The digitalisation of the EU healthcare systems brings significant benefits in care delivery, but to make digital healthcare work, strong policies are essential. The central role of nurses in this process is also key to maximising the potential of these innovations. Therefore, it is crucial to engage frontline nurses in the co-creation of the digitalisation process so that they can indicate what the healthcare system and frontline nurses really need to drive change. Digitalisation also implies that nurses have new skills to be better prepared to face daily and future healthcare challenges. Upskilling nurses’ competencies to ensure that new technologies, including AI, get implemented remains a top priority for EFN.
The symposium that the EFN organised in Helsinki (Finland), in the context of ICN Congress 2025, showed how frontline nurses are helping to design digital tools and AI that meet their frontline needs in daily clinical practice, and explored how EU legislation (Directive 2013/55/EU & Annexe V; Pact for Skills; European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility; European Pillar of Social Rights; EHDS; EU AI Act; NIS2 Directive; European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers) supports the frontline deployment of safe and fit-for-purpose digital tools, as well as the upskilling and reskilling of the nursing workforce, to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital landscape, helping nurses to stay at the centre of the digital transition.
Key experts from Norway, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Ireland gave an overview on nurse-led best practices in implementing AI and digital tools in clinical settings, sharing concrete examples of successful deployments that enhance nurses’ daily workflows and patient care.
The symposium also highlighted the EU projects where EFN has been a key partner, focusing on developing innovative digital and AI-driven solutions to support the resilience and well-being of Europe’s nursing workforce: BeWell – aiming to upskilling and reskilling the nursing workforce, through the development of a green and digital skills strategy for the health ecosystem to be implemented at a local, regional, national, and European level; KEEPCARING – aiming to (re-)build wellbeing and resilience of the healthcare workforce in hospital settings, to promote onboarding, as well as staying in the workplace; and ICUData4EU – aiming to establish and deploy a pan-European federated infrastructure for Intensive Care Units’ (ICU) data combined with governance mechanisms allowing secure cross-border access to ICU datasets
Finally, the Symposium concluded highlighting some key benefits that AI can offer in nursing care, as reducing administrative tasks and/or tasks with little added value; remote monitoring of patients suffering from chronic diseases (e.g. blood sugar monitoring in diabetic patients); simplifying the measurement/monitoring of patient parameters (blood pressure, saturation, heart rate, temperature); helping to make evidence-based decisions about the best care to be achieved; and improve occupational well-being for healthcare professionals – Workflows. The deployment of AI cannot mean a disinvestment in other areas of healthcare systems. Retention and recruitment of health professionals needs to be a priority as well as for providing safe staffing levels and good working conditions to provide the best patient care.
