Florence Nightingale International Foundation

For we who nurse, our nursing is something which, unless we are making progress every year,
every month, every week, we are going back. No system shall endure which does not march.
Florence Nightingale

Notice re: NIGH

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FNIF is the International Council of Nurses (ICN) premier foundation, it supports and complements the work and objectives of ICN.

Its history dates back to 1912 when a memorial to Florence Nightingale was first proposed by Mrs Ethel Bedford Fenwick at an ICN Congress in Cologne. The vision was of an educational foundation for nurses. As the First World War intervened, it was not until 1929 that the memorial was finally activated by the ICN Grand Council in Montreal. Mrs Bedford Fenwick, the first president of ICN was elected the first chair of the Florence Nightingale Memorial Committee.

From 1931, national Florence Nightingale committees were established in countries where ICN had member associations. In 1932 discussions were held between ICN and the League of Red Cross Societies to use their Red Cross international post-graduate courses as an international memorial to Florence Nightingale.

The ICN Grand Council agreed to take over the international courses, and in 1934, established the Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF) as a living memorial to Florence Nightingale. FNIF became an autonomous organisation under British law with its own governing body and a mandate to develop and promote nursing education world wide.

FNIF is a registered Charity in the United Kingdom and maintains its original purpose; to support the advancement of nursing education, research and services for the public good. Though UK registered, the day-to-day administration is carried out in Geneva through the International Council of Nurses, a federation of 129 national nurses' associations working to ensure quality care for all and sound health policies globally.

International Council of Nurses

U.K. Registered Charity number : 1074773

© 1999 Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF) Copying, downloading and distribution of material from the FNIF web page is permitted as long as credit in print is given and that the material will not be used for commercial or for-profit purposes without permission.