This time we focus primarily on the area of safe surgery, with an editorial from Dr Atul Gawande at the Harvard School of Public Health, in which he outlines the process which was adopted to get the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist up and running. There is also a related piece about the Global Pulse Oximetry Project, as well as updates on other programme areas, such as developments related to the second edition multiprofessional Curriculum Guide.
The next edition of the newsletter will be published in June 2010.
Best wishes,
WHO Patient Safety Team
To download newsletter, click on the left side - same title !

Since its release, the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has met with great enthusiasm from clinicians, hospital administrators, and policy-makers alike. Over the past year, dedicated surgical teams have started to use the Checklist, so we wanted to build a forum to share experiences, lessons learned, and programme highlights. Attached is the first Safe Surgery Saves Lives Newsletter.
This newsletter will be distributed on a quarterly basis and we look forward to hearing your feedback. Please let us know, also, should you prefer not to receive further editions of this newsletter!
Sincerely,
The Safe Surgery Saves Lives Team
WHO Patient Safety
Harvard School of Public Health

We had the honor to host the Autumn Meeting of EORNA which took place in Larnaca from the 22nd till 24th of October 2009.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the following countries: Ireland, France, Denmark, Cyprus, Chezk Republic, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Portugal and Italy.

The meeting, which took place on Thursday 22nd October, began with a welcome reception which was then followed by a Gala Dinner at the Sunhall hotel.

On Friday the 23rd of October and before the business meeting had started, we had the pleasure to be present at the ceremony for the change of the Board President.

It was our honor to have the mayor of the city, Mr Andreas Moiseos, welcoming the board and wishing us all the best in our workshop.

By the end of the day, the Larnaca deputy mayor, Mr Alexis Michailidis , gave a tour to the guests of all the monuments in the city and later had a coffee with them by the sea side café. This social gathering then ended by a visit at Sophie’s Cambon monument where wreaths were placed in order to honor the Sister. Between 1871 and 1894, Sister Sophie Gampon, a truly unique figure, offered her services round the clock, relentlessly and unconditionally at the risk of her own life. Sophie, the “saintly nurse”, as the locals called her, nursed more than 30 patients every day, at a time when there was not even a permanent doctor at the St Joseph hospital.
The honoring of Sophie Gampon was then followed by a dinner at a traditional Cypriot tavern.

The business meeting was continued during the next day with the group sessions during the two days being very successful.

The president of CORNA expressed his gratitude to all the representatives who participated at the meeting and wished that they all had an enjoyable stay in Cyprus.


KORINA DEMOSTHENOUS
SECRETARY OF CORNA CYPRUS

IPNA - the Israeli Perioperative Nurse Association is the biggest one in Israel.
This year we are celebrating 20 years for IPNA. Our Board members decided to invite to our national conference the association established nurses, to honor and admire them for their courage, open minded and insistence that lead us to the place and position we are staying now.

Our national conference will take place at the 10th of Jun in the city of Haifa. The main subject this year is to Renew, Surprise and Succeed in the Perioperative filed. This year representatives of our association were members in the official nurse administration committee. The purpose was, advertising for the first time, roles for OR nurse duties in the perioperative era. The roles were published at the end of February 2009.

We are also counseling them for the surgical counting process. Our suggestion was to make review of the recommended practice for surgical counting, due to the results of our association research.
Over the year we had three educational meetings organized by OR's departments in 3 different hospitals all over the country. In the meetings we deal with clinical procedures and issues.

In the 4th of May we had election for the Chairman and deputies of IPNA. Yael Edry was elected as chairman for more 4 years. Ahuva Friedman and Edna Lavi elected as deputies.

With an eye-catching campaign EDANA draws the attention to the European Standard EN 13795 and the hygienic and numerous other benefits that nonwovens offer in the operating theatre. By using a refreshingly innovative comic book style in a European-wide poster campaign that is supported by informative flyers and an educational micro site, operating room nurses are profiled as heroes fighting an endless fight against possible infections for the better of patients and themselves. The benefits and backgrounders are explained in a fun and appealing way using bite-sized chunks of focused information. But what better way to learn more than to Join the Fight… Click here please

Brussels (Belgium), April 6, 2009 - Earlier today, Ansell Healthcare, the global leader in healthcare barrier protective solutions, has announced it has taken a further step in supporting the global healthcare professionals community in the area of continued education.

After receiving earlier confirmation of acceptance by its US counterpart (AORN), the AnsellCares® educational courses have now also received confirmation of acceptance by the European Operating Room Nurses Association. Focusing on infection control, allergy prevention, barrier protection and nursing procedures, the AnsellCares® courses perfectly link into the requirements of continued education for healthcare workers around the world. The Ansell educational courses are actually the first courses offered under the newly launched EORNA Accreditation Council for Education (ACE), and will be made accessible via a web-based portal under the EORNA Academy header.

The AnsellCares® self-study courses will initially be made available via the EORNA website. EORNA members will be offered logging in to EORNA Academy section of the website, and make their choice on the "offering" page. AnsellCares course content can then be accessed and downloaded. Tests will taken online, delivering final results and accreditation points through a EORNA ACE certificate.

Read more

Brussels, 9 march 2009
EORNA – the European Operating Room Nurses Organisation – has launched its Accreditation Council for Education (ACE). With ACE, EORNA wants to improve and harmonize the quality of surgical care in Europe. The new ACE is the first European accreditation system for operating room nurses. ACE represents a unique initiative for the professional development of nursing and care in general.

The new ACE will improve the quality and accessibility of continuing education and professional development for nursing and healthcare professionals in Europe. EORNA ACE sets quality standards for distance learning courses and educational events as scientific meetings, conferences, workshops or symposia. Teaching institutes will be able to rely on the ACE quality label and integrate approved courses in their learning plans, thus guaranteeing the latest and accurate information. ACE will also be available to national nursing associations throughout Europe.

After receiving the stamp “EORNA ACE APPROVED”, educational courses or events will be able to advertise the label on all materials associated with the course or event. Participating nurses will be able to collect credits points and build their personal continued education program. The review process by the EORNA ACE Board will assure the quality standards of all courses or events.
The system also allows easy exchange of credits between European countries and comparable systems outside Europe, thus improving mobility in the healthcare sector.

EORNA’s new ACE will be implemented at its upcoming international Congress “Professional Development – Bridging Perioperative Care”, taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 17 – 19 April 2009.

“Educational and training programmes in the nursing sector need alignment and development on a European level. EORNA achieved 1997 to present a curriculum of a minimum of education in Operating room and anaesthetic nursing and care. ACE represents a major step towards achieving a harmonized high-level perioperative patient care in Europe,” confirms EORNA President Irini Antoniadou.

Next to evaluating Operating Theatre related initiatives, the ACE will also act as accreditation committee for other healthcare associations and associations representing expert areas including emergency, critical, paediatric, and neonatal care nursing.

The new ACE has been created with the support of Ansell Healthcare, infection prevention specialist and global leader in hand protection solutions for healthcare practitioner and patients.


More information about EORNA:
Irini Antoniadou : EORNA President
E-mail: president@eorna.eu

More information about the EORNA Congress : www.eornacongress.eu

In Portugal, the European Perioperative Nursing Day has been celebrate in the previous day, because it was Saturday and so most easy to do a exhibition. We have made a “street activity”, building an OR in a central square in Lisbon and Porto.
The objectives of these activities were divided in two categories: for children and for adults.

• For children’s, with an activity like a game, we expected to provide some tools to approach the OR and put away the fears related the surgical procedures.

• To adults we ask and inform about their rights to participate in all the surgical process, asking to mark the right site of the surgery and trying to empower people regarding OR care and self-security.

We distribute some flyers explaining the WHO concern with “SAFE SURGERY SAVES LIVES” and explaining the recommended practice about “wrong site”.
In Porto we had more or less 200 visitors and in Lisbon about 300 visitors.
We have a guest book with very positive comments about the initiative.
The Portuguese television has been there and reported the activities in the main journal at lunch and dinnertime. Several newspapers made a notice regarding the celebration and we have been present in a TV program. It was been a great commemoration with a lot of media impact.
For AESOP : M.J. Dias Pinheiro / M. Valente – Lisboa 2009

AICO have had his National Congress in Marina di Massa Carrara from March 15th to 17th and AICO celebrated its birthday. AICO is 20 years old!!!
The theme of the Congress was Nursing care in O.R.. The presentations were about communication, organization, management, EBN and clinic application. The participant’s evaluation of the congress confirmed high level of satisfaction.
The Annual General Meeting took place at the congress
The conference was well attended of about 1100 people and at this meeting AICO has promoted EORNA congress in Copenhagen : a lot of surgical nurses are interested to go to Denmark.
Our next National Congress will take place in the autumn 2010 in Turin.

Gennaro Salerno
AICO

This year has ISORNA organised two meetings. The first one was on the European preoperative day the main topic was “Hand hygiene in operation” and we also had a lecture about “How to enjoy your live” after the lectures we had an excellent dinner. It was a very good meeting, and well attended by ISORNA members.
The second meeting was our annual board meeting and annual conference. We have two new board members and we have elected new president in ISORNA board, her name is Svanhildur Jónsdóttir. The main topic on the conference was “Surgical site infection”. The conference was well attended or about 70 people. At these meetings we have promoted EORNA congress in Copenhagen, and there is a lot of surgical nurses that are interested to go to the conference.

Best regards
Helga and Áshildur

We had our national congress at the same time as the nordic contries ( NORNA ) congress this year in Stavanger. There was many interesting lectures from all the nordic contries participating. The national board in NAORN has change this year. 6 of 8 persons out and 6 new persons in. We also have a new president and her name is Turid Petlund from Oslo. Our next national congress will take place in autumn 2009, after the EORNA Congress in Denmark.

30.Sept.2008

Grethe Daavoy and Sol E. Mittet Toft
NAORN

News from SEORNA

The Autumn Congress took place at Arlanda Conference and Business Center at Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm (the capital). The theme for the congress was “Lust and Learning Creates Safety”. It was the 2nd time that SEORNA used this venue as congress venue. We had 280 participants and 60 companies in the exhibition area! There were 17 presentations on various subjects. The industries had work-shops during these two days (7). At the time for the congress we launched the Mölnlycke Health Care Experience Point The participant’s evaluation of the congress confirmed – high level of satisfaction.

The Perioperative Nurses Day (see article) was celebrated on Friday the 15th of February. Different activities took place at the hospitals and at the district meetings in the whole country. The OR Nurses in the city Falun, in the area of Dalarna, had a lot of activities– they were in the high school to inform pupils about the profession of OR Nursing, in the university informing students about the nursing programme, two exhibitions in the hospital with the EORNA poster on show and one other poster with an OR Nurse working, it was also an “Open house” at the OR Dept, with many visits from health care personnel who work in the hospital. A film about the OR Nurse profession is also in preparation.

The Spring Congress, 24-25 April, took place at “Piperska muren” an old mansion in the middle of Stockholm and the theme was Hygiene, the presentations were about infection-control, basic hygiene rules for health care personnel, the global infections – pandemic. The Annual General Meeting took place at the congress.

An OR Nurse Gudrun Rudolfsson presented her doctoral thesis the 15th December in Åbo Akademi, Vaasa, Finland. Prof K Eriksson was her advisor.

The journal of OR Nurses “Uppdukat” is produced 4 times a year, this contains news and scientific articles. All the OR Nurse students have this free of charge while they are studying in the programme at the universities.

In our organisation, from this year, we have a committee for scientific/research and a committee for quality improvement. Members in the committees are OR Nurses principally.


Annica Sandelin
SEORNA
2008-05-04

Two congresses will soon take place in France.
First of all, the UNAIBODE twenty fifth congress 2008, from May 21th to 23th, in Clermont-Ferrand, “the Auvergne volcanoes’capital”. We will speak about technological stakes, economical realities, and ecological ways of thinking.
Secondly, we are delighted to invite you to the ninth EFORT congress 2008 in Nice, France, from May 29th to June 1st. For the first time, a special nurses’ session will be organized. Obviously, EORNA board is invited, and in the future, will be EFORT favourite partner. Don’t hesitate, and if you want to come, share experience, and benefit of the “French Riviera”, go on website www.efort.org to registrate.

Estonia

Official name: Republic of Estonia.
Short form Estonia; capital is Tallinn; Independence Day, February 24. Estonian tricolour flag-blue, black and white; blue-the sky, black-the soil, white-hope for the future.
Estonia is situated in Northern Europe, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, neighbouring Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Russia. It is a country with 1,3 million people and with area 45 227 km2.
Estonia has more than 1500 islands, 1000 lakes, 7000 rivers and streams. Estonia is a sea country and rich in forests. The lenght of the longest day in summer is over 19 hours, while the shortest winter day lasts only six hours. We have a nice tradition since 1869- Estonian Song and Dance Festivals after every five year.
Our national flower is the cornflower, national bird is the swallow and national stone - limestone.

EstORNA (Estonian Operating Nurses Association) was officially registered on 23 May 2001. The Board consists of three members and they are helped by four regional coordinators.
Today there are over one hundred members of EstORNA.
The purpose of the association is the promotion of operating room nursing, developing the speciality promoting the public perception of the professional activity of operating room nurses, and implementing principles of the field in professional activity, as well as raising the knowledge and educational level of operating room nurses and exchange of professional experience and information. We have our home page (www.estorna.ee to reflect important events.

As a new member of EORNA we wish to share our joys and concerns, to pursue development in order to give our patients nursing service on as high a quality and level of safety as possible. Our motivation is the creating of contacts, cooperation, exchanging information and experiences with the countries that are members of EORNA.

• Collaboration with the Flemish Association for Sterilisation and participation in an educational program in the sector of sterilisation in the hospital of St Jan in Bruges, Belgium. Our members-nurses were trained for a 10 day period in the Central Sterilisation Department of the hospital and attended several educational courses.

• Celebration of the European Day of Perioperative Nursing with the despatch of posters and informative leaflets relating to the hygiene of the hands to all the private and public hospitals in Greece. Organisation of events in Athens and Thessaloniki with lectures that stressed the contribution of the practice of washing the hands in the safety of patients. Publication of an article in the GORNA magazine "Perioperative Nursing".

• Reestablishment of the Sterilisation Committee of GORNA and organisation of one day seminar for Sterilisation on May 31, 2008, that will take place at the National Institute of Research in Athens.

• Cooperation of GORNA with the Greek Institute for Hygiene and Security and the Medical School of the Democretean University of Thrace with the aim of researching the working conditions and their effects to the health and security of staff working in operating theatres. The results of the research will be made known to the Greek Ministry of Health and other public bodies with the ultimate aim of raising the issue and the taking of preventive measures.

• Cooperation with the Portuguese Association of Operating Room Nurses and scheduling for May of an educational visit of GORNA members to hospitals in Portugal.

• Within the premises of the educational events we are planning one day seminar for Perioperative Nursing on June 21, 2008 that will take place in Larissa.

• The 19th Conference of Perioperative Nursing will take place on October 16-19, 2008, at Rhodes Palace Hotel on the island of Rhodes.

Currently the managers at the University hospital are interviewing every nurse.
They haven’t come up with reasonable offer, and have not been able to break down the consensus. Every nurse that are able to (not sick) are quitting their jobs or 96 of 104 nurses are leaving the hospital first of May 2008.

The Safe Surgery Saves Lives project will be formally launched at a major global event to be held at the WHO Regional Office for the Americas (AMRO/PAHO) in Washington D.C., USA.

Date: 25 June 2008

Venue: Pan-American Health Organization Headquarters
525 23rd St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037

This event will be hosted by Dr Mirta Roses Periago, WHO Regional Director for the Americas and attended by Ministers of Health, world experts in surgery, anaesthesiology and nursing and leading representatives of health-care associations. Keynote speakers will include Dr Atul Gawande, leader of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives project, and Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England and Chair of the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety. The event will video link with the initiative's pilot sites around the world and will feature endorsements received from professional associations and societies in support of the "WHO Surgical Safety Checklist" (a tool for surgical teams around the world, to ensure that patients undergo the right operation at the correct body site, with safe anaesthesia, established infection prevention measures and effective teamwork for safer care.)

For more information on Safe Surgery Saves Lives please visit: www.who.int/patientsafety.

To register your interest in attending the launch please send your details to whopatientsafety@who.int. Please note that WHO shall not be in any position to cover for the travel or accommodation expenses of the participants except where previously expressly agreed.

Not only in Denmark are nurses fighting for pay increase and better working conditions. Nurses in many other countries in the EU face similar challenges. That is the message from the European Federation of Nurses’ Associations’ General Assembly in Copenhagen.

Several European nurses’ organisations are struggling a historical fight for pay increases and better working conditions.

In Copenhagen, members of 28 European nurses’ organisations are together and they represent approximately 1.5 million nurses at European level. Many of the organisations face the same kind of problems, stated EFN President Grete Christensen in her opening speech of the General Assembly:

“In Finland they had successful negotiations which resulted in pay increase of 22 – 28% for a four-year period. However the result was only a reality after a tough struggle. In Sweden the negotiations have just broken down, just like we in Denmark are expecting a conflict from next week. In Germany they have just concluded the negotiations for the public employed nurses after some long and difficult negotiations”, said Grete Christensen who is also first vice-president of the Danish Nurses’ Organization.

Grete Christensen stated that recruitment of new and retention of experienced nurses are two serious challenges on the European labour market. Recruitment and retention will be a growing problem in the years to come, not least in Denmark.

“Many nurses apply for jobs in the private health care sector as the pay and the working conditions are considerably better here. This trend will be even more common, unless our members employed in the municipalities and hospitals during the present collective bargaining get a significant pay increase of 15% for the coming three-year period. We are way behind compared to employees in the private sector with the same level of education, and the non-existing of equal pay is unsustainable when we want recruitment and retention of competent employees”, she says.

The most important news from Iceland is that at this moment Icelandic surgical nurses are in struggle with the University Hospital. Almost all nurses are quitting their job at first of May it is because the hospital wants to pay less for more work. They want to change the shifts in a way that compromise our patient’s safety. We would like to have your support and hope you and your colleagues will not apply for work in University Hospital in Iceland during this struggle.
We did celebrate the perioperative day by meeting were we had lecture about hand hygiene and we had a visit from an artist. He spoke about how to bee happy during work. After that we had a very nice dinner and spent good time together.

Helga Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir

Actions since autumn meeting in Brüssels

The Danish board has been busy making plans for the national congress October 2008.
We have promoted Mölnlycke Health Care Scientific Award by mailing promoting material to most of the Danish hospitals.
We will have a perioperativ nursing day April 2th (the plan was made long before the EORNA perioperativ nursing day) and one of the subjects will be how to handle overweight patients in the theatres
The LOC of the EORNA Congress 2009 have been doing a lot of work. One of the discussions this spring are among other things how to make the member associations promoting for the congress visible so that it will be clear that the congress is an EORNA project and not just a Danish project.
Networking operating room nurses in Denmark. Encourage the Danish nurses to tell all European OR nurses about all the good work in Denmark. Danish nurses are not used to submitted abstract and s on.
This spring we are going to make new agreements with the employers about salary and working conditions. Unfortunate there are a big gab between what the nurses want and what the employers will give. So we will very likely have a strike in April or May.

Anette Pedersen
FS SASMO
Denmark