On behalf of the European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN), it is my pleasure to invite you to attend the 11^th International Meeting of the European Association of Urology Nurses. In support of our goal to continually upgrade the nursing skills of our members, the EAUN meeting will be held in conjunction with the 25^th Anniversary EAU Congress (16-20 April) from Saturday, 17 April to Monday, 19 April 2010 in Barcelona, Spain.

This year in Stockholm at the 10^th International EAUN Meeting we celebrated our 10-year jubilee, providing strong proof of the increasing interest among professional nurses in Europe during the past 10 years not only to hone their skills but also share their knowledge with colleagues from more than 25 countries in and outside Europe. Urology nursing plays a key role in public health care (underlined by “Urology Week” every year in September) and we will continue to improve standards of urological nursing care, with the annual meeting but also for example by taking part in the development of international research programmes. In Barcelona we will line up workshops, state-of-the-art lectures, symposia on various topics, discussions on clinical practices and offer optional visits to local hospitals, among other activities. The sessions will be scientific as well as clinically oriented and provide tips and tricks for clinical practice!

The success of the first decade in the history of EAUN confirms the high standard of the scientific quality of the annual meeting which we intend to maintain in Barcelona. The pre-congress Workshops will again be included in the programme, this year starting on Friday morning, to acknowledge the outstanding success of this new initiative introduced in Stockholm this year. On Friday also, we will once more introduce a new evidence-based Good Practice in Health Care booklet, on the topic of Continent Urinary Diversion this time. The EAUN Nursing Research Competition being considered a success, it will be included in the new programme again in Barcelona. In the session 6 nominees will present their research plans and there will be more time for discussion and for feedback from an experienced board. The author(s) of the best research plan will be awarded €2,500 (supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Ferring Pharmaceuticals).

The EAUN have provided a fruitful professional platform during the past decade in which we have been able to attract the most valued colleagues from all over the world. This year we will especially credit our Spanish host by inviting Spanish urological nurses to participate in the programme. The Spanish speakers have their own dedicated contact in the board: Mr Julio De La Torre Montero, temporary member of the EAUN board.

As your host I hope you will join us in Barcelona where the latest medical and nursing breakthroughs, the newest strategies to improve urological nursing and the most recent research on urological care are presented. You will learn from the experts and share your urological knowledge with others during the sessions. Only by working together can we really improve the standards of practice in urological nursing care throughout Europe!

See you in Barcelona 2010! 

 

 

 

Bente Thoft Jensen
EAUN Chair