19th ICN Congress, Seoul, Korea

The 19th ICN Congress, held in Seoul in May 1989, attracted 7,000 nurses. ICN President

Nelly Garzon from Colombia (1985-1989) along with the Korean National Nurses Association welcomed delegates. Main congress themes centred on preparing nurses for a political future and on bargaining to enhance their situation. Other themes were justice, caring, love and equity. The newly elected ICN President was Dr Mo-Im Kim (read more), who in 1981 had become the first Korean nurse to take a seat in the Korean parliament. Choosing her watchword “Love”, she made the comment that nurses’ daily life was politics.

In her keynote address, Dame Nita Barrow held the view that the 21st century nurses would emerge as policymakers at the highest level rather than policy followers and she advised nurses to create networks and establish partnerships to support this aim. In a similar vein, Baroness Caroline Cox, United Kingdom, speaking at plenary session urged nurses to become more involved in the political process in their countries, thus making the world a more humane place. Ginette Rodger, Canada, advised nurses to become more political by entering public policy debates, with courage and confidence and Kirsten Stallknecht, President of the Danish Nurses Association, said nurses were finally learning to become tough negotiators through having greater awareness of their own self-worth and by starting to speak out on political issues. She also issued a stark comment saying that if nurses did not bargain or negotiate for themselves, their organisation would wither and their influence on health care would weaken.

Of note during the Seoul Congress was the launch of a new ICN publication: ICN – Past and Present written by Dame Sheila Quinn.