The ILC offered 5 scholarships to emerging leaders in order to help them attend the 2024 ILC Annual International Conference in Oxford, UK.
Below are their reflections on their time at the conference and leadership program.
The 2025 Conference & Leadership Program will be held in Genoa, Italy. We will once again offer travel scholarships to help emerging leaders. These will launch in September 2024.
Jake McMahon – Australia
Attending the International Learning Collaborative Annual International Conference and Leadership program at Oxford’s Saïd Business School was an incredible experience. The theme of “empowering care excellence” really hit home for me, aligning perfectly with my research and professional goals.
One of the most memorable parts was presenting my PhD work on pressure injury prevention in a Pecha Kucha format. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but the supportive environment made it a fantastic learning experience. I received valuable feedback and felt it was well worth putting an abstract in as this led to many people approaching me to discuss the research.
The discussions with colleagues from around the world were eye-opening. Hearing about different approaches and methodologies being used globally broadened my perspective. It was a reminder that the challenges we face in pressure injury prevention and care are not unique to my area but are global issues. This realisation has helped renew motivation.
Connecting with nursing leaders was another highlight. Their insights and advice have been incredibly inspiring. I’m currently working with an ILC mentor to develop plans for applying what I’ve learned. While we’re still in the planning stages, the conference has sparked a lot of ideas and possibilities.
Overall, my time at the ILC conference has been highly impactful. I’ve gained new skills in presenting, learned about diverse approaches to common challenges, and built valuable professional relationships. This experience has left me more determined than ever to contribute to improving patient care on a larger scale.
Genevieve Dionne – Canada
I attended my first conference last year in Maine. This was an experience beyond expectations. I found passionate people who has a heart for better care.
After my first conference I started working with a clearer view of what the fundamentals of care is. This year when I got the opportunity to attend to the conference and Leadership program with the scholarship I was really eager to attend. I have the conviction that it would be a game changer for me and my organization.
Throughout the conference, I was immersed in a wealth of insights, ideas, and breakthroughs that promise to redefine Care. It was an honor to share these 5 days with amazingly inspiring people for all around the globe working in different fields. Connecting with them helped me realised that even if we are form different countries we have the same challenges and we can truly benefit from everyone’s insight and experience.
The workshops and sessions challenged my ideas, broadened my horizons. The interactions I had with the other attendees impacted me and made me reflect on my practice. I left with a specific project in mind and following the leadership program we have the opportunity to be mentored for the next twelve months. This mentorship will help me to develop and implement with insight of two dedicated people who are truly engaged toward the FoC.
This event was not just a gathering of minds; it was a time to reflect and get a clear view of what the next steps are to implement the FoC in my organization. The knowledge I gained and the connections I forged influence the way we approach care in my organization. The practical strategies and evidence-based practices shared during the conference have opened new avenues for me to provide better, more holistic care in my practice.
Can’t wait for next year international Learning collaborative conference in 2025.
Rebekah Irwin – New Zealand
I was privileged to attend and immediately felt the expertise in the room and welcomed the openness to connect, share and embrace the focus and mahi (work) of this conference and leadership programme which was so genuine.
I was fortunate to be presenting some shared research in a Pecha Kucha format, which was a new challenge but a fantastic way to showcase the scenery of Aotearoa, NZ while sharing our work.
Having a small but very supportive team of colleagues from home was heart-warming and their waiata (song) at the conclusion of my presentation a humbling recognition. The request to facilitate a breakout session was also an opportunity I was grateful to be offered as it opened many conversations and created so much learning and sharing around practice projects, policy and outcomes achieved in other parts of the world, with many transferable learnings despite vast cultural, language and structural differences in health organisations.
The shared challenges internationally were evident but I was also inspired by the innovation and passion that others have shown to overcome and continue to strive for excellent fundamental care both within the conference presentations and the sharing as part of the leadership programme.
The notion of nurses reclaiming our power has resonated strongly with me as it supports nurses to find joy in the care they provide, reminding me why I wanted to become a nurse over 20 years ago. By weaving this into everything we do we are energised to stand proud of our profession and as nursing leaders we can guide nurses not to feel they have to do more, but support and empower them to reframe the manner in which they provide care by using the Fundamentals of Care framework with establishing a relationship being at the core.
I could say so much more, but wish to thank the ILC for this scholarship which enabled me to be part of this amazing international community and I look forward to connecting again soon.
Ngaa mihi
Rebekah
Elena Corina Luca – Switzerland
This year I had the pleasure of attending the 2024 Annual International Conference – Empowering Care Excellence in person. I was delighted when I found out I had a poster presentation, but being awarded with the ILC scholarship was an unexpected achievement and an amazing opportunity!
Attending the conference was a unique chance to meet and network with colleagues from all over the world, who had interesting and valuable experiences with Fundamentals of Care (FoC) in clinical practice, education and research to share. I found the plenary sessions and the vibrant presentations by the keynote speakers, who stimulated deep reflections on today’s challenges in nursing and the potential in addressing them through Fundamentals of Care, enjoyable. The oral and poster presentations were inspiring, real examples of the integration of the FoC in different care settings and curricula.
Today, I am a hospital-based researcher and a Master of Science in Nursing (MScN) lecturer with an advanced practice nursing-oriented programme, and I am encountering the stimulating challenge of embedding the FoC more closely into the curricula. Having the opportunity to present with a poster presentation the experience of integrating FoC in education conducted in the MScN programme of my university, the first experience in Switzerland, allowed me to exchange experiences and opinions with colleagues pursuing the same goal in different universities around the world. Furthermore, the participation in the Education Workshop facilitated an invaluable sharing of experiences and opinions on strategies for implementing Foc in nursing curricula. It was particularly interesting to achieve the awareness that the Fundamentals of Care allow nursing students to learn and graduate nurses to re-learn from a new perspective. This, in my opinion, is essential at a bachelor and master degree level, considering that students are the best ambassadors to embed FoC in clinical practice and start the cultural evolution in the organisations. These reflections and insights will now be brought into my own teaching practice and confirmed how it is essential to embed it in post-graduate education.
In conclusion, this experience was of great importance for my professional development. It allowed me to learn new knowledge and leadership strategies for integrating FoC in education, research and clinical practice and to develop collaborative networks. It stimulated the awareness of how important relationships, partnerships with patients and social networking are, and of the influence our actions can have, considering that we are the leaders who are transforming systems and organisational cultures.