WHO Collaborating Centre
Sharing expertise and knowledge worldwide
Our designation in 1993 as Scotland's only World Health Organization Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) for Nursing and Midwifery Education, Research and Practice has ensured that the school is at the forefront of nursing and midwifery education internationally.
About the Collaborating Centre
The Collaborating Centre's focus revolves around strengthening the contribution of nurses and midwives in support of the WHO strategies for 'Health for All' by sharing expertise and knowledge with nurses and midwives in other countries. This is across all aspects of curriculum design, delivery and evaluation, including the integration of theory and practice, nursing, midwifery and primary health care research, and the promotion of research-based practice.
Secretariat for the Global Network of WHOCCs in Nursing and Midwifery Development
Our school served as Secretariat for the Global Network of WHOCCs in Nursing and Midwifery Development from July 2004 to July 2008. During the four year period of our tenure we were responsible for driving forward initiatives supported by other centres within the network and ensuring that nursing and midwifery are visible at all levels internationally.
We supported development of the Global Network as an organisation and saw its profile increase in Scotland & UK. During this period, Glasgow Caledonian University hosted a very successful global health conference in June 2006 and chaired the subsequent conference in Bangkok in 2008.
The Secretariat of the Global Network is now hosted by the University of Sao Paulo at Ribereo Preto in Brazil.
Supporting educational development globally
For the next four years, we aim to support educational development globally working towards the realisation of the Key Result Areas in the Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery through:
- Leading the implementation and evaluation of the Global Education Standards for Nursing and Midwifery education worldwide, as requested by WHO HQ
- Responding to requests to develop international university education curricula in collaboration with WHO and EURO, focusing on countries wishing to develop in this area
- Developing pre-doctoral programmes for nurses and midwives maximizing opportunities to participate via mixed modes of learning. This is has the potential of increasing the numbers registering as PhD students and will ultimately increase the number of nurses and midwives educated to doctorate leve.
- Supporting the Primary Health Care focus of WHO with programme developments in women’s health, family health nursing and community health in general
- Contributing to capacity building of potential WHO Collaborating Centres in Eastern Europe in partnership with WHO Europe
- Establishing a European network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery Development
- Participating in capacity building projects in direct response to WHA 59.23 – Scale Up of Human Resources for Health
- Developing a worldwide overseas nursing programme leading to enable overseas nurses or midwives a conversion or adaptation programme to achieve registration in the UK
For more information, contact Dr Valerie Fleming.