# Nursing Power – to Change the World > The ICN Congress held in Helsinki on June 2025 addressed many critical themes and this article explores a few of them. ## Overview of the ICN Congress For the first time in a century, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress was held in Finland, bringing together nursing professionals and experts from around the globe in early June. The congress was opened by ICN President **Pamela F. Cipriano**, and the opening ceremony featured nurses’ associations from several countries. Finnish Nurses Association was also represented by the president **Heljä Lundgrén-Laine**. During the week-long congress, key themes included nursing practices, nursing education, and leadership. There were many inspiring speakers from around the world, including NLN President **Beverly Malone**, Professor **Linda Aiken**, and **Paula Risikko**. Risikko highlighted that core nursing functions support not only health, but also social and psychological resilience, as well as inclusion—key elements in maintaining societal functioning and wellbeing. Professor Linda Aiken, one of the main directors of the Magnet4Europe program, spoke in a session that explored nurse wellbeing, retention, and patient safety. Beverly Malone delivered a particularly inspiring message, emphasizing that nurses are not only caregivers but also key actors in transforming healthcare. ## Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Care A central theme of the congress was the recognition of nurses’ capacity to influence the world around them. Topics varied from complex global health issues to nursing in conflict areas. One of the most prominently featured topics was artificial intelligence (AI). The overarching consensus was that when applied appropriately, AI represents a valuable and supportive tool in education (Salomon, 2025) and healthcare contexts. AI applications are already in use, such as systems capable of predicting changes in blood glucose levels (Yorke, 2025). In nursing practice, AI can ease documentation burdens, support proactive care, and reduce risks. It is essential that nurses be involved in the development of AI applications (Murphy, 2025), and AI must be integrated into nursing curricula and pedagogical practices (El Arab et al., 2025; Murphy, 2025). The discussion also emphasized how data-driven care supports clinical decision-making and positions nursing as a visible part of the STEM field (Yorke 2025, Risling 2025). ## Global Standards and Nordic Nursing Global standards in nursing education were the focus of one session, aiming to improve quality and harmonize educational frameworks to enhance international mobility. However, regional and cultural specificities must continue to be acknowledged (Campbell, 2025). In the session “Experience Nordic Nursing,” organized by the Nordic Nurses Federation (NNF), Minister of Social Affairs and Health **Kaisa Juuso** addressed the national state of nursing in Finland. The session also covered remote healthcare delivery in Denmark and an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) project in the Faroe Islands (Tróndarson, 2025). Additionally, speaker **Thorsteinn Jónsson** highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary learning centers, noting: “How can they work together if they don’t learn together?” ## Nurse Migration and Mobility The session “Nurse Migration and Mobility” explored internationalization, noting that internationally educated nurses (IENs) often face cultural differences in values and clinical practices. A key theme was the importance of ethical recruitment. The session introduced the *WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel – National Reporting Instrument* (WHO, 2024). According to Brubakk et al. (2024), bilateral labour agreements (BLA) may serve as an effective mechanism to ensure the ethical recruitment of IENs. ## Exhibition and Future Outlook The Exhibition Area featured various organizations, including SimX, which demonstrated a virtual reality-based system for nursing education, allowing participants to practice scenarios ranging from operating rooms to home care. The congress provided a comprehensive overview of the international context of nursing, strengthening professional competence and broadening perspectives on the future of the profession. The next ICN Congress will be organized in Nashville, Tennessee in September 2026. ## Resources * Brubakk, K., Godfrey, M., Kwaku, F., Solberg, T., & Toure, Y. (2024). Can bilateral labour agreements safeguard the rights, health and well-being of internationally educated nurses in Europe? Full report & recommendations. GNLI Scholars Euro Region. * Campbell, C. (2025). Do we need global standards in nursing education? ICN congress. 10.6.2025. * El Arab, R. A., Al Moosa, O. A., Abuadas, F. H., & Somerville, J. (2025). The role of AI in nursing education and practice: Umbrella review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27(4), e69881. * Murphy, J. (2025). The digitalization of EU health care systems: upskilling and reskilling the EU nursing workforce for sustainable and resilient healthcare systems. ICN congress. 10.6.2025. * National League for Nursing. (2020). Core competencies for academic nurse educators. * Salomon, R. (2025). Integrating AI into Nursing PhD Education: A Pedagogical Innovation for Enhancing Student Engagement with Theory Research. ICN congress. 10.6.2025. * Risling T. (2025) Revolutionizing health care with digital innovations – An opportunity to revolutionize nursing as a STEM discipline. ICN congress. 10.6.2025. * Tróndarson, T. (2025). The APN FO Project. ICN Congress. 10.6.2025. * Yorke, J. (2025). Revolutionizing health care with digital innovations – An opportunity to revolutionize nursing as a STEM discipline. ICN congress. 10.6.2025. ## Writers * Merja Natunen, RN, MHSc, Teacher * Tanja Miettinen TtM, RN, MSc, Lecturer