Last updated: 09 June 2008

President’s Message

Dear EFN Members and Colleagues,


Summer temperature has reached Europe, and we are all looking forward to a well-deserved summer holiday.

 

The spring has given us many challenges regarding health and health systems in Europe as well as working conditions and pay of nurses. Around Europe many National Nurses Associations have been on strike to improve their conditions e.g. the Nordic countries – it is likely that we will see those actions continue, to secure that we also in the future will be able to recruit and retain high skilled nurses in the health sector to benefit the patients.

 

In EFN we have been able to take up the many challenges in a constructive way, as Nurses are the promoters and vehicle for change. We are also the most vital group in the health sector. If Europe shall obtain quality health, nurses’ working conditions and pay must reflect their competencies and education, but also equal opportunities between men and women and public and private sector.

 

The EFN will continuously influence and lobby those in power in the European Union to secure a quality health system in Europe, to benefit patients and clients as well as nurses.

 

I wish you all a pleasant summer.

 

                                               Grete Christensen

                                                    EFN President

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09 June 2008


News from EFN

 

Future EU Green Paper on Healthcare Workforce

The EFN participated in a very successful and constructive informal meeting with Ms Liz Kidd from DG Sanco, on 8 May 2008, where the “Future EU Green Paper on Healthcare Workforce” was discussed. This meeting, organised by the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians, was a good opportunity to discuss the key issues to be covered by the forthcoming EU Green Paper on Health Professionals and to put forward EFN ideas into this consultation. Nurses suggested other title of Green Paper: “Promoting sustainable workforce in the EU”. The Green Paper is expected in November 2008.

Update


35th Panhellenic Congress

The EFN participated in the 35th Panhellenic Congress, organised by the Hellenic Nurses Association, an EFN Member, on 12-15 May 2008, in Athens, Greece. The theme of this annual Congress which brings together around 3.000 Greek nurses was: “Nursing: Quality and Safety in the Working Environment”. Addressing to the audience, the EFN General Secretary, stated that “despite the many challenges the nursing profession is facing in the near future, we all need to be very optimistic. Nurses are the promoters and vehicle for change. Nurses want to see results so recommendations and guidelines are not only ending up on book shelves.”

Update


EUNetPaS Project - WP2 “Education & Training”

The EFN participated in the meeting of the Work Package 2 (WP2) of the EUNetPaS project, held on 15-16 May 2008, in Athens, Greece. The objective of this meeting was to update the participants on the progresses made along the action points set in Utrecht; to bring into focus specific issues that need to be carefully addressed in designing the Recommendation/guideline document; and to agree on an initial set of items that should be addressed in the recommendation. The Work Package 4 (Field Testing on Medication Safety) will take place in Helsinki on 11 June 2008, followed by an overall coordination meeting in Paris on 22-23 September 2008. The EFN Members are asked to follow-up their contacts with their National Government representatives.

 

For further information, click here.

Update

News from the EU

 

EU Consultation on Medical Devices

The European Commission launched, on 8 May 2008, a public consultation on the next revision of the Medical Devices Directive, with the aim to modernise and simplify the legislation on Medical Devices. The EFN, who had together with Health First Europe, several events on this issue in the European Parliament, welcomes this initiative and strongly recommends that the basic principles of the new approach are maintained and that all medical devices are subject to the directive. The deadline to answer to this consultation is: 2 July 2008. As the EFN has a Position Statement on Medical Devices, the EFN members can respond to this consultation taking it into account.

 

For further information, click here.

 

Furthermore, the European Commission has published the results of the first public consultation on Reprocessing of Medical Devices. The EFN welcomes these successful outcomes which are in line with EFN Policy on Medical Devices: Reprocessing practice raises a lot of public health concerns as regards health risks associated with re-use of single-use medical devices in general; A guarantee of safety and reliability of the medical devices concerned and is understood to mean a device intended to be used once only for a single patient; Reprocessing is presented as a cost-saving and waste-reduction practice; If a single-use device is reprocessed, the liability for the product is incumbent on the reprocessing service provider. The EFN hopes that these results will help in guaranteeing patient safety.

 

For further information, click here.