Position statements
As a federation of more than 130 national nursing associations and the voice of millions of nurses worldwide, ICN uses its position statements to address a variety of areas related to health, well-being and nursing professional advancement.
These position statements go through rigorous processes before publication including expert consultation and review, review by all national nursing association members and board review. Within these statements, ICN makes recommendations to the advancement of the topic from the international level, the national nursing association level, and the individual nurse level.
A. Nursing Roles in Health Care Services
Antimicrobial resistance (2017)
PDF (508 KB)
Breastfeeding (2013)
PDF (28 KB)
Nurses’ role in providing care to dying patients and their families (2012)
PDF (28 KB)
Nurses’ role in the care of detainees and prisoners (2011)
PDF (32 KB)
Tobacco use and health (2012)
PDF (29 KB)
Women’s health (2012)
PDF (34 KB)
Health of migrants, refugees and displaced persons (2018)
PDF (508 KB)
Mental Health (2020)
PDF (615 KB)
B. Nursing Profession
Cultural and linguistic competence (2013)
PDF (36 KB)
Nursing regulation (2013)
PDF (34 KB)
Protection of the title “Nurse” (2012)
PDF (26 KB)
Scope of nursing practice (2013)
PDF (31 KB)
C. Socio Economic Welfare of Nurses
Industrial action (2011)
PDF (35 KB)
Evidence Based Nurse Staffing (2018)
PDF (543 KB)
Occupational Health and safety (2017)
PDF (574 KB)
Prevention and management of workplace violence (2017)
PDF (523 KB)
International career mobility and ethical nurse recruitment (2019)
PDF (309 KB)
D. Health Care Systems
Patient safety (2012)
PDF (32 KB)
E. Social Issues
Armed conflict: Nursing’s perspective (2012)
PDF (29 KB)
Health information: protecting patient rights (2015)
PDF (197 KB)
Informed patients (2015)
PDF (217 KB)
Nurses and human rights (2011)
PDF (31 KB)
Nurses and social media (2015)
PDF (235 KB)
The right to connect via information and communication technology (2014)
PDF (33 KB)
Towards elimination of weapons of war and conflict (2012)
PDF (29 KB)
Nurses, climate change and health (2018)
PDF (640 KB)
Nurses and disaster risk reduction, response and recovery (2019)
PDF (209 KB)
Substandard and Falsified Medical Products (2019)
PDF (518 KB)