Inspired and motivated by the need to include the voice of nurses and midwives in the human resources for health (HRH) debate, a joint event was co-sponsored the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Jhpiego on March 5, 2014: Nursing Leadership: An Rx for the Global Human Resources for Health (HRH) Crisis.
Members from our team returned from a conference in Recife, Brazil in November 2013 ready to create the solutions to address the need to provide a competent, credentialed and credible workforce to address the pressing issues in global health.
The Hopkins Nursing-Jhpiego event sought to augment the changes needed to increase the presence and voice of nurses as leaders and decision-makers.
Judging by the buzz and enthusiasm that was obvious the day of the event this first was a positive one.
The day started off with inspiring keynotes and welcoming remarks from Patricia Davidson, Dean, of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing , and Leslie Mancuso, CEO of Jhpiego, a nonprofit affiliate of Hopkins that works to improve healthcare and lives in over 155 countries.
Both are amazing leaders in their own right. Dr. Davidson reminded us that nurses and midwives are poised to tackle the complex problems facing the world- not just because of our skills but as a result of the philosophical underpinnings of our profession.
Dr. Mancuso asserted that, “I am a nurse first and a CEO second,” urging us to continue to be innovators and reminded us of the fact that nurses make up 87 percent of the healthcare workforce: #87% STRONG!
Her inspirational address confirmed that nursing takes place in many places from the bedside and the community to the boardroom.
I was struck during the lunchtime keynote when Debora Bossemeyer—Jhpiego’s Mozambique country director–told us that she originally considered medicine as a career, but was encouraged by her father (a physician) to look at nursing first.
She chose nursing over medicine, like me and like many of my peers, because it was a better fit for how we wanted to work with patients and driven by the philosophical underpinnings of our profession that views the individual as a whole and part of a sociocultural context.
I personally chose nursing because I wanted to work globally and I knew there were more nurses than doctors overseas and I had a greater chance of making a real difference.
Hopkins faculty member Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, remarked during the event that we have many doctorally prepared nurses who are expert researchers and practitioners: We are equals on the academic playing field. We have the data; we know nursing makes the difference in healthcare and are placed to address the HRH challenge.
We need to be communicating these achievements in more effective ways. But make no mistake, nursing and midwifery is making its mark in all aspects of innovation, discovery and implementation science.
Throughout the day gender came up in discussion, underscoring the importance of this perspective in our profession and clinical work. The discussion ran the gamut: the role of gender in societies, in healthcare, and in nursing.
Peter Johnson, PhD, RN, Jhpiego’s director of global learning and a certified nurse-midwife, remarked, “We need to stop apologizing for the gender in nursing and midwifery.” Amen. Why does gender even need to be an issue in nursing? Why can’t we accept that it is OK for a profession to be dominated by women? Does that need to change? I don’t think so. Of course we want men as a part of nursing, but we should be proud to be a female-dominated profession.
Phyllis Sharps, PhD, RN, our associate dean for community and global programs, discussed the global perspective we all need when discussing the HRH issue and nursing. We also need to push for baccalaureate programs to be the minimum entry level for nursing, competency based education and global nursing education standards, and to see our education as a lifelong investment and blended in our professional journey. Given all the changes in the last 10 years with technology and mHealth, we need to keep ourselves up to date not only on evidence-based practice but technological advances as well.
On March 5th nurses and midwives led by example and it was truly inspirational. All of our panels were multidisciplinary. We had participants from all over the university and globe including Mozambique, Kenya, Lesotho, and Zambia. We brought together 75 people, students, leaders, faculty, practitioners, and researchers to discuss pressing issues and we got impressive input. I felt enthused, motivated and that there was a way forward to address the challenges of global health
We at Hopkins are committed to have nursing leaders at every health care table and to ensure individuals and communities have a voice. Nurses and midwives are critical in global health and leadership and advocacy are essential.
Nurses and midwives are ready- I look forward to being part of this exciting journey.
Rachel Breman, MSN, MPH, RN, is nurse educator and GANM moderater for the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.