Internship at International Council of Nurses

Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Internship at International Council of Nurses

Thanks to a chance meeting with one of Massey University’s highest-flying nurses, Dr Jill Wilkinson from the School of Nursing has recently returned from a six-week health policy internship with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in Geneva, Switzerland, where she was working on the delivery of a global initiative that will guide nurses around the world in 2017.

The internship was brought to Dr Wilkinson’s attention by Dr Frances Hughes, Chief Executive of the ICN, Massey Alumna and 2013 Massey University Distinguished Service Award recipient.

“Frances was in New Zealand on her way to Geneva to take up the role and I had been asked to brief her about developments in advanced practice nursing and registered nurse prescribing. The conversation then turned to the existence of the ICN internship programme,” Dr Wilkinson says.

“My career in nursing education and research had been New Zealand focused, but I was attracted to the idea of thinking about the global nursing workforce and the education, practice and welfare realities for nurses more broadly.”

Dr Wilkinson worked with nursing and health policy consultant Dave Stewart to design and write the International Nurses Day publication for 2017, read and used by nurses around the world.

She says the ICN Board is supportive of a new approach to the resource designed for nurses at all levels of the health sector. “Using a web-based interface, it showcases nursing practice from around the world and inspires nurses to use their knowledge, skills and abilities to lead the change needed to achieve the sustainable development goals – the theme for 2017.”

There are 17 sustainable development goals, each with specific targets for the next 15 years. Goal three is specific to health - Healthy Lives and Wellbeing for All - but Dr Wilkinson says the socio-economic determinants of health are clearly evident in each of the goals.

“As nurses we know that health involves more than just the delivery of health services. The social, economic and political causes of the problems must also be addressed. The goals offer a window of opportunity for nurses to get involved and influence decision making processes and policies that affect access to health services, and the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing,” Dr Wilkinson says.

“There are more than 20 million nurses globally and the power of our collective voice through membership in national nursing associations, Chief Nursing Officers and the ICN is yet to be fully realised.

“I’m excited to be a nurse in this changing world, and proud that nursing can help lead the change towards a healthy world. I’m grateful for the opportunity to broaden my vision and to work with the highly dedicated and professional team that is the ICN whanau,” Dr Wilkinson says.

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