IFPN Presidents Message September 2023
As the world of Perioperative leaders prepares to converge on Kos, Greece for the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN) annual board meeting this September, we have a lot to reflect on as we enter our first in-person meeting since the pandemic. While we have stayed connected and collaborated as a community with our online presence, this cannot replace the importance our countries coming together in person to celebrate our successes and strategizing on how to address our challenges. I’m excited that our in-person board members will include Brazil, Europe (EORNA), Finland, France, Greece, Israel, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States, while the remainder of our board plan on joining from all corners of the globe by Teams video call. Our agenda will focus on our strategic imperatives of global impact, growth, member association collaboration and supporting developing perioperative communities.
In July, I had the honor to represent IFPN at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) meeting in Montreal, Canada. As an Affiliate, IFPN is the recognized voice of Perioperative nursing across the world with ICN. While the overall program was energizing, the statistics presented on the state of our nursing profession were sobering as they related to the global nursing profession from the “State of the World of Nursing”, survey results, which indicated that:
- 4.7 million nurses plan to retire in the near future
- 6.0 million nurses plan to leave the profession
What is of concern is that while countries are focused on addressing the turnover and loss of nurses, “nurses are absent from the policy discussion” according to ICN, which must be addressed.
Also, what was notably lacking from the program was a focus on digital, AI, and technology that would support nurses in delivering care at the top of their license while “off-loading” clerical and manual tasks. From my perspective, this must be a strategy, in part, to address the ongoing shortage of nurses. With the recently released ICN position statement on 1 September 2023 titled “the future of nursing and digital health”, there is a closer alignment with the direction that the nursing profession needs to be educated and at the table as decisions are being made related to the development and use of such technology.
Our role and influence as an Affiliate member of ICN was the topic of discussion between me and the president of the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetist Jackie Rowles DNP CRNA, and other global leaders. While ICN represent the “general nurse”, it became apparent through discussion that there is still a lack of understanding and strategy by ICN on how to engage specialty groups, like perioperative nurses and nurse anesthetist. In total there are 9 specialty groups that are Affiliate members of ICN, including:
- Council of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN)
- International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA)
- International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN)
- International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA)
- International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC)
- NANDA International
- Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma)
- World Council of Enterostomal Therapists® (WCET®)
- World Federation of Critical Care Nurses (WFCCN)
Seeing the deficit in engaging Affiliate members, ICN will be kicking off an initiative this fall to discuss how they should collaborate with specialty nurses, and IFPN will request at seat at the table with ICN to explore how we can have more of a voice and influence globally.
I look forward to seeing you in Greece this September as we continue to shape the global practice of Perioperative nursing.
Best,
Patrick Voight
IFPN President 2022-2024
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