WCNA 2026
The congress planning committee (CPC) met on Thursday to discuss the planning for the May 7-9th meeting in Brisbane, Australia. Vera Meeusen gave an update on the scientific program, status of invited speakers, and registrants. Thank you to all who have been helping to promote the congress. We are on track for a successful meeting and look forward to getting together then. The CPC will meet on Monday May 4th. The CNR, education committee and practice committee will all meet on Tuesday May 5th and Wednesday May 6th.
UN SURGhub
Content Committee – I continue to serve as the elected Vice-Chair of the content committee. Our last meeting was in early November and I am awaiting updated statistics to share. I do know that we have had users from 190 countries and the UN has awarded over 17,000 course certificates of completion.
WHO ACAN (IFNA applied and was selected as a ACAN member)
Organization reps met via zoom on November 5th. I serve as the IFNA representative
There are 4 working groups: IFNA is a member of WG 2
1: Implementation of acute care tools
2: Empowering communities as users and providers of care
3: Data and quality improvement
4: Coordinated advocacy and resource mobilization
At this meeting, each workgroup provided a report on our work. ACAN was formed following a World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 76.2 (2023) with a call to action on ECO (Emergency, Critical, and Operative Care)
During the 2024 WHA meeting, decision 77(8) mandated development of a global strategy. Currently leadership of ACAN are working on Global Strategy Report for WHA 2026 using the required WHO framework.
Next: ACAN face-to-face all-day meeting on Sunday May 17, 2026, and there will be an ACAN WHA Side Event on Monday May 18, 2026. I am serving on the event planning committee and IFNA may be asked for a small donation to help fund the event. Laerdal Foundation will serve as the lead sponsor and donor for the event.
G4 Alliance
G4 is an advocacy organization for surgery, obstetrics, trauma and anesthesia care (SOTA) founded in 2015. IFNA was the first nursing organization to join in 2016 . ED Rod and I both attended meetings. I was elected to the first permanent board of directors in 2016 and served a 3-year term. I currently serve as a member of the Nursing and Midwifery Committee. Our committee is working on a nursing side event for the May 2026 WHA. There has never been a nursing side event and we are excited about the possibility of being a cohost of the first one! Current IFNA Practice Committee chair Rick Henker serves as the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology representative to G4 and the elected Vice President of the G4 Permanent Council. He will assume the position of President of the Permanent Council in May 2026 at the next meeting, Saturday May 16th, 2026 in Geneva. I will also be attending this meeting. Congratulations to Rick!
ICN
The ICN APN Toolkit is still under production due to some late contributions. The nurse anesthesia assignments were all completed on time and I am hopeful the toolkit will be complete soon.
The 2025 ICN Congress was held in Helsinki in June. ED Rod and I attended the CNR board meeting prior to the Congress as invited observers. Jennifer Yang (IFNA 1st VP), Gye Seon Jeong (IFNA Education Committee member) and Rick Henker (IFNA Practice Committee Chair) were all in attendance. Rowles, Yang, and Jeong presented at the Helsinki NA seminar, Helsinki University Hospital. Rowles & Henker met with the Dean and several faculty members from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, by request, to discuss their new anesthesia master’s degree program.
APN Health Policy Committee Co-Chair Rowles and Marie-Louise Lueking (Netherlands) hold monthly zoom meetings with our committee. We are currently working on short term and long-term committee work to address all four Advanced Practice Nursing roles and are awaiting review and approval of proposed work.
New ICN initiative! I was asked to submit names for consideration of appointment to the Nurse Anesthesia Expert Advisory Committee. ICN desires expert input into defining global competencies of each APN role. Members selected for this committee include:
Jennifer Yang, Taiwan
Ann-Chatrin Leondardsen, Norway
Nico Decock, France
Mary Mungai, Kenya
Jan Setnor, USA
Jackie Rowles (not nominated but asked to serve by ICN)
We had our kickoff zoom meeting on Nov. 27th and will be meeting monthly by zoom. I will update you as our work progresses.
The next ICN Meeting is that of the Advanced Practice Nursing Network and will be held in Nashville, TN, USA. Sept. 14-17, 2026. I will definitely be attending and was asked to propose an airway/intubation master class. Hopefully our class will be selected for implementation. I also hope that we will have other nurse anesthetists in attendance.
ICN Clinical Autonomy book update: I am one of the 4 editors (one of us from each APN role) and we are on target for draft completion by the end of this year. Expected publication will be in late spring to summer – before the Sept. APN Conference.
World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA)
Face to face meetings with IFNA started in 2019, last one was in 2023
Zoom meeting March 2025 with officers and IFNA ED/WFSA officers and CEO
Rowles/Rod on manpower survey committee – resulted in article published in
Anesthesia and Analgesia July 2024. Voted Editor’s Choice award for the best article published in 2024. Award given at the International Anesthesia Research Society meeting in March 2025
FYI: World Congress for Anaesthesiologists – April 15-19, Marrakech, Morocco
Incoming President Carolina Haylock-Lohr, Honduras, Interventional Pain Physician
Benefits of meetings/committee membership/collaborations
ICN
Collaboration for nurse anesthesia increased recognition, collaborate work started 2019
ICN meeting NA presentation 2020 Congress (moved to online due to covid)
ICN APN guidelines NA – published 2021
ICN NA policy cafe Montreal Congress 2023
ICN APN committee 2025
ICN NA Expert Advisory Committee 2025
Meeting with Dean Dr. Ratsiri Thato and faculty from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand at the ICN Helsinki meeting June 2025. Connection to University and The Nurse Anesthetist Society of Thailand.
New contacts through WHO ACAN
Kate Holliday, Chief Nurse, Centre for Community-Driven Response (CCDR) a nurse led NGO in Geneva. ACAN member. developing a world federation for primary care and community nursing. org website: cc-dr.org
Beena Kamath-Rayne, MD Chicago
Senior VP, Global Health and Clinical Skills
American Academy of Pediatrics
Other Activities and support
Center for Global Nursing Certificate Program – University of California at San Francisco (UCSF)
I have joined as an invited Global Faculty
Weekly online zoom meetings Jan. 13th-March 31st, 2026
Anesthesia lecture is March 10th, 2026
Title: Nurse Anesthetists’ Workforce and Opportunities
Cost: $1475 students high income countries, $694 MIC, $395 LIC
Course Objectives
The program is designed to equip nurses and advanced practice providers to lead global health interventions by providing the tools to:
Apply the principles of the WHO 2020 Nursing Report, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the ICN’s International Nurses Day 2024 Report, and the global burden of disease to create sustainable global health solutions.
Analyze health disparities and implement strategies to promote social justice in healthcare.
Develop skills to strengthen health systems using the WHO Building Blocks framework and innovative, sustainable approaches.
Understand and foster bidirectional partnerships and collaborations in diverse cultural settings, with a focus on equity and continuous learning.
If anyone is interested or wants to share information with your associations, the program link is:
University of California San Francisco
IFNA meetings/greetings
Greek Operating Room Nurses Association (GORNA) Annual Meeting greetings (recorded)
Bosnia Annual meeting greetings (recorded)
Thailand: (recorded) By request of Rick Henker, I met with him and the Dean of Chulalongkorn University and faculty in attendance at ICN Helsinki to discuss their new Master of Nursing Science Program in Nurse Anesthesia, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Contacted in August by Nok Pataraporn, faculty, asked to record greeting for first cohort and congratulations (14 students) official opening Sept. 23rd. Heard back it was well received and helped raise awareness of program among nurses and public. I emailed Pataraporn and received the President’s contact for the Society of Nurse Anesthetists in Thailand. I emailed Mrs. Chintana Phanneter, President with greetings, explained IFNA and asked if their organization would be willing to join the IFNA. She returned my email this week, thanked me for reaching out and explaining IFNA and stated she would take my information and request to their board. Estimate of 4000 NA in Thailand. Very nice websites for NA both the University and the Society. Jennifer planning a visit next year and can add to this discussion.
Jamacia – had an online meeting with several representatives of the Jamaica Association of Nurse Anesthetists to discuss their reported challenges in practice by the medical community, loss of respect. 17 members of JANA, 5 are retired. I will follow up with them after this meeting.
Lecture ESNO Croatia June 2025 on Benefits of Specialization in Nursing. Also served as a panel member discussing specialization
Opening remarks and panel Macedonia meeting in Ohrid, Oct. 2025
Lecture and panel ESNO regional conference in Ohrid, Macedonia Oct. 2025
IFNA presentations to 7 US nurse anesthesia educational programs
AANA annual meeting presentation with Mary Mungai, Dr. Mark Newton (Kijabe NA program, Vanderbilt University) with Podcast taping. Aired Nov. 13, Beyond the Mask.
Other support:
Tanzania – met several times by zoom to discuss development of masters education
Angola request concerning education- awaiting contact
Brazil – former presentation by me several years ago, Rick Henker gave presentation this year
Australia – Queensland Hospital system inquiry
New country member applications – Montenegro and Zambia. You all received the email from ED Rod concerning our new members. We are very excited to have them join our IFNA family!
November meeting action items/outcomes
New IFNA Committee Members – Will begin their term on May 10, 2026
Practice Committee
Megan Engleman, DNP, CRNA – USA, Clinical anesthetist, Hendricks County
Hospital, Indiana, past president Indiana Association of Nurse Anesthetists,
Peace Corp – worked in Africa
Jytte Pedersen, CRNA (DEN) – Denmark, completing CNR service May 2026
Chia Chu Li, CRNANP, Taiwan – Head Nurse Anesthesiology, Taichung Veterans
General Hospital
Education Committee
Kuei-Lin Liao, Taiwan. Doctoral degree in progress, Master’s degree. Head nurse, anesthesiology.
Dr. Hideyo Tsumura, PhD, CRNA, USA/JANA member. Assistant Professor Duke University full time academic position, also actively working to help Japan advance the NA role. A member of the US AANA and of JANA, nominated by Japan.
Thank you to all of our task force leaders and a quick summary of their reports:
ESAIC/IFNA: Jaap Hoekman – work continues
Policy Manual: Jytte Pedersen – final editing in process, manual updated/approved by officers and executive committee. Will share after final formatting.
Website: Mai Taki – website vendor selected, contract approved and signed. Work on the new website has begun and we hope to have the new website live within months. Further, the decision was made to purchase the domain ifna.org
ED search – The officers discussed the current status of the ED search. If you have nominations or nurse anesthetists interested in this position, please have them submit their applications by Dec. 31st.
To summarize, the job is part-time with part-time salary but without benefits. Travel to 4-5 global meeting a year is expected and all expenses are paid. Prior experience in management or leadership of a global organization is preferred; minimum of a master’s degree is preferred. The job description is attached to the email and applications are accessible via this link:
IFNA Executive Director Application
I thank you for the honor of serving as your IFNA President. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I am grateful to have such a wonderful group of officers and executive committee members to help lead the IFNA, and for the great work of the CPC, Education and Practice Committee members. Together, we are doing great things for the global nurse anesthesia profession!
Blessings,
Jackie