One of the key European Parliament political priority is the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which recognises gender-based violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination.
Gender violence and discrimination is a very important issue for EFN, as most of the nurses are women exposed to all kinds of risks in the workplace. About that, EFN has collected data from EFN members on the real-life evidence from the nursing frontline across 26 countries. According to the EFN Report on violence against nurses , findings point to significant concern with regard to the type and frequency of nurses’ experience of violent incidents at work. This report gives an overview on the current situation in terms of concerns, difficulties and challenges, but it also spread reliable information on best practices and initiatives to protect nurses in their workplace.
Another key political priority for the European Parliament is the AI Act – which represents a step closer to the first rules on Artificial Intelligence. The Internal Market Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee adopted a draft negotiating mandate on the first ever rules for Artificial Intelligence with 84 votes in favour, 7 against and 12 abstentions.
In their amendments to the Commission’s proposal, MEPs aim to ensure that AI systems are overseen by people, are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmentally friendly. They also want to have a uniform definition for AI designed to be technology-neutral, so that it can apply to the AI systems of today and tomorrow.
AI is increasingly affecting the functioning of the healthcare systems and it represents a great opportunity for improving it. AI has the potential to improve nursing care – both from the nurses’ and from the patients’ point of view. AI tools could allow nurses to better accompany, support and empower patients in their planning and delivery of frontline care. To know more about AI in the healthcare sector, read the EFN Position Statement on Nurses Co-Designing Artificial Intelligence Tools.
Finally, theEuropean Year of Skills 2023 represents a key starting point for having a workforce with the skills that are in demand contributes to sustainable growth, leads to more innovation and improves companies’ competitiveness.
In a constantly changing world, the skills needed to ensure sustainable development are changing. To create a robust and resilient healthcare ecosystem and be better prepared for future challenges, upskilling and reskilling nurses is crucial. In addition to fundamental nursing skills, nurses can build capacity in digital skills to contribute to the digital transformation of the healthcare ecosystem. The EFN welcomes the designation of 2023 as the European Year of Skills by the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and European Parliament.
In conclusion, the EFN’s agenda goes hand in hand with the EU political agenda in order to have a great impact and make a difference for the 3 million nurses represented in the European Union.
Working hard for greater results!