The EFN has met over 50 post-grad nurses from the University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. It was a great opportunity for the EFN to present how its lobby work towards the European Institutions is conducted, in order to represent the voice of nurses at the highest levels of European Policymaking.
A central component of the session was the presentation of the European funded projects that EFN is currently a partner in: the KEEPCARING Project and the ICUData4EU Project.
With regards to the KEEPCARING Project, the EFN gave an overview of the project main developments, including the project’s 6 clinical studies (more information can be found in this KEEPCARING Press Release). The knowledge generated through these studies will contribute to the KEEPCARING Change Management Platform (CMP) and to the wider project objective of supporting healthier, more resilient and future-proof health and care systems. In this regard, the EFN showed in Luxembourg a video which presented the CMP and its main functionalities. The feedback that EFN received was positive, which many post-grad nurses saying that they can picture themselves accessing the CMP in the near-future in order to monitor their stress, and access evidence-based interventions which can help them in improving their resilience.
The presentation of the CMP was followed by a demo of the VR solution being developed by the project partner Healthy Mind, which is being tested in Amsterdam UMC and Rigshospitalet Copenhagen to assess whether using VR before working in the OR, and using VR during shifts in the surgical ward, can help lower down stress and improve resilience. The post-grad nurses had the opportunity to test the VR, and their feedback was positive. However, some participants acknowledged that it is important to take into account the very limited time that nurses have for breaks during their shifts, especially when working in surgical wards or in operation rooms, when developing these interventions. It is for this reason that these interventions are being co-created and tested with frontline healthcare professionals in KEEPCARING, which is crucial to their long-term exploitation.
The presentation of the KEEPCARING Project was followed by a presentation of the ICUData4EU project. The project aims to standardize and enhance the cross-border use of patient data for critically ill individuals. By establishing a robust data infrastructure, ICUdata4EU will enhance clinical decision-making, enable personalized care, and drive predictive healthcare innovations, ultimately redefining critical care across Europe. The ICUdata4EU project is driven by a clear vision and well-defined objectives, including: developing a Standardized ICU Data Framework; developing Federated Data Space; developing Advancing Predictive Analytics; and Promoting Cross-Border Data Sharing. The post-grad nurses welcomed the project’s objectives and ongoing developments, and as many of them work in ICUs, they look forward to seeing the project’s deliverables being exploited!
Meetings like this one are key for the EFN, as they demonstrate the importance of the work being carried out both in Brussels and within EU projects, and provide EFN with plenty of feedback to improve the work further!