Samoan nurses from all over the globe have been meeting at the National University of Samoa campus in Apia,  13 to 19 January, to celebrate the inaugural Samoan nursing symposium marking  the 2010 International Year of the Nurse.

The theme for the symposium was nursing and midwifery in a revitalised primary health care context and has attracted over 200 nurses mainly from Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.

Activities included lectures by experts, panel discussions, country papers, debates, drama presentations, visits to tsunami areas, group discussions, workshops and other activities.

On the first day, the CEO of the Ministry of Health, Palanitina Toelupe, spoke on The Samoa Health System in the Global Context.

On the second day, the Secretary of the Samoan Umbrella of Non Government Organisations, Mamulauulu Dr Nuualofa Tuuau Potoi, spoke on An Interpretation of a Revitalized PHC in an NGO Context.

Among the oustanding events was a public debate between nursing representatives of Samoa and New Zealand.

The topic was Cultural Safety in the Samoan Context, with Samoa taking the affirmative side, and New Zealand the negative side.

The event was full of humour and some good-natured exchanges but in the end, judge Peseta Noumea Simi declared it a draw. The second judge was Dr Satupaitea Viali.

Panel discussions were on the following topics: Nursing in a Reformed Health System; Millenium Development Goals and Primary Health Care.

Workshops focussed on: Emergency and Disaster Nursing; Health Systems – Governance and Leadership; Research and Evidence-Based Practice; Safe Motherhood: Importance of Pre-Natal Education; Mental Health and PHC

The symposium’s aims were:

To pay tribute to Florence Nightingale as the founder of modern nursing and her contribution to the world’s health care systems.

To remember and honour the personal and professiona journeys of all nurses and midwives of Samoan descent and their contributions to the Millenium Development Goals and primary health care.

To define a way forward for promoting and sustaining quality health care for Samoa and the opportunity to contribute to promoting Samoa’s vision for a healthy country.

According to Adjunct Professor Pelenatete Stowers, Assistant CEO, Ministry of Health, the symposium provides an “opportune catalyst for us as Samoan nurses to join together to celebrate our own personal and professional journeys in the true Samoan spirit of inclusiveness.”