STTI Emerging Global Leadership Institute – Sept. 7 – 10, 2016 in Washington, D.C.
Michele Sare – Director NFNIF
My life has always been ‘global’ – raised in a family that worked all over the world. Certainly, global is not new – just look to human history and we find empires, slave trades, colonizing, embargos, whole populations decimated by measles, trade agreements…war. I and the team at Nurses for Nurses International Foundation have long worked across cultures and across borders – from Indonesia, to Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Haiti. But we’ve struggled with finding the right ‘map’ to guide the design and implementation of evidenced-based global health nursing that is ethical, practical, sustainable, scalable, and professional.
While we have created some evidence-based maps and models of our own, we are deeply grateful for and honored by the work of STTI and her partners. I and team member Ayla Landry, MSN/MPH, had the privilege of participating in one such offering: STTI’s inaugural Emerging Global Leadership Institute – Sept. 7 – 10, 2016 in Washington, D.C.
The logic that nurses be/become full partners and leaders in global health has always been obvious to me; there is no ‘us and them’, only ‘us’. Whether you serve to effect positive change at one bedside or for the world, we are all global health nurses. I’ve had many powerful experiences and can cite evidence for this assertion, but at no time in my 42 years as an RN has this truth been as evident as in those fateful days of 2010: On January 13 – at about 4:30 in the morning - just 12 hours after the horrific quake had struck Haiti - a young Haitian student nurse named Rigan Louis touched my elbow and said, “It is so hard; I will go with you.” Indeed, it was hard, but we did work together, and we comforted, cared for, and saved hundreds.
STTI and her partners ‘touched our elbow’ and are reaching out to every nurse with a heart for global health, and extending that hand, to help create better models, stronger collaborations, and more skilled leadership to address health equity and social justice and to facilitate nursing’s response and engagement in the 2016-2030 Sustainable Goals (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300).
This inaugural Sigma Theta Tau International institute brought together global leaders from economics, policy, law, leadership, the United Nations Foundation, and Nurse Leaders from academic to global innovation and engagement. The purpose of the institute was to “…continue efforts to advance global health and develop innovative global leaders…” by generating dialogue, sharing wisdom and best practices, informing and offering expanded tools for professional global health practice, and by facilitating paths to an evolving standard-based approach to global health practice. While nursing was the largest cohort, this was an institute for professionals from multiple disciplines who are practicing, or interested in practicing, across cultural and national borders.
While there were many peak moments and learning opportunities at the institute, one important endeavor that nurses will find of value is the newly formed Global Advisory Panel on the Future of Nursing & Midwifery (GAPFON) - http://www.gapfon.org/ . GAPFON’s inaugural meeting was convened 26-29 March 2014 with a purpose to respond to and “… to identify global healthcare issues, specifically noting those related to a voice and vision for nursing…GAPFON seeks to participate in and influence health policy, nursing leadership and practice, education, and the global health agenda, as well as to provide evidence on the value of nursing and midwifery.”
As the largest segment of the world-wide healthcare workforce and the largest profession of women globally, nursing has long been poised to innovate and respond to some of the greatest health equity and social justice issues facing our world. Yet, nurses are not leading – and in most arenas – are not even ‘at the decision-making table’. Evidence, calls to action, and national and international drivers abound, but how will the profession of nursing effectively, ethically, and responsibly respond to the challenges facing over one billion of our world’s people who will never receive even the most basic of healthcare and will suffer excess death? These ‘patients’ – the reason nursing exists – can be found out-side of our back-door, in our cities, in our frontier communities, on reservations, in refugee camps, and in every corner of our globe. The Institute offered many sound tools and knowledge sets to help healthcare professionals navigate the way forward. More information will be posted in the STTI Circle – check-out their website for future global health initiatives: http://www.nursingsociety.org/connect-engage/our-global-impact/stti's-global-initiatives
Nursing has been on the sidelines of global health leadership, but STTI and GAPFON are working to change that. Thank you to Cynthia Vlasich at STTI, Dr. Carol Huston from Cal State, Chico, the Team at STTI, and the magnificent presenters at the Institute for a much needed, valuable, practical, and inspiring event! Thank you!
There are over 35 million nurses and midwives in this big beautiful world – lets lead to reverse tides of inequity and injustice for every precious person!
Michele Sare, MSN, RN, DNP Scholar – Director, Nurses for Nurses International Foundation, Inc.
NFNIF Team: Ayla Landry, MSN/MPH; Karrin Sax, WNP; Jessie Hardin, BSN, RN; LeAnn Ogilvie, CCNE, MSN, RN; Rosemary Lynch, MN, RN, CCM; Jesse Conn, Graphic Artist & Webmaster; Junior Beauvais, BS Ag.; Rigan Louis, BSN, RN, NP; Martha Desir, BSN, RN, Dean INSL; Enel Delice, BA Ag.; & Francis Pierre, Business Major
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