2017 was an intense lobby year for the nursing community within the EU, and politically a very important year for the nursing profession. Austerity measures in all the EU Member States, have been leading to severe cuts in nursing ratios and nursing education, with governments looking at ‘crisis’ as an opportunity to develop a cheap nursing workforce. And these cuts are anno 2017 still far from over!
But 2017 brought several political debates of high importance to nurses and nursing, as the new Proportionality Test Directive, Digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence, and the uneven distribution of workforce, a topic that is being discussed for the last decade. We made the nurses’ voice heard in several political meetings and lobbied key EU stakeholders, policy-makers and politicians, and it is proudly that we can say that we got concrete outcomes, on which 2018 EFN lobby activities can build on.
And all this would not be possible without EFN Members and key policy makers support and trust. As such, and before we enjoy a well-deserved break, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your collaboration and continued support to the nurses and nursing throughout the year. We look forward continuing our alliance in 2018.
Finally, as in previous years, in lieu of sending Christmas cards, the EFN made a donation to the Girl Child Education Fund of the International Council of Nurses, which supports the primary and secondary schooling of the orphaned daughters of nurses in developing countries.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!