ICN Congress 2025: Redefining Nursing and the Nurse for a Global Future
Fellow Nurses AfricaNews report || Published: June 11, 2025
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress 2025, held in Helsinki, Finland from June 9-13, has marked a historic moment for the global nursing community. At the heart of this year’s congress was the launch of updated definitions for nursing and a nurse—a transformative step to reflect the profession’s evolving role in modern healthcare.
These definitions, part of the Helsinki Communiqué, were endorsed by the ICN Council of National Nursing Associations (CNR) and aim to shape the future of nursing for the next two decades. Here’s an in-depth look at what these changes mean for nurses worldwide.
A Year-Long Journey to Redefine Nursing
The ICN, representing over 29 million nurses globally, embarked on a year-long project to revise its definitions of nursing and a nurse, last updated in 2002. The initiative, driven by the need to align with contemporary healthcare demands, involved a rigorous, inclusive process.
A 21-member expert group, led by Professor Emerita Jill White and ICN CEO Howard Catton, utilized a modified Delphi method, engaging hundreds of nurses, National Nursing Associations (NNAs), regulators, educators, and stakeholders like the World Health Organization (WHO).
The process included:
Literature Review: Exploring historical and modern perspectives on nursing, from Florence Nightingale’s environmental focus to Virginia Henderson’s emphasis on patient independence.
Global Stakeholder Engagement: Surveys and consultations with NNAs, students, advanced practice nurses, and the public via a QR code on the ICN website.
Delphi Process: Five iterative meetings over seven months (June to December 2024) to refine the definitions, ensuring they resonate globally.
Final Approval: Endorsed by the ICN Board and CNR at the Helsinki Congress, with the definitions launched on June 9, 2025.
This collaborative effort addressed critical gaps in the 2002 definitions, which were seen as outdated for failing to capture nursing’s broader roles in health equity, policy advocacy, and digital health.
The New Definitions: What’s Changed?
The updated definitions are designed to be globally relevant, culturally safe, and adaptable to diverse healthcare contexts. They emphasize nursing’s unique blend of science, compassion, and advocacy, while clearly distinguishing nursing (the profession) from a nurse (the professional).
Definition of Nursing
“Nursing is a profession dedicated to upholding everyone’s right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, through a shared commitment to providing collaborative, culturally safe, people-centred care and services. Nursing acts and advocates for people’s equitable access to health and healthcare, and safe, sustainable environments. The practice of nursing embodies the philosophy and values of the profession in providing professional care in the most personal health-related aspects of people’s lives. Nursing promotes health, protects safety and continuity in care, and manages and leads healthcare organizations and systems. Nursing’s practice is underpinned by a unique combination of science-based disciplinary knowledge, technical capability, ethical standards, and therapeutic relationships. Nursing is committed to compassion, social justice, and a better future for humanity.”
Key Highlights:
Health Equity and Social Justice: Nursing is positioned as a champion of equitable healthcare access and social justice, aligning with WHO’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Cultural Safety: Rooted in Indigenous scholarship, this term emphasizes care free from racism and discrimination, ensuring respect for all patients.
People-Centred Care: The shift from “person-centred” to “people-centred” reflects WHO terminology, acknowledging familial and community contexts.
Planetary Health: Nursing’s role in fostering sustainable environments underscores its commitment to global health challenges like climate change.
Definition of a Nurse
“A nurse is a professional who is educated in the scientific knowledge, skills, and philosophy of nursing, and regulated to practice nursing based on established standards of practice and ethical codes. Nurses enhance health literacy, promote health, prevent illness, protect patient safety, alleviate suffering, facilitate recovery and adaptation, and uphold dignity throughout life and at end of life. They work autonomously and collaboratively across settings to improve health, through advocacy, evidence-informed decision-making, and culturally safe, therapeutic relationships. Nurses provide people-centred, compassionate clinical and social care, manage services, enhance health systems, advance public and population health, and foster safe and sustainable environments. Nurses lead, educate, research, advocate, innovate, and shape policy to improve health outcomes.”
Key Highlights:
Scientific and Ethical Foundation: Nurses are defined by their education in nursing’s science, art, and philosophy, with regulation ensuring accountability.
Therapeutic Relationships: Drawing from Orlando and Peplau’s work, nurses build trust through active listening and compassionate care.
Autonomy and Collaboration: The definition emphasizes nurses’ ability to make independent decisions while working collaboratively, reflecting their dual role.
Crisis Response: Nurses are recognized as frontline responders in disasters, conflicts, and emergencies, showcasing their resilience and adaptability.
An abridged version of the nurse definition was also provided for concise communication, though it must be used in the context of the full definition.
Why These Definitions Matter
The new definitions are more than just words—they are a strategic tool to elevate nursing’s global impact.
Here’s why they’re significant:
Enhanced Professional Identity: By clearly articulating nursing’s scope, the definitions strengthen nurses’ recognition as skilled professionals, countering outdated perceptions.
Global Relevance: Designed to be adaptable across high- and low-resource settings, they ensure consistency in understanding nursing’s role worldwide.
Policy Influence: The emphasis on advocacy, leadership, and health equity positions nurses as key players in shaping health policy, aligning with global priorities like UHC and SDGs.
Workforce Planning: Clear definitions aid regulators and governments in workforce planning, addressing issues like nurse shortages and ethical international recruitment.
Cultural and Environmental Focus: Terms like “cultural safety” and “sustainable environments” reflect nursing’s commitment to inclusivity and planetary health.
The definitions also address past criticisms of earlier versions, such as Virginia Henderson’s 1960 definition, which was critiqued for gendered language and a narrow focus on individual care. The 2025 definitions are inclusive, forward-looking, and resonate with nurses’ hearts and minds while serving practical purposes in education, regulation, and advocacy.
Resolutions of the Helsinki Communiqué
Beyond the definitions, the CNR passed eight resolutions to strengthen nursing globally, as part of the Helsinki Communiqué:
Fair Pay and Working Conditions: Advocating for equitable wages and safe workplaces.
Investment in Nursing: Addressing workforce shortages through funding and support.
Ethical International Recruitment: Protecting developing nations from exploitative practices.
Protection in Conflict Zones: Ensuring adherence to international law to safeguard healthcare workers.
Strengthened Regulation and Education: Enhancing professional standards and training.
National Nursing Acts: Defining nursing’s role in national legislation.
Digital and Primary Healthcare Roles: Recognizing nurses’ contributions to technology and community care.
Leadership Opportunities: Expanding advanced practice and career progression for nurses.
These resolutions complement the new definitions, reinforcing nursing’s pivotal role in healthcare systems.
Challenges and Opportunities
While the definitions were overwhelmingly supported by NNAs, some areas of contention arose during consultations, including:
Planetary Health: Debated for its broad scope but included to reflect nursing’s environmental responsibility.
Autonomous vs. Independent: “Autonomous” was chosen to highlight decision-making within collaborative frameworks.
People- vs. Person-Centred Care: The WHO-aligned “people-centred” term was adopted for inclusivity.
Opportunities include:
Greater interprofessional collaboration
Improved workforce planning
Heightened visibility of nursing’s contributions to global health
However, challenges remain, such as ensuring the definitions are adopted locally and addressing linguistic or cultural misinterpretations.
What’s Next for Nurses?
The ICN urges NNAs, regulators, educators, WHO, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to integrate these definitions into their frameworks.
For nurses, this means:
Advocacy: Using the definitions to push for better working conditions and policy inclusion.
Education: Aligning curricula with the emphasis on science, compassion, and cultural safety.
Practice: Embracing expanded roles in digital health, leadership, and community care.
As ICN CEO Howard Catton stated:
“These definitions are a call to action, empowering nurses to lead, innovate, and advocate for health equity.”
Nurses are encouraged to visit the ICN Congress website for the full report and to engage with their NNAs to drive implementation.
Conclusion
The ICN Congress 2025 has delivered a bold vision for nursing’s future. The new definitions of nursing and a nurse celebrate the profession’s enduring values while embracing its evolving roles in a complex, interconnected world.
For Africa’s nurses, these definitions offer a powerful framework to advocate for recognition, resources, and respect. As we move forward, let’s unite under this shared vision to transform healthcare for all.
Fellow Nurses Africa is the independent voice of African nursing. We educate, inform, and support the nursing profession.
