Addressing the challenges of the global nursing community

Aim: To describe both the initial and the subsequent impact of the 2001 Global Nursing Partnerships Conference: ‘Strategies for a Sustainable Workforce’, the first ever forum of its type, on the key challenges facing the global nursing community. Design: Identification of short‐ and long‐term outcomes through descriptive review of immediate post‐conference evaluations and follow‐up questionnaires sent out 13 months later to nursing leaders in the participating countries. Methods: Content analysis of quantitative data from 61 immediate post‐conference evaluations and 13 follow‐up questionnaires, as well as qualitative data from participant comments on the evaluation forms and questionnaires. Findings: Analysis indicated conference participants viewed the conference as a beneficial forum to collaboratively examine nursing workforce issues and trends, develop country‐specific nursing action plans, establish and strengthen national and international partnerships, and build stronger international nursing bodies. Conclusion: The Global Nursing Partnerships Conference was an international success – addressing the unique challenges facing nursing leaders in developed and developing countries and the needs of nurses throughout the world.