Wythenshawe Research Nurse attends global launch of Nursing Now

Georgie was invited to attend the Nursing Now 2020 campaign which was launched February 2018 by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. Nursing Now is a three year global campaign developed by the International Council of Nurses and the World Health Organization to tackle the changing needs of 21^st century healthcare and will focus on five core areas:

• ensuring that nurses and midwives have a more prominent voice in health policy-making
• encouraging greater investment in the nursing workforce
• recruiting more nurses into leadership positions
• conducting research that helps determine where nurses can have the greatest impact
• sharing of best nursing practices

What is Nursing Now and how is it significant to nursing?

I feel privileged to have been asked to attend the Nursing 2020 conference which launched the Nursing Now campaign. The aim is to increase global recognition of the unique position nurses are in; at the heart of their health teams and central to health promotion, disease prevention and treatment. The global strategy aims to encourage nurses and midwives all around the world to pull together to really make a difference to improving global health by providing more nursing recognition, investment and influence by the year 2020. Significantly, the campaign will also come to an end on the 200^th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth; a year when nurses will be celebrated worldwide.

Why were you chosen to attend?

I heard that the campaign was seeking young / novice nurses who were interested in the future of global health and nursing and would like to be involved so I put my name down. I later found out that a nurse, who I met during my studies, had also put my name forward to be chosen to attend the launch. I feel honoured to have been chosen to attend as I believe it is immensely important that nurses feel valued, supported and have access to adequate training to help reach both personal and professional goals. It’s crucial that nurses are given a greater voice in health decision-making as they are often closest the person to the patient and in some countries are the only healthcare professional that a patient will meet!

I completed a mentorship at Wythenshawe Hospital in 2016 which means I am able to support students in their pre-registration nursing journey and provide them with an effective learning environment so they can have an enjoyable and worthwhile placement.

What did you find most interesting about the launch?

It was really good to network with people from the healthcare profession from global health leaders to young nursing students. I was also able to visit different stands, including Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation and THET Partnerships for Global Health. I was very interested to hear about the challenges facing nurses in different countries and the organisations and charities set up to help them.

The speakers at the launch were very inspirational and it was incredible that there were so many influential voices from all over the world speaking in support of the Nursing Now campaign and telling us the impact it will have on their own countries and communities.

A huge positive from the day was meeting HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton who launched the campaign and is Nursing Now’s patron. I wasn’t aware of her own family connections to nursing; her great-grandmother and grandmother were both nurses so this is a subject very close to her heart. You can view her speech at the launch event on YouTube or in the video below.

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Are there any learning outcomes or messages you have taken away with you?

It is important that as many people as possible get behind this campaign, sign the pledge, share examples of effective nursing practices and be agents for change in nursing. All the information is on the Nursing Now website.

We hope that Nursing Now will encourage health leaders to listen to nurses and to invest in nursing on a global scale. There is a shortage of nurses and midwives worldwide, in fact 9 million more nurses are needed globally by 2030.

New models of care need to be developed that maximise the potential of nurses to help achieve Universal Health Coverage with decent healthcare for all people everywhere.

I will be presenting my experience and understanding of the Nursing Now 2020 campaign at the Research Nurse/ Midwife meeting on 26^th July 2018.