered this data to assist Jhpiego with the SOWN report.

In 2016, the United Nations High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth delivered a vital message: that health workers are not a cost, they’re an investment – an investment that pays a triple return for health, gender equality and economic growth.

The GNWHOCC Secretariat, John Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON), updated members on the various activities they have been working on including their new website and a call for WHO CC contributions for this (forward updates to SON-WHOCC@jhu.edu for posting). The latest LINKS Magazine was circulated in June and they have been focusing on building a GNWHOCC presence on Twitter and Facebook (follow and share @whoccnm).

The date and venue of the biennial GNWHOCC conference in Nursing and Midwifery was announced as June 16-18, 2020 at the Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Celebrating a year since its launch in Cairns in June 2018, the GNWHOCC Midwifery Network (GNWHOCCNM) now has members from 16 Collaborating Centres in five WHO regions. Led by Professor Lorena Binfa, University of Chile lbinfa@uchile.cl and Professor Billie Hunter, University of Cardiff HunterB1@cardiff.ac.uk, the aim of the Network is to strengthen midwifery research, education, collaboration, visibility and voice across the Global Network by sharing information and opportunities and providing leadership.