Rapid advances in science and technology and the dynamic growth in international trade have connected global communities. For centuries, nurses worldwide have been leaders and facilitators sharing knowledge, wisdom, resources, and action. This experience has not been fully cultivated and leaves us with unfulfilled potential for strengthening global health.
The Infusion Nurses Society is today’s recognized leader of infusion therapy in the western hemisphere and the developed world. Building on the reputation and experience of nursing globally, to further influence infusion excellence we need to be proactive and deliberate. It will take intentional bridge building and alliance cultivation to achieve global, standardized infusion services producing superior patient outcomes. Consequently, I’ve chosen “Bridges to a Global Alliance” as my presidential theme.
When we intentionally build bridges to people or cultures foreign to our own, including a bridge between urban and rural America, we create a means for nurses to meet and to share knowledge and experiences, generating synergy. We craft a solution. Building a bridge is a way to find common ground, and it becomes the conduit to inclusivity, a core value of INS.
Two years ago, INS launched a program to strengthen our relationship with international colleagues. Designed to grow the specialty of infusion nursing around the world, this initiative will be driven by clearly identified needs in areas of the world where we have the opportunity to make an impact and the capability to provide the necessary knowledge and logistical support to succeed. Our targets will be regions of the world where infusion programs exist in their infancy, where there is peaking interest, and where resources can be used, culturally adopted and adapted, and where common interests between INS and our International Affiliates intersect.
I know, and have experienced personally, that characteristics of effective intercultural exchange are relational and interactive. The Harvard Business Review, in a recent article, “Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Alliances,” states that the most valued culturally diverse relationships are true partnerships that strive to meet the following eight criteria:
- Individual excellence: Both nursing groups are strong with something of value to contribute to the relationship.
- Importance: The relationship fits major strategic objectives encouraging both cultures to make it work.
- Interdependence: With complementary assets and skills, neither can accomplish alone what both can accomplish together.
- Investment: We invest in one another to demonstrate our respective stakes in the partnership.
- Information: Communication is open and shared including publications, knowledge, and expertise.
- Integration: The partners are both teachers and learners.
- Institutionalization: The relationship is given formal status (an INS Affiliate), with clear responsibilities and synergy.
- Integrity: The partners honor one another, justifying and enhancing mutual trust.
Team building, partnering, outreach, and collaboration are all terms of the new millennium. Such terms suggest a continuum in healthcare. Where we have the opportunity to reach out to another culture, either in America or across the ocean, we are compelled to share our knowledge and expertise with nurses who would benefit from our experience. Partnering and collaboration are the hallmark of many successful models implemented in practice by infusion nurses and healthcare settings worldwide. As we continue to build bridges linking our infusion expertise with those in our own communities or across the ocean, I’ll lead the charge hoping that other INS members and chapter leaders catch the vision and embrace this developing initiative.
Our bridge-building goals promise to do the following: 1) grow INS membership, both domestic and foreign; 2) increase my involvement and relationship with INS chapters both in the US and overseas; and 3) improve infusion standardization and outcomes in both the developed and developing corners of the world; 4) grow the number of INS International Affiliates.
This initiative will require global alliances of people like you and me, bridging infusion novice to infusion expert—everywhere. We will celebrate every bridge built and the growing interest in infusion nursing internationally. We’ll agree to share the rewards of learning from them as they do from us. Clearly, this is the right thing to do and there is no better time to begin than now.
