Connecting Through Knowledge for Global Health

Dear colleagues, cher amis, amigos y amigas:

How humbled I am to stand before you as the 28th President of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International! Thank you for the privilege of serving you for the next two years. À ceux et celles qui parlent Français, je vous remercie de me donner cette occasion de servir en tant que présidente. Muchas gracias por la oportunidad de servir! 

I stand on the shoulders of the giants who have preceded me. They have been, and continue to be, an inspiration to me. During the past two years, I have had the opportunity to gain a better understanding of my responsibilities as I assume the presidency. I have had wonderful tutelage by Carol Huston, who has shared her insights without reservation, and had thoughtful dialogue with board members as well as many of you. To Carol, and to you, the members, I extend my most sincere thanks.

No president issues a call to action in isolation. As Past President Pesut said in his address, “The call builds and maintains momentum of the organization’s priorities and advances the development of the society.” Consequently, my call builds on the work of the past biennium as we move towards achieving Vision 2020**. To do otherwise would be a travesty!  Moreover, my call incorporates work undertaken during the 2007-2009 biennium, reflects thoughts generated during my interactions with you, and builds on my personal strengths. 

There are four areas that I am addressing for the upcoming biennium:

• Creating Welcoming Environments
• Enhancing Knowledge Resources and Networks
• Contributing to Global Health
• Creating a Legacy of Personal Leadership 

Creating Welcoming Environments
What do I mean by a welcoming environment? Welcoming environments are those in which individuals feel comfortable, respected and valued, and in which they perceive they play an important role in the organization’s viability. Welcoming environments mean that new members are welcomed, in fact: invited to attend chapter, regional or international activities. Welcoming environments mean that seasoned STTI members are offered opportunities to grow along with new members. Welcoming environments mean that seasoned STTI members, whether they are faculty, clinicians, researchers or administrators, embrace new members and members new to the chapter, as peers when they attend chapter functions. In the words of a new member, “It is so intimidating when your former faculty are present. You really hesitate to talk with them.”  Yet, these students and new members are the very individuals we want to be in the organization.

How, you ask, might you meet this challenge?  Runion (2005) offers some very pragmatic solutions: 

• Enlist a cadre of committed chapter members to serve as a “Welcome Committee” at chapter events.
• Be creative. She suggests names such as “Participant Partner,” “Connection Catalyst,” and the “Merry Merger.” 
• Have fun, but be clear that these individuals play a critical role in creating the welcoming environment that invites people to return. 
• Use opening phrases to make the member’s experience memorable, and one that fosters continuing involvement. Something as simple as “Thanks so much for coming” can go a long way.

Other ways in which members can create a welcoming environment include:

• Reaching outside your comfort zone by meeting five new people who are not in your generation
• Introducing students to STTI and the chapter prior to induction or as soon as they enter the nursing program. (Use the Resource Guide as a tool to orient them to the organization.)
• Plan chapter programs and activities that would appeal to members with diverse backgrounds, experiences and specialties.
• Extending welcome greetings in the most common/frequent languages of meeting and conference attendees.

The theme, Creating a Welcoming Environment, is particularly relevant as we work toward the Vision 2020 goal of becoming a truly global organization. Those of us with long history with the organization can use this knowledge to create a culture that embraces those with less organizational history and/or different cultural perspectives.  Doing so moves us towards being a truly global organization. For, as Barkan (2008) states, globalization “is characterized by the interdependence of commerce, science, knowledge, people and governments around the world” (p. 3). It is clear that being global is more and different than being international. The term “international” implies boundaries while the term “global” implies fluidity. Thus, the term global is much more inclusive than is the term international. Furthermore, Barkan indicates that it “is an established feature of our modern world” (2008,. 3).  

 According to Barkan (2008), an organization that is truly global has the following characteristics: “not easily defined as having a home base [other than a historical one]. No one country or region constitutes more than 50% of the total membership.  Typical structures are multi-chapter, regions, or a federation” (p. 35).  Moreover, Barkan states that representatives from many countries sit on the board, and are “elected based on regional as well as professional profiles” (p. 35). The almost exclusive focus of decision-making is on international/global issues.  To continue our forward movement, this past summer a Global Regions Task Force was appointed to explore options for a new STTI world structure that assures global representation at all levels of the organization. This task force had members from around the world. An additional task force will be charged with examining the most appropriate language or languages in which to conduct the organization’s business.

Guiding Principles have been established to assist us as we move to being truly global.  Organizational guiding principles identified by the 2007-2009 STTI Board World Regions Task Force and endorsed by the 2007-2009 Board of Directors at the June 2009 meeting are: 

• Promoting nursing excellence demonstrated through exemplary achievement
• Supporting nursing scholarship and creative work to inform and advance global health
• Committing to nursing knowledge generation, dissemination and translation globally and in electronic format, as appropriate
• Promoting advocacy for the health and care of the world’s people
• Implementing leadership development of nurses in a manner that is replicable across regions and countries
• Promoting service by nurses for purposes of improving global health
• Facilitating connectedness within the global community of nursing

Current global efforts are based on these principles and they will continue to guide the global policies and activities of the organization.

Enhancing Knowledge Resources and Networks
STTI will continue providing evidence-based nursing knowledge solutions through global and inter-professional collaboration. Certainly, promoting access to the Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library is one tangible way the organization contributes to knowledge sharing. This electronic knowledge repository links nurses and other health care professionals to one another to learn, share and develop the professional’s contribution to global health. We also need to establish new partnerships to support STTI as the premier knowledge repository in professional nursing as we examine models and methodologies of knowledge use and distribution.

Our research congresses and biennial conventions will continue providing nurses the opportunity to present and learn about cutting-edge research, evidence-based practice projects and leadership initiatives. These events give internationally known investigators and participants the opportunity to promote the exchange of knowledge and the translation of evidence into practice. Our colleagues in all areas of the globe are asking for opportunities to interact with outstanding researchers. STTI will continue playing a role in ensuring this will happen. Other knowledge resources available to members include: 

• The International Academic Nursing Alliance: This free global electronic community connects nurse educators and clinicians in order to advance scholarship, collaboration, exchanges, support and dissemination of nursing knowledge.
• Online Communities of Practice: These communities bring like-minded members together to interact and share knowledge.
• Social and Professional Networking: Online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have created new ways to communicate, collaborate, and associate with one another.  
• Leadership Summits: These events offer chapter leaders and all members opportunities to address and effectively meet current leadership challenges. Events in 2010 are being planned for Honolulu, Hawaii; Atlanta, Ga; Arlington, Texas, Indianapolis, Ind. and Europe.
• Scholarly publications such as the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing and Reflections on Nursing Leadership inspire nurses to strive for excellence through research, reviews and reporting.
• Visitors can find resources that help nurses help others at Nursing Knowledge International (NKI). For example, outstanding continuing nursing education courses are available, as well as books that cover many topics, including leadership, evidence-based health care design, retirement and etiquette.

We will continue identifying ways to provide members access to information, including technology that will enhance interaction between STTI authors and members. For example, the creation of a best-practices portal, such as the non-peer reviewed section of the Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library, would promote the rapid exchange of knowledge while contributing to the scholarly dialogue of the discipline. 

Lastly, no discussion of knowledge resources and networks would be complete without reaffirming our commitment to the development of knowledge and its use in practice. Our record in both these areas is outstanding. STTI was ahead of its time when it awarded its first research grant in 1936, and later in providing evidence-based practice resources. While organizational efforts in fostering the use of evidence in practice are extensive and recognized by our colleagues around the world, STTI will continue fostering the development of researchers whose work contributes to the discipline’s body of evidence and to enhancing the clinician’s ability to use evidence in practice.  Given the global need to have researchers who can address 21st-century knowledge questions, and in response to member requests for assistance developing research scholars, we will explore the possibility of developing a Scholarship Institute patterned after the International Leadership Institute to focus on knowledge development, implementation and dissemination, with special emphasis on a mentorship program for international, inter-professional collaboration.  

Equally important is putting our knowledge discussions in a global context, even when the knowledge generated is country-specific. We can facilitate a global perspective among members by placing greater emphasis on relating the relevance of globally focused evidence to improve world health.

Contributing to Global Health
Our new and/or younger members challenge the leadership to demonstrate how the organization contributes to the health of the world’s people in tangible ways. Before elaborating on how STTI can meet this challenge, understanding what connotes global health is critical. Starfield (2007) defines global health as comprising “health problems, issues and concerns that transcend national boundaries; may be influenced by encounters or experiences in other countries; and are best addressed by cooperative efforts and solutions” (p. 511). As STTI members reside in more than 86 countries, global health perspectives, as well as an understanding of globalization, are critical to the organization’s authenticity.

As a leader in professional nursing, STTI will play a significant role in addressing global health issues. One strategy is establishing partnerships and collaborations with organizations with similar missions. Our partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) in developing the Global Standards for the Initial Education of Professional Nurses and Midwives, participating in WHO Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery, and our collaborative undertakings with the International Council of Nurses and the Canadian Nurses Association have set the stage for additional partnerships. Our active participation in planning the 2010 International Year of the Nurse with the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) and the Florence Nightingale Museum – London reflects our commitment to partnering with others to address global health issues. Certainly, obtaining associative status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations would provide additional opportunities for collaboration and tangible contributions to global health issues.

However, additional strategies need to be identified at the chapter and regional level in order to demonstrate the organization’s tangible contributions to health in local and global communities. For example, chapters and members can demonstrate global awareness by providing continuing education about cultural practices around the world. Chapters can employ the case scenarios developed during the 2007-2009 biennium, which are available on the STTI Web site, to facilitate a discussion about the importance of a global perspective, irrespective of geographic location.

Members in numerous chapters have undertaken service activities, many of which address health needs of vulnerable populations in their country or in other countries. Given our members’ challenge to demonstrate our contribution in tangible ways, STTI needs to collate information from members and chapters so that we have documentation of the local and global impact of our member and chapter efforts to address health needs of communities. We will undertake a more comprehensive and unified approach to service by creating an International Service Institute that can house a database of all Chapter service activities, along with additional service resources such as references, Web sites and speakers. Members will then be able to access the database to see what individual chapters are doing, to explore partnership with other chapters, or to identify gaps in service that they may wish to address. 

Building on this discussion, I have asked headquarters staff to explore the creation of an STTI-driven service opportunity. I envision one focus of the service opportunity as the provision of health care, perhaps in partnership with an existing organization such as Doctors Without Borders, an organization whose mission is to help people threatened by catastrophe, violence or neglect, or OmniMed, an organization whose mission addresses global service, or with a specific educational organization. While many service opportunities may address local health needs, service opportunities could also include helping to establish a school of nursing, or providing assistance to members attempting to start a chapter. While these two latter opportunities will have an indirect impact on health, their undertaking is equally important, as evidence indicates that better educated health care providers influence health outcomes.

Members may develop neighborhood teams to address specific local or global health issues.  For example, a chapter might create a “Neighborhood Team” to assist with cleaning a local community waterway. Or neighborhood teams could be created to address more global health issues.

To optimize organizational and member talents, collaboration with organizations having a global presence must be pursued, and are critical to increasing STTI’s impact on global nursing and health issues. Identifying priority global health issues to which STTI can contribute will provide direction in terms of the partnerships that are forged. To assist with this opportunity, and using information obtained by the Global Advisory Council during the 2007-2009 biennium, I will appoint a task force to identify the most critical global health issues so that we can foster the investigation of solutions. Such efforts will direct the development of service opportunities, and the creation of organizational policy. 

Creating a Legacy of Personal Leadership
Current global population health care needs require increased competency in leadership abilities (Weston, Falter, Lamb, Mahon, Malloch, Provan, et al., 2008). Nurses, including members of STTI, recognize that leadership abilities are key to contributing constructively to decision-making at all levels of their respective organizations and at the global level. Current organizational efforts call for leadership programs to prepare members for leadership positions at all levels, including the global arena. For example, a member who is an academician may wish to develop leadership abilities to influence educational efforts for nurses at the national level while another member may wish to develop leadership abilities on order to assume a leadership role at the WHO, United Nations. or other international organization. STTI, as part of Vision 2020, will create opportunities, venues and innovative methods for leadership development throughout a member’s career.

However, none of this can happen unless we, as individual members, embrace the opportunities to create a legacy of personal leadership, defined as a willingness to make a difference starting with ourselves (Thomas, 2002).  Ask yourself “What difference do I want to make, starting today?” Consider the numerous volunteer opportunities that exist at the chapter, regional and international level. For example, you may decide that you wish to make a difference by serving as a chapter newsletter editor, or as an organizer of a neighborhood team, or as the chairperson of a committee or as the president of the organization. Maybe you will serve as a mentor in a chapter mentoring program. Perhaps you wish to be remembered for the service opportunity you or your chapter developed. Or, you may choose to make a difference by making an annual and legacy donation to the Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing to advance nursing scholarship and leadership into perpetuity. Key to this discussion is your decision to consider the question, irrespective of where you are in your career. You can make a difference, and leave a legacy, starting today!

To help you, we have refined the International Leadership Institute so that each level is relevant for your personal journey. The new conceptualization of the programs within the institute will facilitate realizing your leadership potential—whether you are just starting your career or nearing the pinnacle; or focused on your local community or reaching out globally.

Additionally, the Foundation is launching a new every member giving campaign in this biennium to allow you to start your nurse philanthropist journey regardless of where you are in your career. (Do you realize that if every member in the United States alone donated $60 annually to the Foundation that more than $5 million would be raised. We would not have to decline requests for support from our members for research grants or leadership education grants. The Foundation could support more of STTI’s global initiatives to help nurses support the health of the world’s people if we all were nurse philanthropists. That is leadership.) 

Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that the path laid out in Vision 2020 is alive and well in my call. Each of us has a responsibility to facilitate the achievement of Vision 2020. My dream is that we continue to create an environment that excites current members and entices others to join. In so doing, we can enhance our knowledge resources, contribute to global health, and create a legacy of personal leadership.  I look forward to walking with you along the path during the next two years as we work to realize my dream for STTI  and Vision 2020! 

 

Karen H. Morin, RN, DSN, ANEF
2009-2011 President
Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International

References
Barkan, T. A. (2008). Strategic review of association development: International trends, issues and options. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www.agshq.com/files/public/International
StrategicReviewReportUpdatedMarch2008.pdf

Runion, M. (2005).  How to create a welcoming environment at association gatherings. ConventionSouth, (January).

Starfield, B. (2007). Global health, equity, and primary care. JABFM, 20, 511-513.

Thomas, G. (2002). Just what is personal leadership. weLEAD Online Magazine

Weston, M.J., Falter, B., Lamb, G.S., Mahon, G., Malloch, K., Provan, K.G. et al. (2008).  Health care leadership academy: A statewide collaboration to enhance nursing leadership competencies.  The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39, 468-472. 

Karen H. Morin 
RN, DSN, ANEF

Call to Action
View the Call to Action brochure

Creating Welcoming Environments

Enhancing Knowledge Resources and Networks

Contributing to Global Health

Creating a Legacy of Personal Leadership

Read and comment on letters from Karen in monthly issues of STTI Connect!

**Vision 2020 English

Vision 2020 Spanish

Vision 2020 French

Vision 2020 German

The above documents have been machine translated and may have nuances that do not exactly match the original intent.

** Opens a PDF document