Impacting Nursing Education Globally: An Innovative NLN Initiative With the International Council of Nurses

Nearly one year ago, in July 2023, I was privileged to be part of a delegation representing the National League for Nursing (NLN) at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Montreal, Canada. This event, with its parade of nations, was an exciting experience. Nurses from across the globe presented themselves in their national colors and costumes. Many countries sent several delegates, but others were represented by a sole nurse who walked across the stage with pride. In each session I attended, I was made aware of the significant challenges facing nursing, including violence being committed against health workers during conflicts and workforce shortages touching all nations. I also became aware of cutting-edge programs nurses use to improve the health of the populations they serve. Vignettes filmed by the ICN in collaboration with British Broadcasting Corporation StoryWorks (BBC StoryWorks, 2024), titled Caring With Courage, featured nurse warriors who make a difference in their communities, despite a scarcity of resources. These presentations highlighted the expertise of nurses from across the globe, including a Ugandan nurse working to stop the spread of tuberculosis, nurses from Asia using the potential of artificial intelligence to care for persons with mental health diagnoses, midwives working to ensure safer birthing experiences for indigenous women in Mexico, and a nurse attempting to remove the stigma of menstruation and address period poverty in Africa. These stories underscored the impact of our profession. The experience of attending the ICN Congress was beyond my hopes and expectations. The congress provided a perfect opportunity to examine the global impact of nursing practice and how the nursing professional workforce strives collectively to improve health outcomes in our communities. However, despite the identification of policy changes needed to address the global nursing workforce shortage, the importance of linking nursing education and practice was not apparent. The ICN Congress did not address the connection between nursing education and its profound influence on workforce development or the shaping of nursing practice. The gap between nursing education and its impact on the readiness of new graduates for practice was a notable area of missed opportunity. Furthermore, there was an unmistakable absence of thought leaders working to moderate this gap at a global level. Keating et al. (2021) noted that, worldwide, there is a need to employ nearly 5.9 million nurses to address the significant shortage of nurses in the workforce, and this need will be especially felt in lower and middle-income populations. The authors identified the importance of effectively aligning educational strategies to ensure that our global workforce is robust and that all new nurses are equipped with the requisite competencies to be safe and effective when they transition to practice. The knowledge and skills required of new graduates worldwide are changing because of social and demographic changes, the increasing complexity of health scare needs and chronic conditions that exist in our populations, the substantial pressure of newly developing infectious diseases, and emerging environmental and climate-related illnesses. To prepare qualified new graduates for a variety of settings, and for roles we have yet to imagine, we must have skilled nurse educators, but the shortage of educators we are experiencing in the United States is a global one. Also, with qualified educators tending to relocate to more affluent areas and countries (Trines, 2018), the shortage is particularly damaging in less developed parts of the world. Hence, there is a need for collaboration and partnerships. Recognizing these challenges, NLN President and CEO Dr. Beverly Malone boldly advanced a vision, to employ the expertise and resources of the NLN to mitigate the academic-practice gap across the globe. As preparation for the role of nurse educator is neither standardized nor consistent in format (James et al., 2017), Dr. Malone’s vision encompasses the identification of core competencies that will position our academic workforce to influence the delivery of care with a global perspective and on a transformational level, in ways suitable for local challenges and communities (NLN, 2020). This creative proposal has resulted in a collaborative partnership between the NLN and the ICN to prioritize and promote the education of nurses worldwide through a new organization identified as the ICN Education Experts Advisory Committee (ICNEE). As the premier nursing education professional organization, the NLN, in collaboration with ICN, is poised to develop and support this initiative and begin the hard work of identifying avenues to influence nursing education globally. The ICNEE is housed within the NLN Institute for Diversity and Global Initiatives and led by Dr. Sandra Davis, deputy chief director for the NLN/Walden University College of Nursing Institute for Social Determinants of Health and Social Change. She will serve as ICNEE chair for the next three years and bring her knowledge and experience to broaden the commitment to quality and equity in nursing education around the globe. This partnership will bring together 14 nursing thought leaders representing the seven World Health Organization regional areas and two at-large members. Their task will be to address challenges and opportunities, disseminate best practices, and advance the well-being and professional development of nurse educators. The immediate focus of the ICNEE is to shape the thinking around the soon-to-be-published second edition of the World Health Organization’s State of the World’s Nurses Report, produced in collaboration with the ICN. Colleagues, this is an incredible opportunity for academics across the globe to effect change in nursing education. Issues and concerns that are evident worldwide will be addressed and mitigated through this transformational partnership. As NLN chair, and as part of this international initiative, I stand committed, along with the NLN Board of Governors, to actualizing the NLN mission: promoting excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our nation and the global community. As the leader in nursing education, the NLN is at the forefront of efforts to make a meaningful difference in academic outcomes and educator influence!

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