The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has again been designated as a World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership.

As a collaborating center, the school will work with WHO on the following “terms of reference”:

• contribute to the development of primary health care-based systems by strengthening nursing and midwifery human resources to address the Millennium Development Goals (They include improving maternal health and reducing child mortality.);
• systematically promote sustainable inter-professional education and collaborative research.
• assist in fostering development of human resources by working to reduce nurse shortages and to improve work environments for nurses.

“We feel that these terms of reference best capture the expertise and interest of the greatest number of our faculty while reflecting the future directions of our international mission,” said School of Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis, PhD, RN, FAAN, a Pennsylvania State Nurses Association member.

There are a total of 44 WHO collaborating centers globally. Of these, 11 are in the United States. The Penn School of Nursing’s collaborating center was first designated in 1988 under then-Dean Claire Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN.

This designation was effective this summer and lasts until 2014.  The millennium goals can be found online at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs290/en/.

Susan Trossman is the senior reporter in ANA’s communications department.