The second half of 2015 has fruitfully started with the planning of key topics to be debated and important policy events being organised, to which EFN will contribute:
First of all, the EFN has been invited to participate as expert in the European Commission DG Internal Market TAIEX Workshop on Education of Nurses and Midwives, to take place in Belgrade (Serbia) on 15-16 September 2015. Co-organised by the Association of Health Workers of Serbia (EFN Member), the meeting is aiming to bring clarification of the Education for nurses and midwives – related Directives included in the Acquis of the European Union. The EFN will bring some clarification about the Acquis Communautaire & Directive 2013/55/EU and will explain what the minimum educational requirements are for nurses at EU Level (cf. EFN Competency Framework).
The EFN is also taking part in DG Santé conference “Lessons learned for public health from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa – how to improve preparedness and response in the EU for future outbreaks” to take place on 12-14 October 2015, in Luxembourg. Aiming to identify learning points arising from the Ebola epidemic, the conference will be organised around four workshops that will analyse (1) the Ebola outbreak as a complex crisis: the EU response and inter-sectoral cooperation, (2) best practices for treatment and prevention including protection of health care workers, medical evacuation, diagnostic methods and vaccines, (3) communication activities and strategies addressed to the public and health professionals and (4) the EU preparedness and response planning as part of global health security. The EFN will take this opportunity to present the results of its survey on “EU Health Professionals’ Perceptions of Preparedness for Ebola and Infectious Diseases of High Consequences (IDHC)”, bringing the conclusion that we are not prepared for such pandemics unless we are all prepared!
Next to these two important events, the EFN will also be organising key meetings as:
- A closed high-level dinner on “Women in Integrated Care”, organised on 24 November 2015, in Brussels, together with COCIR in the context of COCIR’s second annual eHealth Summit. The event will focus on the role of women in ICT enabled Integrated Care, with the aim to initiate a high-level dialogue between interested parties on this topic, and articulate the role of nurses and social care workers in ICT enabled Integrated Care, with a special focus on women (based on outcomes of the EU funded ENS4Care project).
- A session on “eHealth services and a highly qualified health workforce to support health systems’ reform”, being held on 8 December in the European Parliament, in the context of Knowledge4Innovation 7th European Innovation Summit. This event will mark the end of EFN EU project ENS4Care and will focus on the potential of eHealth in supporting the health systems’ reform by introducing the project guidelines on the deployment of eHealth services in different areas: prevention, clinical practice, advanced roles, integrated care and nurse ePrescribing, that empower nurses and social workers to fully use eHealth services to improve quality of care and citizens’ wellbeing.
The EFN is also invited to participate in some key meetings, as:
- OECD/Eurostat/WHO coordination meeting to be held on 22-23 September, in Luxembourg, to discuss about their Joint questionnaire on non-monetary health care statistics, where the EFN proposed approach to data collection on nurses (EFN matrix 3+1) will be discussed.
- Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) meeting organised in Luxembourg, on 12-13 October, where participants will discuss about: patient safety and the importance of training and continuing education for health professionals; the European research on new professional roles and nursing skills. The EFN will take this opportunity to present its ENS4Care EU project Evidence Based Guidelines for Nurses and Social Care Workers for the deployment of eHealth services; and the role of nurses in the care provided to people living with dementia.
And to be a keynote speaker in some other one, as:
- ANFIIDE congress in Avignon, to take place on 1-2 October 2015, in which the EFN will present its lobby work, and how EFN positions and strengthens the nursing profession at the European level;
- The European Union of Private Hospitals conference on “Modernization of healthcare systems: which kind of investments for sustainable and efficient systems accessible to European citizens”, to be held in Milan on 17-18 September where the EFN will express about patient and professional mobility impact on national healthcare systems.
Finally, we can say that the EFN political agenda is providing good opportunities to make the nurses voice heard and their views provided at EU level on crucial topics for the nurses and the nursing profession as: education and training to be fit for practice (DIR55), working in daily practice and being supported (Workforce), and delivering high quality and safe services within a multi-disciplinary team (Quality & Safety), including ehealth.