ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to familiarise nurses and their supporters with the most common international institutions that influence the global context of nursing care. International institutions play an important role in Global Health Governance (GHG). The chapter reviews four of the most influential international institutions that affect nurses and nursing and provides examples of how their role in GHG has affected nursing personnel or issues related to nursing in different regions of the world. The four institutions are: International Council of Nurses (ICN); World Health Organization (WHO); World Bank; and International Labour Organization (ILO). In nursing, researchers and policymakers are only just beginning to explore how development investments directly and indirectly impact nurses and their work. The chapter focuses on a lot of 'big picture' issues related to nursing. It uses an example of a cholecystectomy to show how all these things relate to the 'real world' of clinical nursing practice.
