With almost a century’s experience of supporting and developing the UK’s nursing and midwifery workforce, and more recently supporting internationally educated nurses and midwives in the UK, we are now exploring how we can best support these professions around the world. There are huge challenges facing healthcare and the health workforce globally.
Nurses and midwives are critical to deliver on the United Nation’s promise to “leave no one behind” and the global effort needed to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals. And we are playing our part.
Building on the global momentum generated by the World Health Organisation’s Year of the Nurse and Midwife in 2020, and the Nightingale Challenge, we are now working with partners to pilot leadership development support and Academy membership to nurses and midwives outside the UK.
Our official FNF Global launch event took place in the House of Lords in March 2023. We were joined by leading figures from the nursing and midwifery worlds, high commissioners, international nursing and midwifery associations and some of our early adopter members. As well as a video message from the WHO’s new Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu.
Watch our video to hear more about the global challenges facing nursing and midwifery – and how Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) Global® can be part of the solution.
Global Scholarships and Leadership Programmes
By offering scholarships to nurses and midwives based around the world, and by working with partners globally to commission leadership development programmes, we will support and develop even more nurse and midwife leaders. They deserve their place at political decision making tables as leaders of healthcare delivery, health promotion and prevention. The same transformational content will be available and, as with all our programmes, tailored to meet the needs of the participants and their context.
Click here to find out more about our current Scholarship and how to apply.
Hear more below from some of our Global Scholars, and read more here about our health partnership to deliver leadership support to nurses and midwives in Kenya.
“Nurses strive to improve patient care and save lives, no matter how challenging this may be. A global problem now is the retention and shortage of nurses. With this scholarship, I will have more reasons to stay grounded and, at the same time, continue my mission here in the Philippines. By being globally trained outside the country, I will have a bigger and wider perspective on what can be done to improve the healthcare services here in the Philippines for the benefit of the Filipino people. It is an answered prayer to be among esteemed nurses and fellow scholars wanting to be globally competent and make a difference in the world. Since developing people is the highest calling of leadership, my goal is to improve myself to help develop other nurses. To discover deeper who I am as an authentic leader so I can perform my calling as a nurse in this part of the world.”
Randy S. Occidental, Assistant Chief Nurse, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (Philippines)
“The FNF Global Scholarship is such unique a program that targets the key areas of personal and professional growth required to develop resilient, creative, adaptable strong nursing leaders. I envisage that this program will not only have a personal and professional impact on me as a Nurse leader in Australia but as a group of global scholars, creating a relationship across 4 continents FNF’s investment reaches further than ever before. I hope that my Scholarship is a fabulous and powerful beginning to the next stage of my leadership journey. As Nursing accelerates as a globalised workforce, it’s pivotal that we are led by globally intelligent and literate Nurse leaders. FNF’s Global Scholar program is the first to prepare nurse leaders for that challenge.”
Karrie Long, Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer, Safer Care Victoria (Australia)
“Midwives care for the mothers and the babies, and ensure safe, respectful and human-centred care at all times. At the same time, midwives too need a safe work environment, a support system and mentoring to work effectively. As a Global Scholar, I will improve my leadership style and establish healthy professional networks with other FNF scholars for cross-cultural learning for strengthening midwifery – and nursing – globally.”
Dr. Paridhi Jha, Director Research and Training, Foundation for Research in Health Systems (India)
Global Membership
Global membership means that more nurses and midwives can come together and learn from each other, leading to more inclusive working cultures locally, and the spread of innovative practice globally. It also means that we can strengthen our offer to existing members. We want to support nurses and midwives based in diverse settings to foster a learning culture of evidence-based practice by connecting leaders across the world and developing them for the future. You can find out more about membership here, please note this is for organisations, global individual membership is not currently possible.
IENM Online Programmes
IENMs (Internationally Educated Nurses and Midwives) are a source of enormous talent and expertise for our health and care services. Supporting and developing their leadership potential offers significant benefits for services and patient outcomes.
We are offering a dedicated online programme for internationally educated nurses and midwives, whether in the NHS, social care or private healthcare. Participants of this online programme will get the chance to develop their own authentic leadership style and to enhance their skills; enabling them to improve their service and boost their career opportunities.
This programme is open to bookings from organisations in the UK employing internationally educated workforce. Click here to find out more.
We can see the immense benefit of the global approach – connecting people with different knowledge and experiences but with the same language of nursing and the same purpose. And then take that back to wherever it is we are working and make those systems stronger.
Karrie Long – Director of Nursing Research at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
