In preparation of the EFN Autumn General Assembly, that will take place in October 2024, in Poland, the EFN Executive Committee met on 5 September 2024, to discuss key EU policy topics linked to EFN ongoing and upcoming work within the scope of its Strategic and Operational Lobby Plan 2021-2027. These include topics as Advanced Practice Nurses (APN), Recruitment & Retention / Unethical recruitment, CPD, Safe Staffing Levels, Digitalisation and AI, the Future of the European Health Union, the EU Health and Care Workforce Strategy, that will be discussed by the EFN members at the next General Assembly.
With the new European Commission and European Parliament, it is crucial to make sure nurses’ voice continues to be taken into account in the EU policymakers’ political agenda for the next five years, and that we all work together towards the same goal: making a positive difference for the nurses and the nursing profession. For the EFN, it is important to link EFN lobby actions to the EU developments, pipeline legislative and non-legislative EU initiatives that impact on nurses’ education, nursing workforce and quality and safety of frontline care, including the digitalisation of the healthcare ecosystem, and to have a real to impact in the EU policy process.
Looking at the huge ongoing shortage of nurses, it is crucial that the EU and the national governments provide solutions for a resilient nursing workforce. Upgrading the status of nurses and the quality of nursing care through targeted interventions and investments, including through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), is key to ensuring the resilience of the health workforce and the long-term sustainability of the EU’s health systems.