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.

Capacity building for global nursing leaders: challenges and experiences

AIM

The aim of this article is to describe our experience in operating a capacity-building programme, the Korea International Cooperation Project, for global nursing leaders from developing countries, held during the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Conference in 2015 in Seoul, Korea.

BACKGROUND

Globalization points to the importance of global leadership among nursing leaders. In accordance with the theme of 'Global Citizen, Global Nursing' at the ICN conference in 2015, a capacity-building programme for nursing leaders of developing countries was implemented.

INTRODUCTION

The global nursing leadership programme shared experiences during the preparation and operation of the conference. To prepare the programme, this paper describes selecting participants, working with invitation lists from 30 countries, and recruiting and training volunteers. The operation of the programme, orientation, organizing tailored programmes for participant groups, addressing unexpected issues and evaluating the programme are described.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

ICN could implement capacity-building programmes for nursing leaders of developing countries during its ICN conference for the nursing society. A programme tailored for each continent with similar sociocultural backgrounds and health issues would provide chances for collaboration and networking. A policy to compile global nursing indicators should be developed. This would allow nursing leaders to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of global nursing and provide evidence for collaboration.

CONCLUSION

The programme was successful in introducing and broadening global perspectives of participants on health and education as well as building a network among leaders and next-generation leaders in participating countries for future cooperation and collaboration.

Clinical nursing and midwifery research: grey literature in African countries

AIM

This study reviewed grey literature to assess clinical nursing and midwifery research conducted in southern and eastern African countries over the past decade.

BACKGROUND

The shortage of published nursing research from African countries severely limits the ability of practicing nurses and midwives to base clinical decisions on solid evidence. However, little is known regarding unpublished or unindexed clinical research ('grey literature'), a potentially rich source of information. Identifying these sources may reveal resources to assist nurses in providing evidence-based care.

INTRODUCTION

This scoping review of grey literature on clinical nursing and midwifery research in southern and eastern African countries helped to identify gaps in research and assess whether these gaps differ from published research.

METHODS

Systematic searches of grey literature were performed. Research was included if it was conducted by nurses in 1 of 25 southern or eastern African countries, between 2004 and 2014 and included patient outcomes. Data were extracted on location, institution, research topic, institutional connections and author information. Chi-square tests were performed to compare differences between indexed and non-indexed literature.

RESULTS

We found 262 studies by 287 authors from 17 southern and eastern African countries covering 13 topics. Although all topics were also found in indexed literature and there were statistically significant differences between the number of times, fewer topics were covered in grey literature vs. indexed.

DISCUSSION

Patient satisfaction and experience and traditional health practices were more likely to be published, whereas chronic disease, assault and paediatric-related research were less often published.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Generally, there is a paucity of clinical nursing research in this region. This could reflect the shortage of nurses prepared to conduct research in this region. Nurses may find additional resources for evidence in the grey literature. A complete understanding of the state of nursing science in southern and eastern African countries will help nurses and midwives to understand gaps in clinical research knowledge, potentially direct their research to more critical topics, and inform funding bodies and policy-makers of the situation of nursing science in southern and eastern African countries.

Critical care nursing organizations and activities: a fourth worldwide review

AIM

To examine the activities and concerns of critical care nurses and professional critical care nursing organizations around the world and to identify expectations held of nursing leaders and policy makers to help address their concerns.

BACKGROUND

This study is the fourth worldwide review of its type. Previous surveys were undertaken in 2001, 2005 and 2009.

METHODS

An online descriptive survey was emailed to 88 potential participants from countries with critical care nursing organizations or known critical care nursing leaders. Responses were downloaded into Survey Monkey™ (Version 22) and analysed by geographical region and income level.

RESULTS

Fifty-nine respondents from 58 countries completed the questionnaire, of whom 43 had critical care nursing organizations established in their countries and 29 were members of the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses. The services provided by the organizations to be of most value were national conferences, website, professional representation, and practice standards and guidelines. Professional policies had been developed by some organizations on workforce, education and practice, while almost half provided their members with either a newsletter or journal. Collectively, the most important issues for critical care nurses were working conditions, provision of formal practice guidelines and competencies, staffing levels and access to quality education programmes.

CONCLUSIONS

Important issues continue to challenge the specialty of critical care nursing as new developments, priorities, clinical issues and other global events and influences impact critical care nursing worldwide.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

This study will help guide nursing leaders and policy makers to address the needs of critical care nurses and their patients. Collaborative approaches between the specialty, nursing leaders and health policy advisors will assist to inform appropriate change in areas recommended for further action.

Policies to sustain the nursing workforce: an international perspective

AIM

Examine metrics and policies regarding nurse workforce across four countries.

BACKGROUND

International comparisons inform health policy makers.

METHODS

Data from the OECD were used to compare expenditure, workforce and health in: Australia, Portugal, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). Workforce policy context was explored.

RESULTS

Public spending varied from less than 50% of gross domestic product in the US to over 80% in the UK. Australia had the highest life expectancy. Portugal has fewer nurses and more physicians. The Australian national health workforce planning agency has increased the scope for co-ordinated policy intervention. Portugal risks losing nurses through migration. In the UK, the economic crisis resulted in frozen pay, reduced employment, and reduced student nurses. In the US, there has been limited scope to develop a significant national nursing workforce policy approach, with a continuation of State based regulation adding to the complexity of the policy landscape. The US is the most developed in the use of nurses in advanced practice roles. Ageing of the workforce is likely to drive projected shortages in all countries.

LIMITATIONS

There are differences as well as variation in the overall impact of the global financial crisis in these countries.

CONCLUSION

Future supply of nurses in all four countries is vulnerable.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Work force planning is absent or restricted in three of the countries. Scope for improved productivity through use of advanced nurse roles exists in all countries.

Building locally relevant ethics curricula for nursing education in Botswana

AIM

The goal of this multi-institutional collaboration was to develop an innovative, locally relevant ethics curriculum for nurses in Botswana.

BACKGROUND

Nurses in Botswana face ethical challenges that are compounded by lack of resources, pressures to handle tasks beyond training or professional levels, workplace stress and professional isolation. Capacity to teach nursing ethics in the classroom and in professional practice settings has been limited.

METHODS

A pilot curriculum, including cases set in local contexts, was tested with nursing faculty in Botswana in 2012.

RESULTS

Thirty-three per cent of the faculty members indicated they would be more comfortable teaching ethics. A substantial number of faculty members were more likely to introduce the International Council of Nurses Code of Ethics in teaching, practice and mentoring as a result of the training. Based on evaluation data, curricular materials were developed using the Code and the regulatory requirements for nursing practice in Botswana. A web-based repository of sample lectures, discussion cases and evaluation rubrics was created to support the use of the materials.

DISCUSSION

A new master degree course, Nursing Ethics in Practice, has been proposed for fall 2015 at the University of Botswana. The modular nature of the materials and the availability of cases set within the context of clinical nurse practice in Botswana make them readily adaptable to various student academic levels and continuing professional development programmes.

CONCLUSION

The ICN Code of Ethics for Nursing is a valuable teaching tool in developing countries when taught using locally relevant case materials and problem-based teaching methods.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

The approach used in the development of a locally relevant nursing ethics curriculum in Botswana can serve as a model for nursing education and continuing professional development programmes in other sub-Saharan African countries to enhance use of the ICN Code of Ethics in nursing practice.

A multinational study of self-compassion and human immunodeficiency virus-related anxiety

AIM

This study represents an initial effort at examining the association between the construct of self-compassion and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related anxiety in a multinational population with HIV disease.

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have found that self-compassion is a powerful predictor of mental health, demonstrating positive and consistent linkages with various measures of affect, psychopathology and well-being, including anxiety.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data from a multinational study conducted by the members of the International Nursing Network for HIV Research (n = 1986) were used. The diverse sample included participants from Canada, China, Namibia, the United States of America and the territory of Puerto Rico. Study measures included the anxiety subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90 instrument, the Brief Version Self-Compassion Inventory and a single item on anxiety from the Revised Sign and Symptom Checklist.

FINDINGS

Study findings show that anxiety was significantly and inversely related to self-compassion across participants in all countries. We examined gender differences in self-compassion and anxiety, controlling for country. Levels of anxiety remained significantly and inversely related to self-compassion for both males (P = 0.000) and females (P = 0.000). Levels of self-compassion and anxiety varied across countries.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-compassion is a robust construct with cross-cultural relevance. A culturally based brief treatment approach aimed at increasing self-compassion may lend itself to the development of a cost effective adjunct treatment in HIV disease, including the management of anxiety symptoms.