Brief Introduction

The APANE is an alliance of educational institutions organized to advance nursing education in the Asia and Pacific regions. The impetus for the APANE began during the Asia Congress in Nursing Education Conference (ACiNE) organized by Mahidol University, Thailand in 2014. At this 1st Congress, a consensus was reached to continue an ACiNE every other year to strengthen the educational collaboration throughout the Asia and Pacific regions. The 2nd ACiNE conference was held at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan in 2016. An alliance was proposed in a close door meeting at the 2nd ACiNE conference. Nursing educators from 16 countries discussed the challenges and opportunities of nursing education in the 21 century. A social media account was established to facilitate further discussions concerning educational collaboration as well as to circulate educational information among collaborating nursing schools. The 3rd ACiNE conference was held in Yojakarta, Indonesia in 2018 with further discussion among scholars for the establishment of a formal educational alliance in the Asia and Pacific regions.

2014 The 1st ACiNE in Banglok, Thailand	2016 The 2nd ACiNE in Tainan, Taiwan	2018 The 3rd ACiNE in Yogyakarta, Indoneis

A steering committee was established in 2018-2019 to organize the Alliance. In response to the challenges in current nursing education in Asia and Pacific regions, the Alliance aims at providing a platform to generate educational innovations for fostering future nursing leaders. The members of the steering committee included scholars from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan Nurses Association, Taiwan Association of Nursing Education, Kaohsiung Medical University, Thai Mahidol University, Vietnam Nurses Association and The Association of Indonesian Nurse Education Center.

Initial Plan and Current Progress

The initial plan of the Alliance is to creating an international platform to enhance partnership and collaboration among nursing professionals, articulate the challenges, issues, and opportunities for nursing education from Asia and Pacific perspectives, develop unique teaching and learning approaches based on diverse cultures, and create culturally sensitive models of nursing education in the Asia and Pacific Regions. Nursing schools and nursing education associations in these regions are welcomed to join the Alliance through an application process. The steering committee will hold an opening ceremony for the inauguration of the Alliance on September 6, 2019. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and National Cheng Kung University funded the work of the steering committee in response to the New Southbound Policy in Taiwan.

Currently, the preparation committee is scheduled to invite significant experts, scholars, and official representatives from Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Turkey, and Taiwan domestic nursing education schools and institutes, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Education, and local officials to participate in the APANE inauguration and opening ceremony. The Establishment of the Alliance Headquarters in the Department of Nursing, NCKU is expected to accomplish the academic and educational resource exchange center and platform for Nursing Education in Southeast Asia.