50th Anniversary Conference of ICN, Stockholm, Sweden

ICN’s 50th Anniversary Conference took place in Sweden in 1949. ICN and the Swedish Nurses’ Association welcomed 3,500 nurses from 35 countries. All nurses attending had to produce evidence of ICN membership through their national nurses associations.

This conference offered ICN members the opportunity to enlarge their professional interests, strengthen international relationships, and broaden the concept of what nursing means. General Sessions included the place of nursing in any future scheme of medical care, nursing education-methods of clinical Instruction and the history of nursing in the Nordic Countries. During the conference delegates visited schools and hospitals, a Tuberculosis Centre, Child Welfare Centres and a modern experimental Home for children with specific problems.

The Grand Council Meetings took place prior to the conference. Gerda Höjer, President of ICN, and Daisy C. Bridges, ICN Executive Secretary greeted delegates. Bridges had been appointed in 1948 and had taken up duties at ICN headquarters, which were back in London once again. The President voiced her opinion that:

“It was a sign of good omen that after only two years they could meet again to consider new developments.”

She also mentioned that the active membership of ICN had increased from 22 to 30 national nurses associations following the re-instatement of the German Nurses Association the Austrian Health and Nursing Association and the Japanese Nursing Association, and the admission of the Italian Subsidiary of Nurses Association, the Korean Nurses Association, the National Association of Southern Rhodesia, the National Association of Registered Nurses of Haiti and the Turkish Nurses Association. Opportunities for nurse education, scholarship, travel and migration of nurses were amongst the issues discussed by the Grand Council. (ICN 1949)

ICN (1949) Grand Council Meeting Congress of the International Council of Nurses, Stockholm, ICN’s Fiftieth Anniversary Conference, Stockholm, Sweden The International Nursing Bulletin (1949) Vol V (2) Summer Issue: 5-7.