Tenth ICN Congress, Petropolis, Brazil

The tenth Congress was held at in Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12-17 July 1953 and was hosted by the Brazilian Graduate Nurses Association. A total of 1,307 nurses from 46 countries attended the Congress. In her welcoming address, Glete de Alcantara, President of the Brazilian Graduate Nurses Association, noted that it was the first ICN Congress to be held in Latin America. Following this, an official address was given by Dr. Jurandir Lodi, representing the Ministry of Education and Health. At the opening ceremony, eight national nurses’ associations were admitted to membership of ICN: the Sri Lankan Nurses Associations (Ceylon at that time), the National Order of Nurses of the Congo, the College of Nurses of Chile, the Nurses Association of Jamaica, the National Association of Nurses of Luxembourg, the Nurses Association of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia today), the Pakistan Nurses Federation and Trinidad & Tobago Registered Nurses Association.

Topics discussed at the Congress sessions were the educational work of ICN, new trends in curricula for schools of nursing, teaching and supervision of auxiliary personnel, new trends in medical treatment and the work of the ICN nursing services committee. Also discussed were acceptable standards of nursing service, with particular reference to Tuberculosis nursing and the relationship between WHO and professional nursing. Gerda Höjer of Sweden retired as ICN President and Marie Madeleine Bihet was elected President for the next quadrennial with the Watchword “Wisdom”. She presented at the final session of the Congress, where she voiced her opinion that the student nurse must convince herself on entry to nursing that she was being prepared for a humanitarian profession and one which had already gained real status. She went on to say that it was important that the student was made aware that professional progress depended largely on the strength of professional association.

The Grand Council met and discussed policy matters. Of interest were the staff issues and better accommodation for ICN, both seen as important for its growth. The Chairman of the Nursing Service Committee reported on the result of a Study of Nursing Needs and Resources, as these related to professional nursing service. She reported that the demand for nurses had increased throughout the world because of improvements in hospital and public health facilities, the building of new hospitals and the care provided at an earlier stage of mental illness. She also reported that nursing must cooperate with the agencies delivering services in order to ensure maximum contribution in the care of the aged and infirm. However, she noted that there was a shortage of young people entering nursing due to the lowered birth rate in the years prior to the Second World War. Of particular interest to nurses also was The International Code of Nursing Ethics that had been unanimously accepted by the Grand Council, prior to the 1953 Congress. The Code was later printed and 500 copies were distributed to schools of nursing worldwide. The Code was later translated into languages of many ICN members. (ICN 1953)

ICN (1953). ICN X Quadrennial Congress, Petropolis, Brazil The International Nursing Bulletin (1953) Vol IX (1):24-5).