NZNO adapts theme for International Nurses Day.

NZNO has adapted the theme for International Nurses Day (IND) this year to Nurses for Patient Safety: Making the Links. The International Council of Nurses' theme for IND is Nurses for Patient Safety: Targeting Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines.

NZNO's professional services manager Joy Bickley Asher said the theme was adapted because the ICN theme was not seen as a major problem in New Zealand. "While we acknowledge it is a very real issue overseas and support ICN's efforts to stamp out the use of counterfeit and substandard medicines, we wanted to be able to celebrate the very real achievements of New Zealand nurses in promoting patient safety. Patient safety has been the overarching theme of INDs over the last five years and NZNO wants to celebrate the links between patient safety and the national public sector pay, the Fair Share for Aged Care Campaign and other NZNO work to improve patient safety," Bickley Asher said.

Quadrennial congress

The 23rd quadrennial ICN Congress will be held in Taiwan in late May. At present NZNO's delegation is chief executive Geoff Annals, president Jane O'Malley, Te Runanga O Aotearoa NZNO chair Anne McNicol and Bickley Asher.

The congress theme is Nursing on the Move: Knowledge, Innovation and Vitality. Bickley Asher said the congress was an ideal opportunity to showcase to the rest of the world New Zealand nursing innovations, including the pay equity settlement.

Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand would like the names and abstracts of all nurses giving presentations at the congress. Please forward your name and abstract to: [e-mail].