In June this year 215 delegates from 22 countries including nurses, educators, and researchers from around the globe gathered in Perth, Australia, for the 17th International Family Nurses Association (IFNA) Conference with the theme Promoting Family Strengths Globally in Challenging. 

We were especially proud to see Minette Coetzee, Director of the Harry Crossley Children’s Nursing Development Unit (CNDU), open the conference as the keynote speaker - a well-deserved honour and a celebration of the African-led innovation shaping children’s nursing. Her presentation Ubuntu in Action: Transforming African Paediatric Care Through Family Presence and Belonging was enthusiastically received by international colleagues. There was deep appreciation for the way in which African nurses are reimagining family engaged care that is rooted in their grasp of the resources inherent in this deep sense of belonging in families and communities. 

For nearly two decades, the CNDU has championed a strengths-based approach in its work with students, clinicians and educators. At the heart of this is Appreciative Inquiry, a research and practice approach that helps nurses recognise and describe their practice, often making previously unarticulated work visible. It’s a way of working that focuses on what’s working well, and how to build on it - something that resonates deeply in today’s complex health care environment. 

The IFNA keynote offered the perfect platform to share the scholarship journey of this work – from the rigorous conceptualising of these practices to measuring impact in the Best Practice Project 1.0 rolled out in 2022 and 2023 across eight hospitals in five African countries. This project, generously funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, worked with children’s nurse teams to build their capacity to lead care that led to measurably excellent outcomes for children and their families. A rigorous evaluation of the project in 2024 showed real change, both in care practices and in how nurses see their role as change agents. 

Looking ahead, Minette also introduced the Best Practice Project 2.0. This next phase incorporates the lessons related to building capacity for best practice to building leadership capacity among children’s nursing educators across the region. The aim? To build a Community of Practice of exceptional nurse educators who are preparing Africa’s future neonatal and children’s nurses.  

As always, the true privilege of conferences like these lies in connecting in-person with nurse colleagues, clinicians, educators, and researchers from across the world - creating opportunities for new and sustained collaborative work in future.  

Photo: Minette Coetzee with Professor Sarah Jane Neill, Professor of Nursing at the University of Plymouth