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The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) is a catalytic grassroots-to-global movement — and growing worldwide community of friends and colleagues — created to engage the voices of nurses, midwives and concerned citizens in advocacy for global health. In 2018, NIGH was granted 'Special Consultative Status’ with the United Nations Economic & Social Council (UN ECOSOC) for these endeavours. See Our History >>>
With the global health challenges we face as a humanity — including the severe and growing worldwide nursing shortage — we have developed NIGH — to remember Florence Nightingale’s keen relevance to today. NIGH’s cornerstone is the Nightingale Declaration for a Healthy World created to engage and empower nurses and concerned citizens — worldwide. Now in seventeen language versions and modeled after the ‘Preamble’ to the United Nations founding Charter with the words, “We the peoples of the United Nations...” this Declaration is the foundational premise of all of NIGH’s activities. It clarifies and commits to our shared goals and shared purposes — to work together as global citizens advocating for a healthy world. |
Incorporating the work of NIGH's own Dr. Barbara Dossey — and her Grand Theory of Integral Nursing — NIGH has four Integrated 'Advocacy' Mandates:
• Encourage Self-Care • Engage Nurses' Voices • Celebrate Diversity & Common Ground • Promote Global Health & Well-Being |
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Currently collaborating with UNITAR for a worldwide ‘Student Nurses Voices Speaker Series’ — our strategies have included: advocacy campaigns to reach UN Global Goals; online global outreach and multi-media; keynote addresses, workshops and related conference briefings, virtual and onsite discussions and meetings convened in 60 countries.
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From 1999 to 2004, NIGH was developed by our Founders:
Nightingale Scholars: • Dr. Deva-Marie Beck • Dr. Barbara Dossey • Dr. Louise Selanders & Wayne Kines — First Director of Communications United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) & Cyril Ritchie — First Vice President Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) Officially established in 2006, NIGH's growing Teams continue our ongoing grassroots-to-global development — reflecting the voices of nurses, midwives, students, teachers and inter-disciplinary groups of concerned citizens throughout the world. |
Currently collaborating with the United Nations Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR) for a worldwide Student Nurses Voices Speaker Series— our strategies have included: advocacy campaigns to reach UN Global Goals; online global outreach and multi-media; keynote addresses, workshops and related conference briefings, virtual and onsite discussions and meetings convened in 60 countries: plus 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, textbook chapters — and from UN Headquarters in New York and the World Health Organization and other UN organizations in Geneva.
NIGH’s progress has been achieved through worldwide friendships formed by sharing of common goals. NIGH's Core Team & Advisors now include more than 30 volunteer nursing and midwifery leaders, scholars, teachers and citizen activists, as well as experts in global communications strategies . Among these ‘friends’ are those who have worked within the United Nations, its Agencies and related collaborating organizations of civil society. See more history here >>>
NIGH’s progress has been achieved through worldwide friendships formed by sharing of common goals. NIGH's Core Team & Advisors now include more than 30 volunteer nursing and midwifery leaders, scholars, teachers and citizen activists, as well as experts in global communications strategies . Among these ‘friends’ are those who have worked within the United Nations, its Agencies and related collaborating organizations of civil society. See more history here >>>
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First created as ‘NIGH USA’ — a charitable 501 (c )3 Non-Profit Organization (EIN: 201085630) — our worldwide work has been established as ‘NIGH World’ — a Non-Profit Organization (Canada Corporation # 206121-0), based in Canada and Geneva, Switzerland.
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“NIGH’s progress has been achieved through worldwide friendships formed by sharing of common goals.”
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“Our ‘Student Nurses Voices Speaker Series’ has been broadcast across
8 powerful Sessions. This Series features 50 student nurses as empowered story tellers engaged to share their stories of healing, resilience, and health advocacy — as thought-leaders across the global public space.” “NIGH's support derives from private donations, sponsorships, partnerships and with substantial in-kind and pro-bono contributions and volunteering.”
“We are now exploring further support for specific projects from grants and foundations and through upcoming collaborations with schools, universities, multi-media professionals and related stakeholders with similar goals.” |
Current Focus
In the summer of 2023, we launched our newest campaign 'Nurses' Voices—Grassroots to Global' to collaborate with nurses — including students and retirees. This campaign features our virtual Speaker Series in collaboration with 160 leading nurses and student nurses from all six World Health Organization Regions — Nurses’ Voices & Student Nurses' Voices broadcast from 15 powerful virtual Sessions. It highlights nurses and student nurses as empowered storytellers engaged to share their stories of healing, resilience, and health advocacy — as thought-leaders across the global public space and to the listening ears of everyone! This campaign integrates all of NIGH's previous activities and is a direct outcome of our founding credo the Nightingale Declaration in the six official UN languages — and many more versions, including Hebrew, Tagalog/Filipino, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Korean, Armenian and Kiswahili as our first Indigenous version. NIGH's support derives from private donations, sponsorships, partnerships and with substantial in-kind and pro-bono contributions and volunteering. We are now exploring further support for specific projects from grants and foundations and through upcoming collaborations with schools, universities, multi-media professionals and related stakeholders with similar goals. |
Image from NIGH's archives
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One of the earliest inspirations for NIGH centred around the iconic Florence Nightingale Stained-Glass Window sited at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. This is where the first Nightingale Service — commemorating her official designation on the Episcopal Church Calendar — was convened in 2001 with the active participation of NIGH's founders. Explore How & Why NIGH Began here >>> |