Imperative for Health Systems Research, How Robust Evidence Collection Advances Global Health.

For the advancement of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG 3, strong health systems research is needed and to understand how systems are performing and how can these be strengthen and organized as to support the advancement towards universal health coverage with a perspective to social determinants of health.

Beyond a Single Country's Borders: Trade in Services Uncovered Through Bibliometrics.

We live and work in an increasingly connected global environment where actions in one part of the world can have consequences for all of us. This article examines, through the use of bibliometric analysis, the extent to which nursing scholars are engaged in the policy debate surrounding trade in services. Results demonstrate that, in comparison to medical colleagues, the nursing profession is more regionally orientated, focused on more operational-based themes and orientated to Mode 4: Mobility of the Profession. However, with the impetus of initiatives such as Nursing Now, opportunities exist to increase nurses' contribution to policy in today's ever more connected supranational environment. To be effective, and if quantum rather than incremental progress is to be made, more scholarship on policy-oriented topics is needed. An increased output of PhD-prepared nurses is essential. Collaborative working in multidisciplinary policy teams must become the norm, so nurses can demonstrate their unique and essential contribution to addressing the many and complex challenges that health systems now face. This is what is required if nurses are to be equipped to make robust evidence-based arguments at national and supranational levels.

Windows to the Future: Can the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Provide Opportunities for Nursing?

Windows of opportunity are wide open for the nursing profession to actively participate and engage in the policy implementation, evaluation, and achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Nurses bring valuable perspectives as members of diverse governance structures and offer a range of solutions that can help governments pursue and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and targets by 2030.

The ICN Leadership For Change™ Programme--20 years of growing influence.

AIM: The aim of this article was to present experiences from the field in the context of the International Council of Nurses' Leadership for Change™ programme, which celebrates 20 years of excellence in 2016 for developing the leadership and management capacity of nurses worldwide. BACKGROUND: The programme was launched in 1996 in order to boost nurse participation in the healthcare policy-making process, globally, and to foster within the nursing profession the requisite skills for nurses to lobby for and assume a greater responsibility in the leadership and management of health care services. INTRODUCTION: Over the course of two decades, the programme has been implemented in cooperation between ICN, national nurses associations, the World Health Organization, Ministries of Health and a variety of donor organizations such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and development agencies such as USAID and AUSAID. The programme has been implemented in more than 60 nations throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Pacific Islands, to name a few regions. METHODS: This article offers an overview of the impact that certified ICN LFC nurse trainers and their colleagues have had in the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and the United States of America and is affiliated islands and the North Pacific Islands. RESULTS: Twenty years of growth and empowerment are now the ongoing legacy of the ICN LFC Program, which has graduated and deployed nurse trainers around the world and achieved significant advances in the professional development of nurse leaders on an international scale. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Nurse leaders can improve the health and well-being of their nations in collaboration with consumers and other key stakeholders. Nurse leaders are critical in improving health systems, their work places and broader societal challenges through sound nursing practice, education, research and evidence-based health and social policy change.

The World Health Organization Launches the 2016-2020 Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 provide a framework to ensure nursing and midwifery interventions are developed, implemented, and evaluated at global, regional, and country levels and in partnership with key stakeholders. The Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 supports the WHO's Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030. The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 presents a vision, guiding principles, and four themes to maximize nursing and midwifery workforce contributions to improve global health. Implementation of the strategy is articulated in the context of country and regional needs, areas for expedited action, partnerships and alliances, and accountability for ongoing monitoring and evaluation. As a framework, the 2016-2020 Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery can help countries achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage.

Want to Create Jobs and Drive Economic Growth? Invest In Nursing and Global Health Workforce.

The High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth was created by the United Nations to tackle the projected global shortfall of health care workers. The Commission developed recommendations addressing job creation, gender and women's rights, education, training and skills, health service delivery and organization, technology, and crises and humanitarian settings. The Commission report is an opportunity for nurse leaders, key stakeholders, and advocates in our nation to continue to champion heath workforce issues. The timing is right as we anticipate a new presidential administration and state, federal, and local leadership in 2017.

The World Health Organization's Sixty-Eighth World Health Assembly: Updates and Opportunities.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. Delegates attending the Sixty-Eighth WHA, May 2015, covered a wide range of global challenges and agreed on several key resolutions of importance to nurse leaders. Some of the resolutions adopted relevant for nurse leaders and nursing care such as air pollution, strategies to strengthen epilepsy care, antimicrobial drug resistance, and strategies to strengthen surgical care, are highlighted. Nurse leaders should consider attending the World Health Assembly, as the topics discussed are critical for the future directions of strengthening human resources for health worldwide and, in particular, nursing and midwifery services.

The World Health Organization: Is It Still Relevant?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nation's lead agency for directing and coordinating health. As leaders, nurse executives must advocate for a stronger nursing and midwifery health policy agenda at the global level and a seat at the table on WHO's technical advisory bodies and expert committees. There are no more borders as nurse executives; we are global citizens, leading global change. Nurse leaders hold the master key to shape the world's policies for sustainable global development.

Transformational Nurse Leaders Key to Strengthening Health Systems Worldwide.

This column, presented by the director of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), discusses the work of the ICN over the past 20 years and into the future in developing nursing leaders across the globe. Dr Ferguson relates this activity to the constructs of the Magnet Recognition Program. The ICN is at the forefront of making sure nurses and nurse executives have the knowledge, skills, and ability to lead effectively worldwide and meet the global health challenges.

How nurse leaders are connected internationally.

AIM: To determine whether communication networks exist in a diverse and competitively selected cohort of nurse leaders, and to identify variables that explain any patterns of connection. METHOD: Twenty seven nurse leaders completed a form to ascertain the presence and strength of communication between participants. Data were analysed using social network analysis, generating a visualisation of the network and associated quantitative measures. RESULTS: Participants were poorly connected. Those connections that did exist centred on geographic proximity and participation in regional and global bodies. CONCLUSION: These results help improve understanding of how nurse leaders are connected internationally, and prompt inquiry in to how connections might be strengthened.

The global quest for nursing excellence.

In this month's column, Stephanie Ferguson, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director, International Council of Nurses' (ICN) Leadership for Change Programme; Facilitator, ICN Global Nursing Leadership Institute; ICN Consultant for Nursing and Health Policy; and World Health Organization Consultant, provides a perspective on the importance of global nursing excellence and highlights the American Nurses Credentialing Center's strategic global quest for nursing excellence.

Nurses: advocating, leading, caring!

This speech was delivered on 27 October at the 2012 Conference and general meeting of the Italian Nurses Association CNAI (Consociazione nazionale delle Associazioni infermiere/i) held in Rome from 25 to 27 October 2012. The theme of the conference was "No Nurses No Future". The "No Nurses No Future" is a national campaign developed by the nurses of the Italian Nurses Association to fight for the rights of the profession to sustain not only the practice of the nurse, strong nursing education, research and regulation, but more importantly to ensure that in the future there will be enough nurses in the healthcare workforce to advocate, lead and care for the citizens of Italy.Italian nurses took advantage of the presence of prof. Ferguson and, before travelling to Rome, the Region Lombardy IPASVI Colleges (Coordinamento dei Collegi IPASVI della regione Lombardia) invited her to talk on the same topic during a jointed Conference with CNAI at Circolo della Stampa of Milan on 23rd October.

Preparing for disasters: Enhancing the role of pediatric nurses in wartime.

During the tragic terrorist attacks that occurred against the United States on September 11, 2001, nurses were on the front lines making a difference for patients, families, and children. As noted in the American Nurse, the official publication of the American Nurses Association, "September 11, 2001, is no longer just a day gone by. It now takes the place alongside other infamous dates like December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan" (Trossman, 2001, p. 1). This article will focus on resources available for pediatric nurses to use when working with children and families who are either preparing for or responding to disasters.