ODENNA Nursing Associations Mentorship Initiative (NAMI): Expanding Nursing Expertise Across Borders

ICN’s Organizational Development of National Nursing Associations (ODENNA) programme is designed to increase the influence, sustainability and advocacy of participating National Nursing Associations (NNAs) to help them meet ever-growing demands.

ICN recognizes that NNAs are pivotal in representing, nurturing and advancing the nursing profession within their countries.

To help make that happen, ICN has created ODENNA’s Nursing Associations Mentorship Initiative (NAMI), which is a pioneering scheme that sets up mentoring relationships between NNAs at different stages of their development. ICN has set up the NAMI scheme to recognise and utilise the vast experience and expertise  of our ICN global network. NAMI is an important step in reinforcing both ICN and our Associations’ sustainability to support the nursing profession and their patients.

The NAMI process is intended to empower, develop, sustain and increase the potential of the mentee NNAs by boosting their sustainable development and fostering international collaboration. The provision of support and a structured exchange of expertise with established global counterparts reinforces the mentee NNA’s foundational strength and operational efficacy.

The NAMI initiative is designed to:

1. Enhance strategic planning and/or change management capabilities of ODENNA participant associations within 12-months.
2. Implement approved strategic plans and/or change projects, catalysing sustainable development within these organizations.
3. Enhance operational efficiencies through effective knowledge transfer.
4. Expand professional networks to foster global collaboration and sustainable practices among NNAs.

NAMI Uganda-Australia

Agatha Ebessu Ariekot is a Senior Nursing Officer at Soroti University, Soroti City, part of the Uganda ODENNA team, and a member of the Ugandan Nurses and Midwives Association. The Uganda ODENNA team is working on a change project plan designed to improve the experience of mothers who have undergone Caesarean sections. The Uganda team is being mentored by the Australian College of Nursing.  

Ms Ariekot recently told ICN: “In Uganda there is a very high caesarean section rate, especially on young mothers. The [Soroti Regional] hospital is a regional centre, so women who have particularly difficult pregnancies end up going there because it might be possible that they would need a Caesarean section. We see very many young, young girls getting pregnant, for example, at the age of 15 or 17. They are very young girls, and they develop a lot of complications during their delivery, and that necessitates the Caesarean section. So, these are actually life-saving operations for the girls - the mothers and the babies.”  

‘And this [change project] is going to be piloted in Soroti regional Hospital. We have started on data collection in which we are collecting data from the health workers who handle the Caesarean mothers. And we are also doing a document review from the documents of the mothers who have been discharged and we are conducting interviews with the mothers.’  

‘I think the NAMI is a very good thing to have exchange, to have this pairing, to have mentorship from other nurses outside their countries, because it brings about sharing of how work is done in other NNAs so that there is growth and development of the NNAs, but also development of individual nurses, and the whole [health service of the] country.’  

‘We are very excited to continue in the partnership because it is going to help us in terms of publications, in terms of building our capacity in research; it is all very interesting, and we are very happy about the partnership.”  

Siobhan Hooper is a Senior Nurse Advisor at the Australian College of Nursing, (ACN) and a member of the group that is mentoring the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Association and helping it with its Caesarean section change project. 

The main focus of ACNs work will be helping with the analysis of data collected from the nurses and midwives involved with the women having Caesarean sections and the women themselves. And then the design and implementation of an educational programme for the staff involved. 

Ms. Hooper said, “The stark contrast between the health care for mothers in Uganda was a great motivator for getting involved in the project. Many of the young mothers who have Caesarean sections are not routinely having antibiotics before or after their operations, which is what the World Health Organization recommends. It means that many are discharged from hospital only to return with potentially life-threatening sepsis.”  

She continues, “It was really special to hear the nurses Alice and Agatha's stories and their motivation for doing this project. I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it because I absolutely see the value in this project. We are so fortunate in Australia that we don't often experience the problems that they do over in Uganda, and it's been a really fantastic opportunity to see and learn from the nurses what the challenges are that they currently face. They are so unique to that environment and we can really help with that.” 

She and her colleagues feel that the personal stories and challenges shared by the Ugandan nurses about the care and treatment of women undergoing Caesarean section have deepened the ACN's commitment to the project: and the mutual respect between the teams has ensured that the research is both meaningful and sustainable. 

Ms Hooper said that the ACN realised that they could bring certain skills and knowledge that would be helpful in guiding the Uganda nurses in the way the project would develop.  

“This is not an Australian College of nursing project. This is about the Ugandan nurses and what they want to achieve, which is to have a strengths-based project where they can tell us what they need, and we can then empower them to do it.” 

She and her colleagues believe the mutual benefits of mentoring in the NAMI scheme extend beyond the individual organizations involved, with the broader nursing and midwifery communities in both Australia and Uganda standing to gain from the shared knowledge and resources generated by this collaboration.  

One unforeseen advantage of the project is that very senior people from within the Ugandan health system have attended the online meetings between the two NNAs, which means the government and the highest echelons of policymakers are aware of the project and are advocating for it and its potential impact on the women and families involved. 

Ms Hooper said: “Working on this project has definitely been a privilege for myself with my midwifery background. It's hard to hear that something we take for granted - women coming in for Caesarean section and having access to antibiotics – is not routine in Uganda. [In Australia] we are so blessed with the regulations and the guidelines that we have, and the standards and the accreditation and all those things that we often go on about, but at the end of the day, we actually realize how blessed we are. 

‘Every single time we have a meeting on the project we all honestly count our lucky stars. We realise how much we've learnt from the nurses, especially from Agatha and Alice, and what they're going through. I can only hope that this continues and we are able to help them with this data analysis and that the education programme will really make a difference.”

Learn more about ODENNA here