ABOUT
NIGH
The idea for the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) has been discussed by several of its founders for a number of years
to honor the profound and wide-ranging legacy of Florence Nightingale by developing a contemporary initiative that follows in her footsteps. NIGH was actually birthed in November 2003Ñthrough discussions among four Nightingale Scholars. They further collaborated with their colleagues with extensive experience in nursing education, in international media and development fields, as well as in business, education and medicine. While the above range of experience is a good way to birth such an idea, we are also clear that the only way NIGH can successfully grow any level of this vision with the enthusiastic participation of many people with a variety of talents and disciplines, across the globe. From the very beginning of these endeavors, we are encouraging the start-up of NIGH Communities throughout the world as soon as initial contact persons who wish to join° this project are identified. To learn more about NIGH, download our Introducing
NIGH PowerPoint or click on
Mission, Mandate & Goals and
Initial Strategies & Plans.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is the reason for creating NIGH or The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health?
We seek to sustain and expand the vision the Florence Nightingale vision for 21st century health and promote awareness of the pressing problems of global health and solutions. The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) formed this non-profit, as both a vision and a necessity — providing a legal entity for collective action and the raising of funds to hire and retain staff, provide for travel and conferencing capabilities and the worldwide campaign of education and mobilization of public opinion.
2. What is the legal structure of NIGH?
In the United States, we are a not-for-profit corporation registered in the District of Columbia in April 2004, pending IRS 501C-3 tax exempt status. The seven founding members of the board of directors of the NIGH. are: Deva-Marie Beck, PhD RN, Eleanor Kibrick, MSc, Betsy Lehrfeld, JD, William Rolph, MLS, Wayne Kines, Forrest Craver, JD, and Barbara M. Dossey, PhD, RN, HNC, FAAN. Each board member brings more than 30 years of individual experience as social change agents, community organizers and builders of movements for social and economic justice. Our Advisory Council, now in formation, are individuals with wide ranging experience in nursing, nursing education health care policy, international development, women’s empowerment, mass media, and public policy issues. In Canada, we are creating NIGH International, a Canadian registered non-profit organization that will acquire registered charitable tax status as soon as possible.
3. What is the importance of NIGH?
We are merely a means to the far reaching aim of health for all of humanity. A comparison, for example, of our intention would be the serving leadership catalytic role of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. SCLC and its leaders did not dwell on SCLU but rather on how their collective leadership and sustained focus could build the civil rights movement and achieve concrete reforms like Voting Rights, Fair Housing, Equal Opportunity in employment, etc. A core leadership team of highly experienced staff and board members with long range unconditional commitment is critical to the building a grassroots movement.
4. What is the vision of NIGH?
We are beneficiaries of Florence Nightingale’s sacred visions and universal commitment. We share her passion for persistence, her devotion to intellectual rigor and a non-dogmatic spiritual approach to nursing and health care. Our vision as NIGH board of directors is to be a service team and a corporate catalytic agent for building a global social movement of individuals highly committed to the creation of a healthy world for every person alive and being born.
5. Whose vision is it, really?
Yours and any one who claims it! So we hasten to add that "the vision" is a constantly evolving process and will grow organically from the passion and vision of people like you. Our vision stretches into the next 20 years and beyond because the tasks in creating health for all of humanity are so immense. Toward this end, we anticipate the need to create some forms of affiliated grassroots entities in all countries, on all continents within the next three years. We also anticipate the need for an International Secretariat and Regional Secretariats to focus leadership and resources on solving health issues, informing and educating large numbers of people and providing “best practices” training and experience where appropriate.
6. How does NIGH deal with religious commitment, political affiliation, nationalism, race, gender and cultural diversity issues?
Like Florence Nightingale, we see the value of all belief systems and the critical need to act in a unified spirit transcending any specific dogma or sectarian ideology. Persons of all faiths or no faith, humanists and all persons of good will are encouraged to join with us. NIGH is not a vehicle for promoting Western hegemony, a political feminist agenda, nor any agendas which are nationalistic, partisan, hidden, or dominated by nation states or multi-lateral agency agendas.
7. How will NIGH work with other public, private and voluntary organizations and institutions?
We believe in the spirit of collaborative partnerships and collective action to help resolve core health issues. Collective action is a necessity to carefully steward resources of money, time and leadership. As social change agents, we believe that effective social power and the voice of authority resides in grassroots community leaders as they work to create a healthy world for all people. Attentive and sustained listening to each other is essential if we are to hear and heed the mandates of the future and the prophetic voices of experience rooted in struggle and the overcoming of suffering.
8. Since the most of the founders of NIGH are American or Canadian, how will you deal with participation of persons and groups beyond the Western culture?
We believe that it is critical for widespread participation of persons and groups from all continents and nations. For instance, other cultural traditions have wisdom about healing very much needed by Western nurses and health workers. We are very clear we need to bring generous amounts of humility to our efforts, along with a willingness to listen more, and talk less about "the Western way of doing things."
9. What do you foresee as the long range policy structure of NIGH?
In addition to the board of directors, we are in the process of forming an International Advisory Council of women and men with passionate concern and experience in nursing and health care. We anticipate the composition of the Council will include many grassroots leaders from Africa, India, Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, the South Pacific and other regions, including Indigenous Peoples around the world.
10. How can I participate and invite others to participate in NIGH?
Wherever you are in the world, we welcome you to join these endeavors. To discuss the possibilities, please call us, leave a voice mail message detailing your name, phone number and the best times to reach you and we will call you to discuss the possibilities. As of October 2004, our start-up office phone numbers are: in Canada (613) 657-8952 (NIGH [International]), and in the United States, (703) 785-0831 at NIGH [USA].
