The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) Foundation was launched at the 2019 National Nursing Forum to ensure Australian nurses have access to opportunities which will keep them at the cutting edge of health care delivery. Nurses are essential to health reform and managing the interface of patients engaging with health services. The complexities of the Australian health system require nurses to make clinical and commercial decisions about the advancement and potential scopes of clinical practice. They must also be governance leaders in financing, risk management and organising nursing work within health services.
To accomplish this, the ACN Foundation is committed to ensuring nurses can access the high-end leadership development that the Australian health care system requires from the profession. Nurses are the most cost-effective resource to health services and their evidence-based care and critical thinking skills are pivotal to high-quality health care delivery and system management. The ACN Foundation invests in the nursing profession by allowing interested individuals, organisations and businesses to make donations that contribute to enhancing the professional practice of thousands of nurses across Australia.
The Foundation was established by ACN, the pre-eminent and national leader of the nursing profession and a community of dynamic and passionate nurses. ACN is a derivative of two organisations with a long and proud history in Australia dating back to 1949. In 2012, The College of Nursing and the Royal College of Nursing, Australia unified and became the Australian College of Nursing. The Foundation supports the work of ACN as it advocates on behalf of the nursing profession, shares their expertise with policy makers, provides tertiary education and nurtures the nurses of tomorrow.