Patient safety and quality of care are paramount health policy priorities and should continue to remain on the political agenda, with for the past decade a range of initiatives being championed by the European Institutions, and the European Commission in particular, making steady steps towards improving the quality, safety and efficiency of health service delivery in Europe. And the EFN has been supporting them engaging the nursing profession and monitoring their impact on clinical practice.
Within a context of tighter health and social care budgets and rising demands for high quality and safe care, advanced roles for nurses are a reality making the best use of the limited resources available to Ministers and even within this context of cuts enhance quality, improve access to care and outcomes.
The Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) – a registered nurse who has acquired further knowledge and expertise, clinical judgement, skilled and self-initiated care, and research inquiry – is part of the workforce equation, and one of the most effective ways of coordinating the ecosystem. ANPs develop and lead the implementation of evidence-based guidelines; contribute to the upscaling of the workforce skills, including eSkills, and inspire new recruits to the nursing profession; coordinate the continuity of care, mainly needed in the management of chronic conditions, improving quality and reducing costs; make effective use of eHealth solutions and contribute to further innovation in Nursing. Many EU countries already have regulation in place, as in Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia, and others have started the legislative process (Denmark, France, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden).
The nurses of Europe, represented through EFN, have first-hand knowledge of the weaknesses and strengths of the health and social care systems in place and are willing to share valuable insights to inform needed actions towards sustainability, efficiency, quality and safety in EU healthcare. Therefore Joint Actions need to be more inclusive, engaging Frontline. It is important to take the pulse of daily practice and remain informed of the reality of health and social service delivery safety and quality. The systematic knowledge development can make a significant contribution to the development of evidence-based policy towards effective health and social ecosystem reform in Europe.