Tuesday 21 May 2013

International Council of Nurses - conference musings

I am currently attending the International Council of Nurses 25th Quadrennial Congress in Melbourne (yes, I know how lucky I am). I attended the opening ceremony - a time for all countries represented in the ICN to be recognised. The ceremony really brought home to me the fact that the RCN has chosen to leave the ICN. While I appreciate the reasons, I have been reflecting on the need for nursing to engage in the global context for the benefit of the profession, of nursing education and practice, and for the continued development of patient care. There are many ways to engage globally - through international organisations such as the ICN, through networking with professionals - conferencing, study tours, SoMe, etc. 

The opportunity to spend time at this conference is one that I take seriously - like everyone else attending, I am continually thinking about how the learning and the interactions with colleagues have the potential to impact positively on my own practice in nursing education. So far, these are some of the ways that I can relate the learning to my own practice:

* Confirmed my view that education around leadership - applied to the context in which the student operates - can enhance patient care through the further development of teams, personal skills, and self-awareness. I am working with colleagues on the development of a leadership course for practitioners, and I will take home some of the approaches that I have seen here to complement our thinking so far.

* Hearing an inspirational leader such as Leslie Mancuso from Jhpiego passionately convey messages about how nurses are doing amazing work as advocates for women in developing countries leads me to think about how some of that passion can be better conveyed to our students. Providing examples about how nurses can make a difference to (in this case) women's health (and the lives of their families and communities) could be one way to bring to life the extraordinary work that is going on. The key word for me when I heard Leslie speak was 'compassion' - without compassion none of these activities would be taking place.

* There is a need to enhance the international/global perspectives in nursing within our education - helping students to really appreciate the global challenges, how our health context differs (and shares similarities) with other countries. Lots of different ways to do this through sharing of stories, visits to contribute in some way to the 'other' organisation or context, etc.

* Is there a need to help students to be better social activists with greater political awareness? I have been very interested in some of the presentations where nurses have demonstrated commitment to advocating for others - usually in very challenging situations. Are our students politically astute? Do they need to be? I would suggest that with the increasing politicalisation of nursing, it is vital to have skills that enables the profession to have grown-up conversations with policy makers, the public and others with a vested interest in the profession.

* The growing use and impact of SoMe on the nursing profession - through blogging, Tweeting etc - providing more access to resources, creating connections across the globe, enabling debate and the sharing of practice. Are we preparing our students for this virtual world?

These are some early thoughts - lots to digest and form views on. Like many others here I have formed new connections, planned other meetings and gained collaborative writing opportunities - broadened my horizons!

7 comments:

  1. I agree with your assessment of where we need our nursing students to be. I currently teach a year 3 module to child nursing students and it is difficult to get them to see a bigger picture and the interconnected ness of issues. I appreciate they are focused on becoming an RN but also feel they will only be effective in this role if they are prepared to take on social advocacy and want to make a difference to the status quo. Too much of our energy is focused on the minutiae and individual patients that wider contexts and opportunities become forgotten. Maybe per-registration education isn't the place for this and it should come later but with the state of CPD and educational budgets this is unrealistic. I'll just carry on trying and if one of them gets it it will be worth while.

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  2. Sorry for the delayed response to your comment - and thank you for taking the time to comment. I think that it is possible to do what we are describing here but it is not without its challenges - not least that we all as educators need to be thinking from these perspectives ourselves. I am sure there are ways of embedding this kind of thinking into curricula - we certainly challenge our students to think as global citizens and some of them have taken on key issues through their student groups.

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  3. Ruth,

    I am amazed at the role social media is playing while teaching at my nursing school. Do you find social media a help or problem in your educational setting?

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  4. We are aware that one of the competencies our nursing students should have is to be able to render culturally competent care to a diverse clientele. Globalization of nursing education will be an excellent way to achieve this competency. Much as actual travel to different countries to experience their health practices may not be as easy as we want it to be, the use of technology will at least pave the way for a conversation among students from different parts of the world. Having a social media policy in the school will allay the fear of some faculty on the inappropriate use of technology in the classroom.

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