Developing School of Nursing Partnerships with the United Nations Association
Purpose: The United Nations Association along with 193 countries created the Millennium Development Goals in the Year 2000. These goals were reevaluated and in 2015 presented as 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A private healthcare university committed to investing resources to develop a partnership with their city’s United Nation’s Association Chapter. Professors and faculty worked hard to create the chapter for their school using the guidelines provided by their local and regional UNA chapters. Upon presenting the necessary paperwork and creating bylaws, the faculty began to assist nursing students in helping bring those goals to fruition. Nursing students are integral in helping support these goals through fundraising, awareness, and advocacy. Involved nursing students yield alumni who will continue to carry out the mission of the United Nations. Creating awareness of the UNA and their sustainable development goals early on in nursing school is key to promoting lifelong awareness and advocacy for the work of the United Nations.
Methods: University leadership invested funds to develop a United Nations Association Chapter for their school located in an urban setting and serving vulnerable populations. Professors worked with senior leadership to create bylaws and elect student officers. Budgets were created and presentations were given to the University Board of Directors to create awareness of the work of the UNA as well as garner support from the top.
University professors sit as board members with local United Nations Associations (UNA) chapters. Local chapter leaders work with academic faculty to utilize and empower nursing students who carry out programs that have been developed by national and global chapters. Students are educated on programs such as Shot@Life, NothingButNets and HeForShe, as well as other programs empowering vulnerable populations. Students and professors then take their newly acquired knowledge and champion training out to their communities. Faculty also weave the sustainable development goals throughout their curriculum. At this university, the focus of the Doctoral Program in Nursing Practice (DNP) is Urban Health and Vulnerable Populations. Students graduating with their DNP’s must focus their research on vulnerable populations which can be further supported by the work of the United Nations.
Results: As a nursing school in an urban setting has found, collaboration with the UNA regional chapters has yielded several programs which support the vulnerable communities we face in healthcare. Students have been able to spearhead UNA initiatives with the guidance of their professors who sit on their local and regional UNA chapters. Involving students early on in the work of the UNA yields students who then join the UNA as alumni in the workforce. The work of the UNA at this urban healthcare university is delivered by both undergraduate and graduate students. The graduate students serve the vulnerable through the nurse practitioner program which supports health and wellbeing through free health screenings. Alumni also play a large role in advocating for the vulnerable as well as continuing to carry out the messages they learned as students working with the UNA.
Conclusion: The United Nations Association has programs in place that help support our vulnerable populations and sustain the quality of our earth. Supporting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is integral in keeping our population and environment healthy. Involving healthcare universities and nursing students early on in the UNA’s programs allows them to help their communities while further developing their skills as nurses, leaders, and citizens of the world. Professors and university leaders who work with the UNA can help guide those students in carrying out those programs. This initiative leads to greater support of the 17 SDG’s as well as greater participation in the UNA as alumni enter the workforce.