One of the largest gathering globally for International Nurses’ Day was at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) UK Congress in Belfast Northern Ireland (12-16 May 2018). With over 3,500 delegates, the RCN UK leadership Cecilia Anim CBE (President), Maria Trewern (Chair of Council), Janet Davies (Chief Executive and General Secretary) and Janice Smyth (Director RCN NI) all delivered powerful messages of solidarity recognising incredible innovation and excellence in nursing care against the current adversity and challenges. Janet Davies in her keynote address reaffirmed the importance of working in partnership and collaboration with European affiliates (such as EFN) post Brexit to collectively resolve the challenges that have implications for the nursing profession.
The EFN President, Elizabeth Adams, was invited to attend and witnessed and commended the exceptional event that showcased professionalism, innovation, creativity and a power of strength to deliver excellence. The Congress 2018 is dealing with a dynamic and ambitious agenda that is relevant to all European countries including, for example: recruitment and retention, staff substitution, make nurses, child refugees, harassment, mental health staffing, public health funding, robots, suicide, flu vaccine to name a few.