Ten years ago, several nurses, passionate about home health nursing as a specialty area, discussed the need for an organization to advance home health nursing practice, education and research. This initiative was spearheaded by Tina Marrelli, the former editor of this journal. The International Home Care Nurses Organization (IHCNO) was born. We are committed to developing and supporting a vibrant worldwide network of home healthcare nurses who promote excellent practice, so that patients living in their homes can achieve optimal health and well-being. We are an all-volunteer organization and currently there are no membership fees.
Our ongoing priority is to provide opportunities for home healthcare nurses to network with one another about practice, education, and research. In 2016-2017, we gathered a panel of nurses from different countries to develop the International Guidelines for Home Health Nursing (Narayan et al., 2017), using the American Nurses Association's (2014)Home Health Nursing, Scope and Standards of Practice as a model. We have also held conferences in Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2015); Singapore (2016); and Chicago, Illinois, USA (2017).
In 2017, along with LaSalle University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), we presented a webinar about the International Guidelines; and in 2018, we cohosted with Fairfield University's Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies (Fairfield, Connecticut) a webinar entitled, Global Issues in Medication Management: Implications for Home Health Nurses (https://ihcno.org/resources-page). A modified version of this webinar was included in the Visiting Nurse Associations of America/ElevatingHOME's webinar series in March 2019. Last summer, we participated in the International Council of Nurses' Congress held in Singapore, where we collaborated with the Tsao Foundation to host a reception for home healthcare nurses, providing information about our mission and initiatives.
Our activities and opportunities are featured on our website-http://www.ihcno.org:
* The About page highlights the IHCNO's vision, history, Board Members, and Advisory Council.
* The Resources page has sections related to our recent medication webinar (with additional resources and guidelines for medications safety); the International Guidelines for Home Health Nursing (which can be downloaded at no charge); information about articles and initiatives related to home health nursing; and tools for clinicians.
* The Research page describes our research goals and our new research grant opportunities.
* Use the Join page to sign up for our e-mail list, making you a member of our global network of home healthcare nurses (no charge).
* The Support page highlights our committees-Communication, Education, Fund-raising, Outreach, and Research-with a form to tell us which committees interest you.
* Use the Contact page to communicate your ideas or concerns.
We need volunteers to grow our organization and to promote the professionalism of home health nursing. For instance, the Outreach Committee needs help managing our database and outreach to members; the Education Committee needs help identifying resources; and the Communications Committee needs help starting a listserv or chat room, so we can share our knowledge and ideas.
REFERENCES