belongings , bought land , and started building a hospital for her community . Edna ’ s frustration lies in the fact that conditions like eclampsia that are cured in other countries cause major fatalities in her country . Therefore , Edna taught her first class of nursing students while the hospital was being built . To date , Edna has trained more than 1,000 nurses and midwives .
Another amazing plenary session I attended was Caring with Courage , which highlighted a new British Broadcasting Company ( BBC ) and ICN collaborative project that features the stories of nurses out in the community on the silver screen . Viewing some of the powerful clips , I was able to witness the unique and profound work that this collaboration and nurses in the field were able to produce .
In another plenary session , I heard renowned leadership expert and author of bestselling book Start With Why , Simon Sinek , and Leigh Chapman , Chief Nurse Officer of Canada , discuss nursing ’ s need for great leaders . Their conversation on how great leaders inspire action was rejuvenating . They focused on how great leaders are needed starting in nursing school and stressed that “ we need to take care of the people taking care of the people .” It left me with a recharged battery to bring home to you all .
Additionally , I was able to take a master class on Robotic Surgery and how it is taking us into the 21st century and beyond . By studying and learning new technology , we can ensure that we are better equipped to serve the generation of tomorrow . With the addition of robotics , nurses need to ensure that patient care is still a priority especially when the surgeon is far away performing the surgery remotely with devices like the one I learned about .
One evening , NSNA representatives were invited to a reception for the National League for Nursing ( NLN ). It was a lovely networking opportunity where I saw some familiar faces from the American Nurses Association Membership Assembly and met some new faces in NLN . Overall , it was a wonderful success and I spoke with NLN leaders Dr . Beverly Malone , President and CEO of NLN , and Dr . Kathleen Pointdexter , Chair of the NLN .
The last morning of the conference , speakers at the plenary session discussed disaster situations going on around the world and their effects on the nursing profession . People from Ukraine , Turkey , and Myanmar joined the morning plenary program virtually to discuss current issues negatively affecting their populations . The conditions that some of these countries are facing are horrific . Some nurses must worry about living on a battlefield with bombs falling . In Myanmar , nurses must go into hiding and , in some devastating cases , are persecuted for their line of work . It was truly heartbreaking and unsettling to learn about the issues taking place around the world .
Lastly , in the closing session , Dr . Pamela Cipriano , current ICN President , past ANA President , and past NSNA President , spoke about the amazing work done at the conference and the new ICN logo that was displayed for the first time . The ICN Congress 2023 was a great success , and I cannot wait to see what the ICN and the Finnish Nurses Association unveil for the 2025 Congress in Finland !
Post Congress Meeting with Canadian Nursing Students ’ Association ( CNSA ) President On August 8th , I had the pleasure to meet via Zoom with President of the CNSA , Eyasu Yakob , who I met in Montreal during the ICN Congress . During our Zoom meeting , we discussed the differences not only between our organizations , but between our countries regarding nursing . Prior to the pandemic , the CNSA had about a 90 % retention rate of the nursing students throughout Canada , meaning that the majority of nursing students were CNSA members . Their membership prior to the pandemic was made up of about 30,000 members . Most nursing schools are publicly funded in Canada ; students opt in to having their CNSA membership fees taken out of their tuition . NSNA has a similar program called total school membership .
While NSNA has a fantastic and dedicated staff that helps with things like booking meeting venues and negotiating contracts , CNSA only has two or three staff members who help run the organization with the students doing all the convention bookings and more . CNSA has partnerships with three different organizations that have external stakeholders ( or consultants as they are known to NSNA ): the Canadian Nurses Association , the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union , and the Canadian Federation of Schools of Nursing . According to Eyasu , many of these organizations rarely have a change in leadership ; therefore , people in higher positions have been there for long periods of time .
It was very interesting to discuss issues with nursing leaders from other countries , it helps us learn more about what NSNA can do better and what we can advocate for . I am hopeful that some of our collaboration ideas will be beneficial to NSNA ’ s membership , and that this collaboration is one that will last for years to come . n
Be sure to read the NSNA President Blog for the latest post on issues important to nursing students and health care .
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