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@ICNurses

International Council of Nurses

The Global Voice of Nursing

Developing robust and resilient patient partnerships with health professionals to promote patient-centred, compassionate and

humanised healthcare

Howard Catton, ICN CEO

@ICNurses

International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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  • A federation of more than 130 NNAs
  • The voice of the more than 28 million nurses. 
  • Founded in 1899; first international organisation for health professionals
  • First non-governmental organisation to be recognised by WHO

ICN’s role is to:

  • Champion nurses worldwide
  • Advocate for nurses at all levels
  • Advance the nursing profession
  • Influence health and social policy

The International Council of Nurses

ICN works closely with the WHO:

WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meeting with ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano and ICN CEO Howard Catton during the COVID-19 pandemic

@ICNurses

International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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Purpose of the code

Nurses primary responsibility is to people requiring nursing care and services.

Where nurses face a “dual loyalty” – a conflict between their professional duties and fulfilling obligations to their employer or other authority – their primary responsibility is to those who require care. This includes taking action such as whistle blowing to safeguard human rights.

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International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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Recover to Rebuild: investing in the nursing workforce for health system effectiveness.

Examines 100-plus studies, and analyses official data from multiple sources.

Impact of the pandemic continues and is worsening.

Health demand is increasing and nurse supply gap is widening.

This is a GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY.

@ICNurses

International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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Impacts of all of this on patients and the profession:

  • Concerns about patient safety and quality of care
  • Reported rates of intention to leave the profession 20%+
  • Leavers rates of nursing staff increasing by 10%+
  • Nurses are overwhelmed, emotional toll is immense, with poor work/life balance, suffering moral injury and still feeling of not being listened to

Organisational and systems failure to protect and prevent harm to nurses and NOT an individual nurses’ lack of personal resilience

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The Global voice of Nursing

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Why nurse staffing matters

PATIENT SAFETY

>Lower mortality rates

> Lower hospital-acquired infection rates�>Fewer falls

> Lower failure to rescue rates & missed care

>Fewer medicine errors

>Better patient experience

NURSE SAFETY

> Lower stress levels

> Lower illness rates

> Lower absence rates

> Better morale

>Improved retention rates

>Lower burnout rates

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The Global voice of Nursing

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Health and care workforce in Europe:

time to act (2022) WHO European Region

Life expectancy and health workforce density, 2020

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International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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Value, protect, respect and invest in our nurses for a sustainable future for nursing and health care

ICN’s Charter for Change will present 10 policy actions that governments and employers must take to create and sustain health care systems that are safe, affordable, accessible, and responsive and shift nurses from being invisible to invaluable.

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The Global voice of Nursing

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  1. Protect and invest in the nursing profession

2. Ensure safe and healthy working conditions and respect nurses’ rights

3. Recruit and retain nurses by ensuring fair and decent pay and positive practice environments

4. Develop, implement and finance national nursing workforce plans

5. Invest in high-quality, accredited nursing education programmes

6. Enable nurses to work to their full scope of nursing practice

7. Recognize and value nurses’ skills, knowledge, attributes and expertise

8. Engage national nursing associations as professional partners

9. Protect vulnerable populations, uphold and respect human rights, gender equity and social justice

10. Appoint nurse leaders to executive positions

Charter for Change

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The Global voice of Nursing

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Produced for ICN by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions, the films and articles in Caring with Courage reveal the power of care and dedication in the inspiring work of nurses.

www.bbc.com/storyworks/specials/caring-with-courage/

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International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing

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Thank you

#ICNCongress

@ICNurses

International Council of Nurses

The Global voice of Nursing