Embedding a Global Perspective into Canadian Nursing's Policy Priorities: Observations from the International Council of Nurses' 2021 Congress.

Nursing is a global profession, and the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated just how interconnected and interdependent nursing and health systems are across jurisdictions. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nursing associations and serves as a key policy voice at the global level. Every two years, their congress brings together thousands of nurses and stakeholders to share and disseminate knowledge. Although Canadian presence has historically been strong in these global fora, there is a lack of literature that focuses on discussing the implications of these global discussions on Canadian nurses' policy and advocacy engagement. In this article, we provide a framework of key policy themes as observed during the ICN's 2021 virtual congress. We discuss how these global policy themes align with Canadian nursing, health and public policy priorities and conclude with questions to guide nurses in embedding a global perspective into their research, policy, education and practice initiatives.

International Council of Nurses President Annette Kennedy reflects on her 4-year tenure as president.

Annette Kennedy's four year term as President of the International Council of Nurses ended during the organisation's virtual Congress in November. Here she writes about her time in office and the state of the world's nursing after 2 years of the pandemic. She acknowledges the strains that COVID-19 has put on nursing but affirms that nurses and nursing have come through the pandemic as a stronger, more influential and more cohesive profession.

International Council of Nurses' Global Nursing Leadership Institute: Responding to the pandemic.

BACKGROUND: In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic forced the redesign of the International Council of Nurses' (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Institute (GNLI) that heretofore had included an intensive, week-long residential experience in Geneva, Switzerland. AIM: This paper describes the development, implementation, challenges and preliminary outcomes of an approach that regionalized GNLI and delivered it online, while preserving some cross-regional connections among participants. RESULTS: A virtual approach to a global policy leadership programme cannot replace the richness of an intensive, concentrated residential one, but the redesign of GNLI has given ICN, its member national nursing associations and individual nurse leaders previously unexplored opportunities for networking and collaboration aligned with the six WHO regions, and for cross-region networking and discussions of global issues. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND/OR HEALTH POLICY: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the need for nursing leadership in policy and practice. A virtual approach to leadership development can increase the reach of programmes that seek to build nursing's capacity to advance health-promoting policies in workplaces, organizations and nations.

International Council of Nurses representing nursing at the World Health Organization: COVID-19, policy and holding politicians to account.

The International Council of Nurses is in a unique position to represent nurses at the World Health Organization, and its task has never been more urgent than this year. Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the death rates of nurses and other health care workers are truly shocking, with around 115 000 deaths. However, many countries do not collect statistics on health and care workers' deaths and infections from COVID-19, so the full extent of this awful situation is not known. At this year's World Health Assembly, the body that sets the World Health Organization's agenda for the following year, the International Council of Nurses' 50-strong delegation voiced the concerns of nurses and ensured that the views and advice of nurses were heard by the World Health Organization's 194 member states' delegates. Here, the International Council of Nurses' Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton describes how the Council is influencing health and care policy worldwide. He urges nurses everywhere to hold their politicians to account.

COVID-19: Looking to the future of nursing: innovations & policy recommendations.

The impressive work of nurses, midwives and other health and emergency workers is far from over in the COVID-19 pandemic. But opportunities to learn from adversity are being explored and enacted in many settings and locations. Many ideas, opinions, research findings, innovations in practice, and policy recommendations are described in this Special Issue of International Nursing Review, The Official Journal of the International Council of Nurses in Switzerland. The contents will help inform educators, policymakers, health reformers, researchers, governments, leaders and practitioners about nursing's future. On International Nurses Day 2021, we dedicate this issue to the memory of the yet unknown number of nurses and midwives around the world who have died during this pandemic.

The International Council of Nurses in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Council of Nurses President Annette Kennedy reviews the organization's contribution to nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic. She describes the Council's efforts to support nurses around the world and bring its National Nursing Associations together to share their experiences and best practices, and the lessons learned with other nations who are at different stages of the pandemic.

A Conversation with Annette Kennedy.

ICN's president discusses COVID's impact and the biggest challenges for nursing going forward.

Nursing in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: protecting, saving, supporting and honouring nurses.

As the world tackles the largest public health event in more than a century, the COVID-19 pandemic, the true value of nursing is being seen by politicians and the public. But while nurses are being praised for the vital work they do, many are being put into high-risk situations, and some have died, because of a shortage of appropriate, high-quality personal protective equipment. The International Council of Nurses has called for governments to make the provision of such equipment their number one priority to prevent further loss of life among the nurses caring for the world's most vulnerable patients.