The Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at RCSI has been designated as a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre. The new centre in Dublin will provide technical advice to WHO on developing systems for continuous professional development and leadership education for the nursing and midwifery workforce.

WHO Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango, and WHO Unit Head of Health Workforce and Service Delivery, Dr Tomas Zapata, were among those who addressed the Faculty’s official launch of the Collaborating Centre at RCSI’s Dublin city centre campus.

WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academies designated by the Director-General to carry out activities in support of the Organisation's programmes. Currently there are over 800 WHO collaborating centres in over 80 member states working with WHO on areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies.

In launching the Collaborating Centre Executive Dean of the Faculty Professor Mark White stated: “The Collaborating Centre is the first for Nursing or Midwifery in Ireland. It provides an infrastructure at the Faculty to integrate health, nursing and midwifery policy with research and support workforce planning, continuous professional development, strengthening professional regulation and facilitating professional leadership development in Europe.”

Professor White went on to say that “this designation is another considerable milestone within the Faculty’s 50th anniversary year. The Faculty looks forward to working with WHO colleagues, and with the other five collaborating centres in other health areas that are currently designated in Ireland; at the University of Limerick, the National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the National Suicide Research Foundation.”

The RCSI Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery was founded in 1974 and has a proud tradition of delivering educational programmes to nurses and midwives in Ireland. Prior to its designation as a WHO Centre for Nursing Regulation and Continuing Professional Development (CPD), the Faculty, through its Global Innovation and Leadership Academy, partnered with the WHO on a number of policy-focused priorities and projects.