Massey alumna to be CEO of International Council of Nurses

Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Massey alumna appointed CEO of the International Council of Nurses

Massey alumna Dr Frances Hughes ONZM has been appointed the chief executive officer of the International Council of Nurses.

Dr Hughes was awarded the Massey University Distinguished Service Award in 2013. She has been the chief nurse and midwifery officer at Queensland’s Department of Health since 2012. Prior to this she was chief advisor (nursing) to New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, and a consultant at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other NGOs, working in Australia, South Pacific, United Kingdom, Canada and Asia.

Originally from Wellington, Dr Hughes was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to mental health in 2005. She has been instrumental in the professional development of mental health nursing in New Zealand and abroad, and has worked on a number of natural disasters, including the Boxing Day tsunami, Canterbury earthquakes and Hurricane Sandy.

Dr Hughes is excited about working for a nursing organisation at an international level. “Most of the time I have worked for governments and organisations within countries, but not purely in regards to taking nursing into a space and being able to legitimately talk about nursing and health care, so I think that’s really exciting”.

She will be making the move to Geneva with her husband, leaving a daughter in New Zealand and son in Australia. “I am really excited about living and working in another culture. I have worked in New Zealand and the Pacific, and now Australia, so the Southern Hemisphere is really key to me, so I am looking forward to being able to take that perspective to the Northern Hemisphere and European cultures.

“Often it is seen that big nursing activity is only happening in the Northern Hemisphere, but an awful lot is happening down here, and we have contributed a great deal to world health, through New Zealand in particular.”

Dr Hughes is also looking forward to learning a new culture and languages. “I don’t speak French or Spanish, and those are the languages at ICN, so I am very excited about getting to mix with people, and reconnect with colleagues in a very different place, in a very different role.”

Head of the School of Nursing Professor Annette Huntington congratulated Dr Hughes on her new role. “This is a highly appropriate appointment of a nurse who has long held substantial leadership positions following her graduation from Massey University. It will be excellent for ICN to have greater connection to and relationships with New Zealand nurses.”

International Council of Nurses president Dr Judith Shamian says, “We are delighted Frances has accepted our offer to be ICN’s next CEO and, together with the board, lead ICN, an organisation that has been serving nursing and health for over 100 years.”

Dr Hughes will spend two weeks in New Zealand meeting with health officials in February, before starting her new role in Switzerland later that month.

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