Taking a global perspective
- March 20, 2023
As a charity with almost a century’s experience of supporting and developing the UK’s nurses and midwives to improve care and save lives, we have now officially launched Florence Nightingale Foundation Global ®.
There are huge challenges facing healthcare and the health workforce globally and, along with our partners, we are now exploring how we can best support these professions around the world – to co-create solutions to these challenges.
The Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) Global launch took place in the House of Lords, 7 March. 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 special video message from the WHO’s new Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu.
Nurses and midwives are critical to delivering on the United Nation’s promise to “leave no one behind” and the global effort needed to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals. And we can’t ignore this.
We have already been working with partners on a tailored leadership development programme supporting internationally educated nurses and midwives in the UK – with very positive feedback.
Taking all this experience and 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 piloting leadership development support and FNF Academy membership to nurses and midwives outside the UK.
We aim to reach one million nursing and midwifery leaders globally by 2027.
Watch our video to hear more about the global challenges facing nursing and midwifery – and how FNF Global can be part of the solution:
By offering our ‘transformational’ and adaptable scholarships and leadership development programmes to nurses and midwives around the world, they will be better placed to be at political decision-making tables as leaders of healthcare delivery, health promotion and prevention.
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.
Attendees at our House of Lords launch event heard more about our initial plans for ‘going global’ as we seek to both deepen established partnerships and further develop new ones. The event was sponsored by HCA Healthcare UK.
Carol Kefford OBE, Chief Nursing Executive at HCA Healthcare UK, says: “For nurses and midwives anywhere to truly flourish, to use our skills and knowledge to the full, to raise our voice and achieve our potential we need those bright spots of great nurse leaders shining their light. The Florence Nightingale Foundation has done so much to build nursing and midwifery leadership capacity and capability in this country that the power of taking that expertise globally is immense and very exciting. This is why we are so proud to be supporting FNF in their mission to inspire and develop exceptional leaders across the world achieving the ambitious target of reaching 1 million nurses and midwives by 2027 globally.”
You can read more on the global launch event in the Nursing Times or Nursing in Practice.
To find out more contact us: [email protected]