Work of ICN’s Committees

Outlining and developing curriculum content remained an active part of the Education Committee work following the publication of the pamphlet Report of the Committee on Education of the International Council of Nurses. Between 1933 and 1939 the Committee received many enquiries about post-graduate or post-basis education and a study was undertaken that identified the construction of curriculum as being the main area of concern. Other areas identified in the study were teaching and administration in schools and hospitals; public health nursing; clinical nursing specialities and technical specialities. In order to broaden its scope, the Committee was enlarged to include representatives from the League of Red Cross Societies and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation and members of other ICN committee as needed. Revised changes were made to the pamphlet The Basic Education of the Professional Nurse in order to make a clearer distinction between basic and post-basic or post-graduate nursing education.

For the ICN Membership Committee, increasing membership remained a priority. Florence Emory, Chairman of the ICN Membership Committee (1933-53), outlined her work at ICN, which comprised at that time of 29 associations in active membership with an additional ten having obtained associate status. During the years of her chairmanship the objectives of the committee remained as outlined in the Constitution and By-laws, namely to make recommendations regarding the eligibility of nursing associations applying for membership.

Three categories of membership were now in place: active, associate and inactive, mainly due to the difficulties nursing organisations had in maintaining membership during the war years. The Committee, in an effort to increase membership during this period, had difficulties in communicating with field staff due to financial and logistical limitations. The professional status of nurses varied by country with some more advanced than others.

Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF)

In 1931, Sir Arthur Stanley, Chairman of the British Red Cross Society, asked Gordon Fenwick to meet to consider closer collaboration between the League of Red Cross Society (LORCS) and ICN. The aim was to determine how LORCS courses being run in Bedford College in London may be adopted as the International Memorial to Florence Nightingale.

The draft scheme for the Foundation was submitted to the ICN Board of Directors in July 1933 and was adopted, subject to the following resolution:-

“That the existing Florence Nightingale Committee of the International Council of Nurses should be asked to make a study of the matters involved, and set up a comprehensive educational programme, which will include research on nursing, for a Memorial and that the study cover the following points: direction, organisation, curricula, finance, etc.”

On the acceptance of this resolution, ICN unanimously consented to the establishment of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF).

In 1933, the National Florence Nightingale Committees were formed through co-operation between the national nurses associations in membership with ICN and the National Red Cross Societies with equal representation of both bodies on all FNIF headquarters and national committees. In 1934, the inauguration of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF) took place on 5 July in London. A telegraph from Queen Mary, signed MARY R. was received.’

‘I am interested to learn that the International Memorial to Florence Nightingale is being inaugurated today, and I am glad to know it is to take an educational form, as this would undoubtedly have commended itself to Nightingale, who had so much at heart the education of nurses, and the training of a great nursing service, not only in this country but throughout the world. I extend a warm welcome to all delegates from foreign lands and from the British Overseas Dominions who have assembled in London for the inauguration of the Memorial. I shall follow the progress of the Florence Nightingale International Foundation with interest, and I send to one and all concerned my cordial good wishes.’

Dame Alicia Lloyd Still, then Matron of St. Thomas’s Hospital and superintendent of the Nightingale Training School, was elected the first President of the National Florence Nightingale Committees.

Killby (1963) Inauguration of Florence Nightingale International Foundation Telegraph from Queen Mary, signed MARY R Read by the Chairman: in (Killby M. (1963) The Story of Florence Nightingale International Foundation. Part 1: Devising an International Memorial. Reprinted from International Nursing Review, November-December 10(6) 28 ICN Archives

Seventh ICN Congress, Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium

The seventh ICN Congress was held jointly in the two cities of Paris and Brussels in July 1933. Alicia Lloyd Still (Great Britain) was elected ICN President at this time, with the Watchword “Loyalty”.

Education and training remained central to delegate discussions, including the definition of the trained nurse. A large amount of work had been undertaken by the Education Committee prior to the Congress on the training of the nurse. Following on from the Montreal Congress in 1929, work continued on the pamphlet Report of the Committee on Education of the International Council of Nurses, which had been approved by the Board during that conference. Committee work between1929-1933 was concerned mainly with curriculum content and organisation. This work was ready for committee review and board approval during the 1933 Congress. The definition of the trained nurse was included in this edition, although statements relating to extra-curricular activities (social and recreational) for student nurses were deleted from the text as it was felt by ICN members that these areas did not fit into the precise definition of curriculum. This new edition titled The Educational Programme of the School of Nursing was agreed and also later endorsed by the League of Red Cross Societies and widely distributed. (ICN 1959)

A number of Resolutions were passed indicating the existing nursing profession situation. These included State Supervision of Nursing. ICN approved the policy of compulsory registration and the need for the medical and nursing professions and governments of this requirement. If this had already taken place, nurses should be state registered and a Ministry of Health established in the country. ICN further approved the principle of inspection of schools of nursing and the working and living conditions of student nurses by qualified graduate, registered nurses.

Resolutions passed pertaining to the Legal Aspects of Professional Conduct included that the nurses’ responsibility in relation to that of the physician be laid down; special courses on the legal aspects of professional nursing should be provided throughout training; reference material should be published; and special jurisprudence would determine the legal responsibility of the nurses. Resolutions passed in relation to supply and demand included that ICN inform its national member associations that too many students were being trained relative to the number of positions available in some countries, and that ICN would undertake a study on the question of supply and demand; that Aptitude Tests for entry to the profession, such tests now in its infancy, should be studied; and that all fee-paying employment agencies for nurses should be conducted by professional organisations and not by commercial agencies. Concerning the increased interest by the public in nursing, resolutions recognised the importance of publicity in regard to nursing and nursing education. Further resolutions recommended that mental health and hygiene principles should be incorporated into curricula. (ICN 1933)

ICN (1959). The Educational Programme of the School of Nursing. International; Nursing Review 14-16

ICN (1933) Resolution on Mental Health and Hygiene Principles Incorporated into Curricula. ICN 11 Quadrennial Congress, Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium The International Nursing Review Vol VIII (1-4):127-130).

Fourth ICN Congress, Cologne, Germany

The fourth ICN Congress was held in Cologne in 1912. Annie Warburton Goodrich (USA) (read more) was elected ICN President, a position she held until 1915. Goodrich spoke of the need for membership acceptance by institutions of learning and the need for them to open their doors to ICN members. This proposal was approved by Council. This decision proved to be momentous for nursing education and clinical practice through a Foundation that was subsequently formed to support scholarship.

‘Aspiration’ was selected as the Watchword for the new President, because according to Gordon Fenwick:-

“Aspiration expresses a desire to seek eagerly after that which is above us. That was the inspiration of the Council Idea, and that is its goal.” (Boschma & Stuart 1999)

Fatigue was a cause for concern that was raised at the Congress. Delegates were focused on the health and welfare of nurses’ and on the nature and effect of fatigue on workers and particularly in recognising its effects on nurses and nursing care. Member associations requested that hospital authorities should give the same consideration to the problem of overwork among nurses that industrial leaders were giving to the question of overwork among workers in industry so that the present grievous destruction of the health of nurses may cease. The Congress also requested that ICN should use its influence to stimulate enquiries into the social conditions of nurses in its affiliated countries. This area was to become a topic of discussion and concern for ICN members and their associations during the next decades.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Indian Nurses Association joined ICN in 1912.

Boschma G. and Stuart M. (1999) ICN during wartime:1912-1947. International Nursing Review, 46(2)41

Powell Kennedy H & Spoonster Schwartz L (2018). A Salute to Dean Annie W. Goodrich on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Yale School of Nursing. https://nursing.yale.edu/news/salute-dean-annie-w-goodrich-100th-anniversary-end-world-war-i