What You Need to Know About Kate Middleton’s Nursing Now 2020 Campaign

What You Need to Know About Kate Middleton’s Nursing Now 2020 Campaign

Though well into her final trimester, Kate Middleton hasn’t let the impending birth of her third child stop her from attending royal engagements. At the very end of February 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge visited the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. While there, Kate Middleton ran into the midwife who helped deliver her daughter Princess Charlotte, Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, and the two shared a warm embrace.

But Middleton didn’t make the visit just to be reunited with her former midwife: She was there to become the second patron of the Royal College and to officially announce the Nursing Now 2020 campaign, which aims to raise the profile and status of nursing worldwide. As the name suggests, the three-year campaign is scheduled to last until 2020, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

“This campaign means a lot to me personally. My great-grandmother and grandmother were both volunteer nurses,” Middleton said in a speech she gave the campaign launch. “They would have learned first-hand from working with the Voluntary Aid Detachment and the Red Cross about the care and compassion that sometimes only nurses can provide.”

Find out everything you need to know about the Nursing Now 2020 campaign below.

Critical Roles Played by Nurses

Nurses are the heart of most health care teams, caring for patients from their first breaths to their last, helping with everything from checking blood pressure to offering diagnoses to administering shots and painkillers. “Nurses are always there. You care for us from the earliest years. You look after us in our happiest and saddest times. And for many, you look after us and our families at the end of our lives,” Middleton said. “Your dedication and professionalism are awe-inspiring.”

As the Duchess of Cambridge went on to point out in her speech, sometimes nurses may be the only health care provider readily accessible in certain areas of the world, which is why it’s extremely important that enough nurses be trained and placed in the coming years. “In some parts of the world, nurses are perhaps the only qualified health care professionals in their communities, so your work is all the more vital,” she said.

Coming Shortage of Nurses

According to Middleton’s speech, 9 million more nurses will need to be trained by 2030 to meet the rising demands worldwide, which works out to about 2,000 more nurses each day for the next 12 years. Nursing Now 2020 hopes to start filling that gap by increasing the profile of nursing roles and raising awareness about becoming a nurse. Indeed, the nursing shortage has been deemed a global crisis since 2002, but the recruiting and retention of nurses hasn’t been able to keep up with the health care demands of a growing population.

Five Campaign Goals

To help increase the number of nurses, and to support nurses already working in the field, the Nursing Now website lists five main goals that the initiative hopes to achieve by 2020. They are:

  1. Greater investment in improving education, professional development, standards, regulation and employment conditions for nurses.
  2. Increased and improved dissemination of effective and innovative practice in nursing.
  3. Greater influence for nurses and midwives on global and national health policy, as part of broader efforts to ensure health workforces are more involved in decision-making.
  4. More nurses in leadership positions and more opportunities for development at all levels.
  5. More evidence for policy and decision makers about: where nursing can have the greatest impact, what is stopping nurses from reaching their full potential and how to address these obstacles.

Basis for the Initiative

The goals and methods of the Nursing Now movement are based on a Triple Impact report, which was released by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health in October 2016. The report found that empowering nurses would not just improve health globally, but also build strong economies and promote gender equality (as the vast majority of nurses are still women). These three results combine to form the triple impact that nurses could potentially have. “The nursing contribution is unique because of its scale and the range of roles nurses play,” the report said.

Organizations Behind the Movement

Kate Middleton may be the most recognizable public face of the Nursing Now campaign, but two major health organizations are behind the campaigns: the International Council of Nurses and the World Health Organization. The International Council of Nurses represents millions of nurses worldwide, and seeks to represent them, advance the profession, and influence health policy. The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that seeks to address international health policy. The campaign is also supported by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, an independent charitable trust that helps fund nurse-led projects.

A Global Campaign

The Nursing Now Campaign Board includes both nurses and non-nurses from 16 different countries to represent a truly international group. Official launch events were held in London (where Middleton spoke) as well as Geneva. Various international nursing associations also hosted their own launch events, with locations including Canada, China, Jordan, South Africa, Taiwan, and Macao.

Ways to Get Involved

Beyond advocating for nurses and nursing, individuals who wish to support the campaign can sign the Nursing Now pledge and share the social media kit on various platforms. If there is no existing Nursing Now group in their area, nurses and non-nurses may band together to form their own group, though the process is lengthy to ensure participants are committed.

Whether you live in a developing country or an advanced health care economy, the coming nursing shortage will affect the entire globe, and is being felt in some places already. Through its five goals, Nursing Now hopes to help meet that need by recruiting new nurses and empowering existing ones through greater leadership opportunities and better policy decisions. To learn more about Nursing Now 2020, visit the campaign website.

NAINA Joins Nursing Now Global Campaign

NAINA Joins Nursing Now Global Campaign

National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) joined the Nursing Now global campaign in July 2019, and NAINA marked the official inauguration of its campaign activities at the 2019 Clinical Excellence conference held on November 2nd in New Jersey. As part of Nursing Now, NAINA is collaborating with the American Nurses Association as well as other local nursing organizations and global campaign supporters.

On February 27, 2018, Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, patron for the Nursing Now campaign, officially inaugurated the campaign that runs through December 2020. The campaign was launched in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Triple Impact report. The Triple Impact report accentuated that “developing nursing will improve health, promote gender equality and support economic growth.”

 A Well-Timed Campaign

The year 2020 will be a historic year for nursing profession as it marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.The nursing world is preparing to honor and celebrate this great nurse. As the global community prepares to celebrate nursing, momentous endeavors are in the planning. WHO has designated 2020 as The Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The WHO State of the World’s Nursing Report that highlights nurses’ role in Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals is anticipated in April 2020. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation team is releasing another landmark report in 2020 as a follow up of the 2010 Institute of Medicine report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.” The RWJ report will highlight the nurse’s role in addressing the social determinants of health and health equity. To set the stage for these great events and to create global momentum to mark the epic year, Burdett Trust for Nursing in collaboration with WHO and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) launched the Nursing Now global campaign. As of October 2019, Nursing Now has spread to 103 countries.

Nursing Now Global Campaign

Nurses practice in many settings and in different roles. Nurses have different levels of education and competencies, which makes nurses capable of generating positive outcomes in health care. With their education and training, nurses are adroit in health care policy decisions. However, there is a paucity of nurses’ involvement in health care policy and decision making. As the WHO Triple Impact report highlighted, empowering nurses may create a paradigm shift in health care that will address global health care concerns. To highlight nurses and to improve the status of nursing, the campaign chose five focus areas:

  1. Health Care Policy – Create global awareness on positive impact of nurses and midwives in health policy decisions
  2. Clinical Practice and Education – Influence investment in nursing education and training
  3. Leadership – Empower nurses to assume leadership positions; increase the number of nurses in leadership positions.
  4. Research Priority – Identify areas where nurses have a potential for the greatest impact, explore impediments to achieving their full potential and practicing at the scope of their training, and generate practical solutions for workplace conundrums
  5. Best Practice – Share examples of best nursing practice                                                    

Nursing Now USA

American Nursing Association, U.S. Public Health Service Chief Nurse Officer, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Nursing, and the University of Washington School of Nursing collaborate in leading the Nursing Now USA campaign. With the vision, ‘Nurses Lead America to Health,’ Nursing Now USA is developing and leading activities focused on creating public awareness on nurses’ vital role in achieving equitable quality health care for all.

Nursing Now NAINA

National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) decided to join the global campaign as a local group because NAINA’s vision and goals align with the campaign focus. The official launch of Nursing Now NAINA campaign took place at the 2019 Clinical Excellence Conference. The theme of the Clinical Excellence Conference – ‘Population Health: Bridging Gaps and Improving Access to Care’ aligns with the overarching aim of the campaign. The Clinical Excellence Conference provided a venue for NAINA nurses to share examples of best clinical practice, which is one of the priority areas of the global campaign. Susan Michaels-Strasser, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Senior Implementation Director & Associate Director for Nursing Programs at Columbia University discussed “Nursing Now: Empowering Nurses and Tackling Health Care Challenges” and NAINA lead the campaign. Letha Joseph, DNP, AGPCNP-BC discussed NAINA programs that commemorate with the campaign. Nursing Now NAINA will create opportunities for NAINA nurses to improve their competencies, maximize their professional contributions, and enhance their influence.  NAINA’s campaign focus areas are enhancing clinical practice by ongoing education, empowering nurses to be leaders at bedside and beyond, and sharing examples of best nursing practice while recognizing nurses for their contributions to health care and professional nursing community.

More information on the Nursing Now global campaign is available at www.nursingnow.org. Updates on NAINA’s activities are available at www.nainausa.com.

Q&A with Nursing Now’s Barbara Stilwell

Q&A with Nursing Now’s Barbara Stilwell

Barbara Stilwell, PhD, RN, FRCN, is the Executive Director of Nursing Now, a three-year global campaign seeking to raise the profile of nurses.

Dr. Stilwell recently talked with Minority Nurse about what she hopes Nursing Now will accomplish before the campaign ends next year.

What follows is an edited version of our interview.

Nursing Now's Barbara Stilwell

What do you hope to accomplish?

The campaign ends in 2020 and by then we aim to achieve the following:

1. On investment: There is greater investment in the nursing workforce—in education and professional development, standards and regulation, and employment conditions as well as in numbers in training and employment.

Measurement: that there are increases globally in investment in nursing and in the numbers of nurses in training and employment, and that a trajectory has been established and progress is being made towards eliminating the shortfall of nine million nurses and midwives by 2030, tracked through the State of the World’s Nursing report.

2. On policy: The health workforce generally—and nursing and midwifery specifically—are more central to global and national health policies.

Measurement: that all global and national policies on health and health care acknowledge the role of nursing in achieving their goals and include plans for the development of nursing. That national plans for delivering UHC make specific proposals for enhancing and developing the role of nurses as the health professionals most able to deliver patient centred UHC to individuals, families, and communities.

3. On leadership and influence: There are more nurses in leadership positions where they are able to influence policy and decision making and more opportunities for leadership and development for nurses at all levels.

Measurement: at least 75% of countries have a CNO or Chief Government Nurse as part of their most senior management team with the longer term aim of all countries having such posts; there is an increase in the availability of senior leadership programs for nurses; and a global nursing leadership network is established. More young nurses have access to leadership development programs.

4. On evidence: There is more evidence available to policy and decision makers in forms that are understandable about: i) the impact of nursing and where it can have most effect, ii) the barriers that currently prevent nurses from practicing to their full potential, iii) practical methods for addressing these barriers, iv) and that there is more research underway.

Measurement: There are increasing numbers of articles on aspects of nursing in peer reviewed journals that reach an audience broader than nurses; there is a coordinated global network on research on nursing; and there are innovative methods tested of bridging the evidence to policy gap in nursing.

5. On effective practice: There is more dissemination and sharing of effective and innovative practice in nursing and improved methods for doing so.

Measurement: that there is a coordinated global portal allowing access to examples of effective practice and innovation that is supported by nursing organizations and available to nurses and policy makers globally.

What has the campaign accomplished so far?

We now have 170 Nursing Now groups in 77 countries and growth continues. We are a social movement that works through its groups and networks to change the culture of nursing, and feedback so far suggests that the campaign has come at a moment when nurses are ready for change.

What do you hope to have happen in the next year?

WHO has declared 2020 will be the Year of the Nurse and Midwife and is preparing a State of the World’s Nursing Report—the first one ever. While there is support at WHO for nursing and midwifery, the presence of a global campaign has highlighted the significant issues in nursing development if Universal Health Coverage is to be achieved.

Our Nursing Now groups are spearheading initiatives to tackle today’s health issues—for example, how to achieve universal health coverage, the health of homeless people, gender-based violence, men in nursing, the image of nursing and midwifery, and many more.

How can nurses and/or health care providers become involved in it?

We have a great web site which invites comments and case studies. Please explore it and contact us if you have ideas. This is a movement that belongs to all nurses.

To learn more about Dr. Stilwell and the global campaign, visit www.nursingnow.org or check out the radical advocacy special issue of Creative Nursing.
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Nursing Now Campaign Launches Feb. 27

Nursing Now Campaign Launches Feb. 27

If you ever need a reason to feel proud of the lifesaving treatment and the compassionate caregiving, you offer every day in your nursing career, the launch of Nursing Now on February 27 is a big one.

In an effort to raise the profile of nursing as a career and as a worldwide factor in improving health, the International Council of Nurses and the World Health Organization are launching Nursing Now across the globe.

Nursing Now is organized by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, a UK-based charitable trust. As nurses’ status increases, their influence will be felt in policy, reputation, and the status of the professional nurse. Nurses themselves can begin to tackle some of the biggest challenges that are facing humanity in the next century.

No matter what location nurses practice, they face similar challenges. They want the best opportunity and training to offer their patients top-notch care so they can lead better and healthier lives on their own and within their communities. Nursing Now will push for those changes, but nurses will see them happen slowly in their own communities and then on a broader national level before becoming a worldwide trend.

The launch is the first step in an initiative that runs through 2020. Nursing Now will support other programs around the world and hep nurses become more able to influence the ways in which they work and effect change with patient and community health.

The initiative has five stated goals:

1. Greater investment in improving education, professional development, standards, regulation and employment conditions for nurses.

2. Increased and improved dissemination of effective and innovative practice in nursing.

3. Greater influence for nurses and midwives on global and national health policy, as part of broader efforts to ensure health workforces are more involved in decision-making.

4. More nurses in leadership positions and more opportunities for development at all levels.

5. More evidence for policy and decision makers about: where nursing can have the greatest impact, what is stopping nurses from reaching their full potential and how to address these obstacles.

Nursing Now recognizes that global change begins as people work together in each and every community. As nurses band together for change, the momentum will grow and impact greater people and reach into higher changes.

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Nursing will host with United States launch event, and nurses will be able to check the main website throughout the day to learn about other events worldwide.

On February 27, check out Nursing Now and envision and even stronger and more influential nursing future.

Take Ownership of Your Nursing Knowledge and Skills

Take Ownership of Your Nursing Knowledge and Skills

Nurses are invaluable members of the healthcare workforce, and when you’re proactively building a nursing career that you can fully embrace and be proud of, there are plenty of strategies and mindset hacks to consider.

One of the greatest assets you carry as a nurse is the many skills you’ve worked hard to acquire. So, if you want to boost your self-confidence and make the most of your nursing career, it’s wise to humbly take full ownership of the many things you know and the incredible skill sets that make you the outstanding nurse (and human being) you are.take-ownership-of-your-nursing-knowledge-and-skills

Knowledge is Power

It’s been said since time immemorial that knowledge is power. The things you know — including how to leverage the soft and hard skills you have under your belt — are central to what makes your nursing mind tick, and articulating what those are is crucial.

In nursing school, you studied and read like a madperson, wrote care plans (sorry to bring that up), learned to apply the nursing process (you may be sorry I brought that up), and turned your non-nurses mind into a nurse’s mind. I bet there are things your professors said that you still hear in your head, and some of those may be helpful. “If it wasn’t documented, it never happened” was one truism I heard repeatedly during my nursing education, and I never forgot it. What sticks with you?

After the crazy nursing school journey, the rubber hits the proverbial road when you start working as a nurse out in the real world. Some skills and knowledge were entirely theoretical during school, of course. But when you’re working as a nurse and solely responsible for the care of your patients, you can bet that those wheels are turning, and the smoke is coming out of your ears as the pieces fall into your mind.

If you’re a generalist (e.g., med/surg, internal medicine, primary care), you may not delve deeply into cardiac arrhythmia, chemotherapy regimens, or other specialized areas of knowledge and practice. But you’ll need to know a little about everything since you never know what will walk through that door. A generalist may seem from the outside like a jack of all trades and master of none, but you can rest assured that these nurses know their stuff and have all sorts of knowledge that makes them amazing. 

As for nurses who specialize in diabetes, stroke, cancer, labor and delivery, trauma, critical care, or other areas of hyper clinical focus, their knowledge is going to run deep about some very specialized concepts, treatment regimens, and diseases, and that knowledge is worth more than we can say.

Knowledge is power, so acknowledging and expressing what you know is a skill in and of itself. And if you’re job-hunting, being able to write and talk freely about why you’re fantastic is part of the sales pitch that will help you land the position of your dreams.

Your Multifaceted Skills

When we think of nursing skills, we often think of so-called hard skills like venipuncture, rhythm interpretation, wound debridement, or ventilator management. We also need to remember that the 21st-century nurse has computer skills, including using EMRs and other technologies.

In the interpersonal realm, there are skills related to communication, including emotional and relational intelligence, counseling, and active listening. We can also point to patient and family education or the education and training of other nurses (e.g., precepting or mentoring).

Meanwhile, we can’t forget all-important leadership skills, whether as a charge nurse, a director of nursing, or a chief nursing officer. Leadership can also be a skill we naturally demonstrate on the job, even if we don’t have a title beyond “staff nurse.”

You might also have skills in medical writing, grant writing, research, sales, case management, or other areas where you find yourself. Many nurses do important non-clinical work, and their knowledge and skills are equally valuable.

The list of skills and knowledge that a nurse’s mind holds is like an ever-expanding encyclopedia.

The Humble Brag

Whether you’re gunning for a promotion, interviewing for an awesome job, applying for a grant or fellowship, or being interviewed on a nursing podcast, your confidence comes from your ability to own what you know and what you can do, as well as the overall value of your “nurseness.”

If you’re feeling glum about your nursing career, pull out a sheet of paper and try to list every piece of helpful nursing and medical knowledge you have in your head. Chances are you’d need to fill page after page with every tidbit of knowledge you can claim as your own. And if you also included a list of your many skills, you’ll likely fill an entire notebook.

You can proclaim your value, assertively list your knowledge and skills, and still live and work in a place of humility. Being humble doesn’t mean you can’t take ownership of what makes you who you are. It means you don’t have to boast about it or lord it over others. The “humble brag” will serve you just fine: state it as a fact without emotion, and you can get your point across without fuss.

Rejoice in your nurse’s mind and everything it holds, and enjoy the clear knowledge of the value of your numerous skills. You’re a valuable member of the healthcare community, and owning your worth is a powerful place to be.

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