Chief Nurse Blog: Nursing Matters June 2023

Since its foundation in 1899, the International Council of Nurses has always had the education of the worldwide nursing workforce as a major focus of its work.

The formidable women who founded ICN, veterans of the women’s suffrage movement of the late 19th Century, included its first president, Ethel Bedford Fenwick, who was one of the first people to suggest the creation of an international nursing organisation.

Those women had the foresight to understand that a globally united nursing workforce would need a common education and equivalent qualifications if it was to become a unified, registered and regulated profession.

And here we are, 124 years later, and the education of nurses is still of vital concern to ICN and to nurses everywhere.

That is why I am especially pleased that ICN has just launched our new online learning platform.

The purpose of all nursing education is to produce a nursing workforce that can safely and competently meet the health needs of the population.

Our learning platform kicks off with two modules, in English, French and Spanish, based on content from the ICN Congress 2021 scientific programme, on crucial topics for nursing in the 2020s: Patient Safety, and the World Health Organization’s Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery.

The two learning modules sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), are designed for nurse educators in the delivery of the curriculum, but also self-directed learning for individual nurses’ professional development.

Each module completed will earn the nurse ICN Continuing Education Credits, proof of which can be included in nurses’ personal professional portfolios.

I hope nurses everywhere will take advantage of these modules, which are completely free to access from anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection.

And for nurses who are attending ICN Congress 2023 in Montreal, Canada, on 1-5 July, look out for mentions of the modules throughout the programme, including:

• 3 July, 14:00 - 15:30, Lecture Room C, Main Session 04: Improving the quality and safety of healthcare delivery: World Health Organization
• 5 July, 12:00-13:30, Plenary Room, Main session 07: How are we doing in implementing the Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery? Global and Regional data and perspectives: World Health Organization)

The founders of the ICN would be proud to see the way nurses value their continuing professional development, and I am proud that we are able to contribute, to the lifelong learning of nurses everywhere.