UIC College of Nursing shares expertise with world

UIC is the longest-running WHO Collaborating Centre in Nursing and Midwifery.

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has been redesignated a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for International Nursing Development in Primary Health Care.

UIC is the longest-running WHO Collaborating Centre in Nursing and Midwifery, as it was named the first such center in 1986. There are now more than 40 throughout the world.

The centers work with PAHO/WHO in promoting cooperation between countries and initiating collaborative activities in nursing and midwifery education, practice, research and leadership to promote innovative primary health care practices.

The goal, said Linda McCreary, clinical assistant professor and director of the center, is to strengthen nursing and midwifery to improve health outcomes for people globally.

The center serves as a resource to nurses around the world. Among its many endeavors is the development of numerous programs to educate health workers about HIV risk reduction in Botswana, Malawi, Chile, China, Swaziland, India, Indonesia and Lithuania.

During the next four years the UIC center has agreed to assist the PAHO/WHO in several areas, McCreary said. Among them are to provide learning opportunities such as online courses in research methods and short courses for nurses and midwives that promote universal access to health and universal health coverage.