Established in 1971 when the Directive on Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications was designed, the EFN, 42 years later, pushed for modernizing the Directive in such a way that the new EU legislative text empowers nurses in the future healthcare systems. Article 31 is KEY and advances the nursing education. However, this has been a real political challenge mainly in times when cuts are more important on the political agenda than investing in health and education.
We have reached today a very positive policy outcome, knowing that nurses’ compliance with the Directive is crucial to achieve ‘fitness to practice’ and to deliver safe and high quality services in nursing care, with a clear focus on the “competence to independently diagnose the nursing care required using current theoretical and clinical knowledge and to plan, organise and implement nursing care when treating patients” next to “to independently give advice to, instruct and support persons needing care”. The modernised Directive makes it clear that nurses will ‘independently assure quality of and to evaluate nursing care” and to analyse the care quality to improve the own professional practice as a general care nurse.
Today, the three EU institutions – European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of the European Union – have strengthened nursing education for the coming 42 years! Now it is up to the nursing profession, the nursing educators and the regulators to put this Directive in practice. The competences must now be taken forward and further developed in the Annex V of the Directive, based on delegated acts, in order to orient national legislation and implementation into the national curricula.
The EFN is extremely pleased with the trialogue outcome and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the different EU Presidencies involved in this process, the European Commission DG Internal Market and the European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) for their openness and willingness to listen to the united voice for nurses and nursing.