Nursing Now Ireland
The Nursing Now campaign is a social movement to raise the profile and recognition of the contribution of nurses and midwives to healthcare, gender equality, wider society and improved economies. Nursing Now is campaigning for greater investment in nursing, more nurses in leadership positions, and increasing nurses’ input and impact on healthcare. The campaign is providing tangible evidence for policy makers that demonstrates how nurses and midwives are fundamental to improving health and making a crucial contribution to realising universal health coverage.
The Global Nursing Now campaign was launched by the Burdett Trust in 2017 based on the findings of the Triple Impact of Nursing Report (improve health, empower women, strengthen local economies). Nursing Now is supported by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the World Health Organisation.
Nursing Now will run until 2020 – the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. 2020 will be an important year for nursing and midwifery as it has been designated by the World Health Organisation as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
Nursing Now Ireland was launched on April 25th 2019 at an event hosted by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) at the Richmond Education and Event Centre in Dublin. Nurse leaders and other high-level stakeholders from the world of public health gathered to present Nursing Now Ireland and discuss the importance of nursing.
Dame Christine Beasley, member of the global Nursing Now Campaign Board, welcomed Ireland to the Nursing Now movement, and presented an overview of the goals of the Nursing Now campaign. Other speakers called for national and global recognition of nurses’ contribution to healthcare and gender equality.
INMO President and nurse Martina Harkin-Kelly
“Patients and health staff can tell you – nurses are consistently undervalued. Nursing Now aims to change that, demonstrating the incredible work that nurses do worldwide.”
leading nursing now ireland
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) as the ICN National Nursing Association are leading the Nursing Now campaign in Ireland in partnership with the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer. The Nursing Now Ireland campaign is directed by a national steering committee made up of key nursing stakeholders, that include;
Elizabeth Adams, President, European Federation of Nurses Associations and member of the Nursing Now board
Georgina Bassett, Honorary President, Irish Association of Directors of Nursing & Midwifery
Carmel Buckley, Area Director, Nursing & Midwifery Planning & Development Unit, HSE South (Cork/Kerry)
Martina Harkin-Kelly, INMO President
Josephine Hegarty, Professor and Head of Nursing & Midwifery School, University College Cork
Dawn Johnston, Director of Midwifery, Nursing & Midwifery Board Ireland
Sara Kennedy, Head of Department of Nursing & Health Care, Waterford Institute of Technology
Annette Kennedy, President, International Council of Nurses
Tanya King, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health
Daniela Lehwaldt, Assistant Professor and International Convenor, Dublin City University
Edward Mathews, INMO Director of Professional & Regulatory Services
Steve Pitman, INMO Head of Education & Professional Development
Aisling Culhane, Research & Development Advisor, Psychiatric Nurses’ Association
our patron
The patron for Nursing Now Ireland is Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, a visionary and social innovator who has been a tireless campaigner for the poor the homeless.
