Before we close for Easter and then travel to Croatia for the Spring EFN General Assembly, taking place on 13-14 April – bringing together the EFN members from 36 National Nurses Associations from all over Europe, to discuss key EFN/nurses policy topics and concerns, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy Easter.
These first months have shown another very difficult period for all of us, including the nursing profession. It is heart-breaking to see the nurses massively leaving the profession, creating a human resource pandemic. It is not anymore about the intention to leave the profession…it is a silent resignation as never seen before. This will lead to healthcare systems in the EU collapsing. Post-COVID-19 coupled with decades of underinvestment, the daily risk to patient safety and the moral distress caused by an inability due to the poor working environments to deliver the quality of care, it is impossible for our nurses to stay in the profession.
The complex health challenges across the EU makes it imperative to develop innovative and accessible European tools and mechanisms to analyse, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the solutions across the health and social care ecosystem. The EFN really hopes that the ongoing Swedish EU Presidency and the 2 upcoming ones (Spain and Belgium), together with the European Commission and the European Parliament, will extend the dialogue on this urgent need and make things happen, for the safety of the patients, as not reacting will put patients’ safety at risk.
Wishing you all a happy and blessed Easter!