Let Us Go Forward Together in IFNA As We Support Families: A Call To Action
Dear family nursing and midwifery colleagues:
I feel humbled and honored to assume the role of President of the International Family Nursing Association (2021 – 2023). I am delighted that despite the extraordinary challenges posed by the current global pandemic, so many of us were able to connect virtually at IFNC15, our first-ever virtual conference. I am very grateful to Dr. June Horowitz for her experienced guidance and mentorship as we co-chaired IFNC15 and to the enthusiastic and hardworking members of the Conference Planning Committee (CPC) during this unprecedented period of worry and uncertainty for families and nurses across the world. Amid rapidly changing circumstances, the CPC worked tirelessly to explore and discuss each new challenge and provide a stimulating and enjoyable conference; throughout this time, IFNA members demonstrated what a truly flexible and adaptable group of people family nurses are.
I am deeply grateful to my predecessor, Dr. Sonja Meiers, for her outstanding leadership of IFNA during her presidency and to the members of the IFNA Board of Directors 2019-2021. I am inspired by their commitment to IFNA, collegiate discussions, and achievements for family nursing; the growth of IFNA has been propelled collectively by these individuals and by our past presidents, treasurers, secretaries, and Board members. I look forward to continuing this important work towards fulfilling the mission of IFNA.
As we advance in this endeavor, I am joined by my esteemed colleagues on the Executive Committee: Dr. June Horowitz (President-Elect), Dr. Sonja Meiers (Past President), Dr. Sandra Eggenberger (Secretary), Dr. Veronica Lambert (Treasurer), the 2021-2023 Board of Directors https://internationalfamilynursing.org/association-information/leadership/board-of-directors/ and our dedicated and hugely supportive colleagues Debbie Zaparoni and Beth Kassalen from Kassalen Meetings and Events (KME); together we represent and support family nursing and midwifery in several major regions of the world (Australia, Ireland, Japan, North America, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom). With their continued support and that of the IFNA standing committees, I am confident that we will be steadfast in addressing the challenges for family nursing worldwide and that in the next two years, our contributions and impacts will be many.
I am thrilled to be given this wonderful opportunity and will proudly continue the leadership of IFNA in its position as a unique global authority on family nursing. Because of escalating challenges for families living with healthcare support needs and for family nurses who daily provide compassionate and professional family support, I see a true need to accelerate the pace of the amazing work of IFNA so far. Yet, global efforts to promote and support families and family nursing are still fragmented. To address these challenges, it is important to have an action plan. Under the leadership of our past President, Dr. Meiers, IFNA took steps in this direction, and my vision includes that we will respond proactively to members’ contributions to the 2020-2025 IFNA Strategic Plan.
During the next two years, IFNA, through our most precious resource, you, the IFNA members, will continue to address the strategy with the active collaboration of the Board of Directors. I invite you to join me as we all work together to promote family nursing education, practice, research, policy, and advocacy, reaching out to other relevant international associations/organizations as appropriate. In our mission and our association’s title, I see three key elements that will drive our work:
INTERNATIONAL: by further strengthening our international collaborations and enhancing membership diversity, reach and impact in practice settings, under-represented countries, student populations, and other health professions (as you do not have to be a nurse to join IFNA), we will embrace the needs of the 38 countries represented by our current membership and will constantly and actively encourage and welcome new members. We will work hard together to ensure IFNA’s financial sustainability, and I thank the Resource Advancement Committee (RAC) and the IFN Foundation (IFNF) for helping us understand the importance of fundraising and, where possible, of members donating to ensure we sustain IFNA now and for the future. We will also increase the visibility and global impact of IFNA, for example, by welcoming more Chapters. In IFNA, we celebrate diversity because whatever our cultural differences, we show respect for each other through our written and spoken communication. Although the language of IFNA is English, I am in awe of our members who have English as a second language yet who ably communicate their passion for family nursing at IFNA meetings and conferences.
FAMILY: Of course, we are only ever the custodians of IFNA on behalf of families in healthcare worldwide; as we move forward as an international association, we will be supplemented with new members and new generations of family nurses so that family nursing across the globe will continually expand and flourish. My hopes for the next two years include that our response to members’ contributions to the strategy will encourage more family members who are not nurses to join IFNA. As family advocates, we believe each family is unique, and I know from my many conversations with IFNA members that one of the most appealing aspects of IFNA is the universal commitment to families’ wellbeing and a shared ethos as family nurses.
NURSING: We are a unique group of family nurses and midwives worldwide, and I am privileged to be the first IFNA President from outside of North America. But I am very aware that we are building on the strong foundations laid down by our founding members from North America who shared a vision for promoting international family nursing and have worked incredibly hard to promote that vision, so thank you very much to those inspirational pioneers without whom we would not have the IFNA that we all value so much. IFNA will intensify efforts to encourage dialogue about family nursing and create and disseminate new knowledge and interventions to promote the well being of families in global healthcare, including through its committees, the IFNA website. The Journal of Family Nursing (SAGE Publishing), is devoted exclusively to family nursing and features the best in family nursing scholarship from a variety of perspectives which, under the visionary and inspirational leadership of Dr. Janice Bell, now has an impressive 2020 Impact Factor of 3.818, ranking the journal in the top quartile of nursing and family studies journals.
A CALL TO ACTION:
There is still a global knowledge gap around family nursing practice, education, research, and policy that needs to be bridged. Yet, knowledge is the core of family support and the essence of what we represent in IFNA. As family nurses, we are well-positioned to further address this need through our ongoing work in IFNA and with our family-focused partners in the ways that we know work best both globally and in our respective countries and regions. In line with our 2020-2025, IFNA strategy goals let us, therefore, go forward together with IFNA and (1) increase the visibility and impact of IFNA and family nursing, (2) ensure IFNA sustainability (3) increase membership diversity, reach, and impact (4) sustain members’ connections and encourage increased engagement with IFNA and, (5) work towards ensuring that IFNA embraces a compassionate family focus on health, social justice, human dignity, and respect for all.
Dear IFNA members, let us reflect on our shared responsibilities to families within international healthcare, and together let us fulfill this vision.
Yours sincerely,
Veronica Swallow, RGN, RSCN, PhD, MMedSci, BSc (Hons)
President, International Family Nursing Association
Professor, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
