Influencing and Shaping Policy Agendas: Advanced Practice Nurses Engagement with Global Organisations

Global health, with its focus on health equity, will advance with the active involvement of advanced practice nurses (APNs). There are multiple venues, organisations, and groups that would benefit from APN involvement and contributions, including well-known international bodies like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF. There are other groups and organisations that APNs may be less familiar with but where advocacy and interaction can impact global health, like the UN Academic Impact, the International Labour Organisation, and others. There are opportunities for APNs within their professional organisations like the International Council of Nurses and others to take action. There are also individual opportunities with some groups where an APN can provide direct care. For all these opportunities, APNs will benefit from further knowledge about these organisations. For the major international bodies, this chapter provides an overview of the history and the complex structures. It also identifies existing organisations that have formal relationships as well as critiques of these bodies. Finally, the APN who wants to have direct care opportunities is cautioned to do so in a way that is ethical and sustainable.