Taking forward the European Parliament Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee vote last 6 November, the EU nursing leaders are now challenging their MEPs who voted against some of the amendments of the Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, namely on the compromise amendment on the 12-year requirement to access nursing education.
And EFN members are taking the lead on this:
DBfK, the biggest professional organisation of nurses in Germany, supports the research findings that reveal that highly educated nurses delivery high quality healthcare. In its letter addressed to the IMCO MEPs, DBfK argues that the dual system of nursing education in Germany is not as good as some German representatives are defending. Our German colleagues call on the MEPs to protect the interest of European patients and to vote in favour of the 12 years as the entry requirement for nurse education.
Highly surprised, FNIB regrets the ENVI vote result and has written a letter to aware Belgium Ministers and MEPs of its concerns. FNIB believes that this has a negative impact on the developments that the nursing profession has already taken forward, many of which Belgium is benefiting from. Due to the fact that task shifting trends are emerging across Europe but also around the world, doctors want to work with more autonomous and competent nurses.
Some weeks ago, an article published in a Swedish Journal brought up the opposition of Swedish nursing leaders (among them VÅRDFÖRBUNDET) to a two-tier system for nursing education. A low-level education system for nurses will imply that they will find difficulties to fulfil their duties in other countries where the education requirements are higher. Our Swedish colleagues call on European politicians to take responsibility for ensuring patient safety and quality of care by enabling a confident mobility framework for nurses.
In an article published by the Danish Nurses’ Organisation in the Danish magazine “Synergi”, Grete Christensen, President of the Danish Nurses Organisation, stressed the importance of the nursing education and the role of the politicians in modernising the Directive on Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications: “We need to ensure that young people are equipped in the best possible way to enter nursing education. Societal developments such as more elderly, more chronic conditions and early discharge from hospital demand higher educational requirements from nurses.”
In a letter to MEP Jolanta Hibner (Poland, EPP), Dorota Kilańska, from the Polish Nurses’ Association, expressed the polish nurses disappointment on her vote against the 12-year requirement, as it can be read in the following article published in website Rynekzdrowia: “We are very sorry that you chose not to ask about the position of the nursing environment in Poland (…). It’s 6 million nurses across Europe who, after much discussion, decided they do not want a two-speed Europe as regards nursing. (…) I want the future generations to ensure a good start in a modern profession, open to a changing environment (…)”.
In the same line, the Belgian Nurses’ Association (FNIB) informed its Ministry of Health and MEPs on the strong disappointment of the Belgian nurses on the vote of their MEPs (mainly by Isabelle Durant – a former nurse) against the 12-year requirement, and is now calling them to “wake-up” and support the nursing profession.
Also, the Royal College of Nursing, from UK, has been contacting their MEPs from the European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee to get support on the need for 12 years or equivalent general education to access the nursing education programmes, in the IMCO Committee debate on the revision of DIR36, to take place on 28 November 2012, as well as during the vote on 24 January 2013.
As pointed out by Dorota Kilańska, a unified education system in Europe is important not only for the mobility of healthcare professionals within the EU, but also for patient safety and the quality of care. Thus, the ENVI Committee MEPs vote in favour of the 10-year education is seen by the nursing leaders as a real step backwards, which can have massive consequences in the European health systems.
