| The Florence Network | |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Susan Schärli-Lim, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Winterthur |
| Leader Title2: | Vice-President |
| Leader Name2: | Jana Nemcova, Comenius University, Bratislava |
| Named After: | Florence Nightingale |
| Website: | https://sites.google.com/site/theflorencenetworkeu/home |
The Florence Network is a cross-nation European co-operation of nursing and midwifery departments from 18 different countries. It includes a total of 38 institutions across Europe. It focuses on international cooperation over educational and scientific issues, with the aim to develop and increase the quality of higher education in nursing, midwifery and health care. In this way the organization works to improve the image of the profession and to raise the profile of nursing and midwifery within Europe.[1]
The Florence Network's stated goals are principally concerned with European nursing and midwifery. They include organising student and lecturer exchange between network members, improving curriculum quality and facilitating research collaboration.
It is hoped that the network will help with identified issues in nursing, such as an aging workforce, nursing shortages in higher-income EU countries, workplace dissatisfaction in lower-income countries, and a need for more culturally sensitive healthcare.[2]
Institutions join the network by invitation only,[3] but do not pay membership fees. As of 2019, forty higher education institutions (HEIs) from the following European nations are members of the network:
Every year one of the partners - institutions of higher education (Universities of applied Sciences) is the host institution for the annual meeting.