The World Health Organization (WHO) has redesignated the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies (SONHS) as a Pan American Health Organization/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Human Resources Development and Patient Safety for the next 4-year cycle (2020-2024). The prestigious SONHS designation has been in place since 2008. The school is currently one of only 8 nursing-related WHO Collaborating Centres in the nation and one of 44 in the world.
A Collaborating Centre is an institution designated by the WHO Director-General as part of a global collaborative network that carries out activities in support of the WHO’s programs. The SONHS collaborates with the PAHO/WHO and with its partner PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centres throughout the Americas on initiatives that strengthen nursing leadership education, primary care delivery skills, technical expertise, and research capacities in the PAHO region.
The school’s redesignation work plan and terms of reference extend this commitment to collaborate on additional multi-center projects with health care institutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing the areas of patient safety, health disparities, training program development, and disaster response. One new project entails developing and disseminating a survey of disaster curricula in Latin American nursing schools, from mass casualty events to disaster response for global health crises like COVID-19.
“We are excited to continue working collectively with PAHO/WHO and our international partners to address current global health issues such as the nursing shortage,” said Johis Ortega, Collaborating Centre co-director and associate dean for Hemispheric and Global Initiatives at SONHS. “Vulnerabilities intensified by the pandemic have only strengthened our resolve to build lasting academic bridges with the Caribbean and Latin America.”
