Sent on behalf of the IFNA Board of Directors
After thoughtful consideration of the continued influences of COVID-19 on persons, families, and institutions, the International Family Nursing Association Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to conduct the 15th International Family Nursing Conference “
Family Nursing Across the Life Course
” virtually to keep all members safe and healthy. We were all hopeful that the COVID-19 concerns would only have short-term implications world-wide but that is clearly not the case at this time. We are aware that many institutions have placed bans on employee travel and submission of abstracts to international conferences. From a recent World Health Organization (WHO) news conference; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General WHO reported
1
We are 6 months from the first diagnosed global case, and “many countries are seeing a resurgence in cases with reopening” and went on to report, “ The pandemic is speeding up” and “We are not even close to this being over”.
1
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoub3BRC6ARIsABGhnyYN0Y8tRProrjQda56J_Rwmx0d7KXGa0GtSVxZ_9exe98Ek-zhmbKIaAnxnEALw_wcB
Globally-mandated travel and contact restrictions; limited funding for travel; closures; and many circumstances surrounding COVID-19 are serious enough that the IFNA Board of Directors (BOD) is concerned about the impact on the prospective IFNC15 presenters and attendees. These uncertainties also make it difficult for IFNA to continue making pre-payment deposits to the conference hotel, with the very real possibility that we would need to cancel closer to the conference date and incur a more significant penalty. Therefore, the IFNA BOD has decided to transition the 15th International Family Nursing Conference “Family Nursing Across the Life Course” from an in-person conference in Dublin, Ireland to a virtual, web-based format. The global health crisis is an unprecedented event that none of us could have ever imagined just 6 months ago.
The Conference Planning Committee (CPC) and the Resource Advancement Committee (RAC) are well on their way toward #IFNC15 planning. The transition to a new virtual format for #IFNC15 will encourage sharing of knowledge and networking with family nursing colleagues from across the globe. This approach will allow even more family nursing scholars to join #IFNC15!
We would like to thank Dr. June Horowitz and Dr. Veronica Swallow, CPC Co-chairs, and the members of the
Conference Planning Committee
for their planning efforts over the past several months and we look forward to what they will create. We would also like to thank Dr. Linda Young and Dr. Susan Sullivan-Bolyai, RAC Co-chairs, for their efforts and leadership of the
Resource Advancement Committee
over the past few months to develop a plan for seeking conference sponsorships and we look forward to their innovative ideas for conference sponsorships.
Thank you in advance for your support as we work toward this new delivery format. We will share more information with you in the next several weeks as we innovate to advance family nursing.
Best wishes to you in staying healthy in your homes, communities, and work settings during this challenging time. We are eager to learn about your ongoing commitment to family nursing and family health among friends at the 15th International Family Nursing Conference “
Family Nursing Across the Life Course
”.
