Plaudits and Gripes - The Voice of Nursing Has to be Loud and Clear

Abstract

This past fall, the 14th World Congress of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) was held in Montreal. Over ten thousand specialists in women's health gathered to share, disseminate, discuss and debate new research and ideas in this diverse and rapidly growing field. Given that nursing is so closely connected with women's health, one would assume the voice and vision of nursing would have been loud and clear at this huge, multidisciplinary conference. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Despite the fact that much of the research was essentially nursing's domain, the nursing perspective was virtually non-existent.