The outbreak of Ebola and the world's reaction has served as a very good lesson to us all as to how problems which emerge in one country can quickly spread around the world and how solutions must be found on a global basis. It also reinforces the themes of the 2014–2018 ICN Strategic Plan: Global Voice, Strategic Leadership and Policy Impact (www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/about/ICN_Strategic_Plan.pdf). The idea that we are all global citizens and global nurses must be central to global health efforts and to our discussions in Seoul, Republic of Korea in June when several thousand nurses from all over the world gather for ICN's international conference. At the top of the global health agenda are topics such as universal health coverage, non-communicable diseases and healthcare financing. While 19 million nurses across the world provide care for the over seven billion people on this great globe, we are hard pressed to see how we shape ‘global health’ for ‘global citizens’. Our deliberations in Seoul, in the classrooms, around every table where nurses gather will focus on how to change the current reality to a new reality where it is clear to all – from bankers to presidents to CEOs – that global health will not happen without nursing and nurses' input. The science, the clinical and community based experiences and the relationships we have are all essential ingredients of transformation and building of better systems. So next time an ugly disease like Ebola raises its head, nurses and the global community will be ready with the structure, the infrastructure, the human resources, financial resources, teams and approach to avoid the loss of lives and unnecessary suffering. During our gathering, we need to come together as the nursing community and build a new nursing voice, a new strategic leadership and a new commitment for policy impact. We need to be active and present. The 2015 Conference offers the opportunity for nurses to enhance our knowledge, skills and attitudes of global citizens and develop a sense of social responsibility that will enable us to be well positioned to advance health locally and globally in our roles as nursing professionals. International meetings such as this one are tremendously important for the profession, and enrich us in so many ways. As global nurses and as global citizens, it is essential that we ensure the nursing voice makes an impact both within nursing and beyond. Many of you will have heard me speak about ‘the nursing bubble’, meaning nurses' tendency to stay within the boundaries of nursing. I would like to start seeing us make an impact outside that bubble. I would like to see us becoming involved, not only in shaping nursing and health policy, but also in politics and in professional advocacy. I am delighted that speakers coming to the ICN Conference are both from nursing and outside nursing, giving us the opportunity to make our voice heard by others, to hear other perspectives and to engage in debate. The ICN Conference in Seoul gives us an amazing opportunity to burst out of our bubble, and to look beyond our borders. By registering for the Conference, you are making a commitment to act globally. By attending the Conference, you are opening up your eyes and ears to the rest of the world. And, if after the Conference, each and every nurse who participated, were to go back to his or her own country and speak to a policy maker, a media person and a member of the public about nursing and the impact that nurses have on health and on developing active, informed and responsible citizens – just imagine the global impact we could have. See you in Seoul! Judith Shamian, PhD, RN ICN President president@icn.ch