The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress takes place virtually from the 2–4 November. Our very own Head of Practice Experience in Nursing, Gillian Berry, will deliver an address.
ICN is a federation of over 130 national nurse organisations and represents more than 27 million nurses worldwide. The ICN Congress is held every two years and is set to be the largest gathering of nurses from across the world in 2021. Other high-profile speakers include Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary General of the United Nations; and Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization.
Person-centred Healthcare Innovation
Gillian has over 25 years of clinical experience in the acute medical, cardiac, coronary care and infection prevention and control specialties. She serves as Head of Practice Experience for the BSc (Hons) in Nursing in General Nursing. As the liaison between the College and the clinical areas where students undertake clinical placements, her role is to ensure that all students are supported while on placement and to assist any students seeking further help in their clinical learning.
Gillian’s ICN presentation is titled ‘Creating person-centred innovative solutions to clinical and societal unmet needs’. She will share her experience of creating a technology innovation project from the perspective of an intrapreneur within the public hospital system. Gillian will also detail the lessons she learned while creating Open-Source Volunteers Extended (OSVX) — a voluntary open-source community started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as her insights on technology supports that are transforming the nurse education sphere.
Transforming Healthcare
In addition to her role within the College, Gillian is CEO of PerCen Technologies, which she founded in response to challenges she felt were not addressed in healthcare. As mentioned above, Gillian also co-founded OSVX, one of the first international open-source efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She led over 1,000 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) professional volunteers, representatives of academic institutions, small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) and multinationals and facilitated 30 projects with a transfer of knowledge and skills.
Gillian has presented at national and international conferences and sits on European judging panels as an innovation expert. She is a board member of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Health (EIT Health) Alumni and Coordinator for the UK/Ireland. She is a former national committee member of the Irish Nurses Cardiovascular Association (INCA) and has been involved with many European working groups. Gillian was named the 2021 Network Ireland Mayo Businesswoman of the Year.
