Simona Radice © ECCO

Adriana Rivera Sequeiros © ECCO

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to ECCO 2025, the 20th Congress of ECCO, which will be held in Berlin. As you know, in 2024 the REACH strategy was successfully introduced with the objective of focusing on a single letter each year. In 2025, the focus will be on the letter ‘A’, which corresponds to the objective of Attaining Sustainable IBD Care.

Goedele Dewitte © Goedele Dewitte

Is there any specific training for IBD Nursing in your country?

Until this year, there was no specific training. Every IBD Nurse learned ‘on the job’, with some having the opportunity to do an observership with another IBD Nurse.

In collaboration with the Belgium IBD Nursing Association (BINAstoria), and together with rheumatology and dermatology nurses, we’ve now established a formal IMID (immune-mediated inflammatory disease) postgraduate training programme to support our profession. This postgraduate training will start in October 2024.

Is there any IBD Nurse Network in your country?

Yes, we have BINAstoria, which was set up by all the IBD study coordinators, who came together to share experiences. All IBD Nurses can be members, but so can IBD study coordinators and study nurses, IBD dietitians and IBD psychologists. The last two professions are very new and not well represented in Belgium yet.

Simona Radice © ECCO

Maria de Jong © ECCO

Cathy Walsh © ECCO

Two new members joined the N-ECCO Committee in February 2024: Maria de Jong from the Netherlands and Cathy Walsh from Ireland. We all share the same mission: promoting IBD nursing in Europe, rolling out educational and research programmes, and developing patient care and education. We are looking forward to working together, and here Maria and Cathy introduce themselves and their aims while on the committee.

N-ECCO School © ECCO

At the 20th Congress of ECCO in Stockholm, the Nurses of ECCO (N-ECCO) will host the educational activity for IBD Nurses, N-ECCO School, for the 16^th time. ECCO intends to give nurses, who might be still in training and have an interest in IBD, the possibility to attend an IBD-focused course. The ultimate aim of this programme is to improve nurse education throughout Europe.

Stockholmsmässan, also known as Älvsjömässan, the largest exhibition and conference facility in Sweden, hosted the 18^th N-ECCO Network Meeting. A total of 295 IBD Nurses from Europe and beyond were attracted by the interesting programme, in order to share current practice and research in the management of IBD. 

The first morning session focused on the patient. It opened with a talk by Christine Norton (UK) on some often overlooked major patient concerns: pain, fatigue, urgency and incontinence. With passion, Sebastian Shaji (UK) gave an update on perianal and fistulising CD. Pär Myrelid and Åsa Gustafsson, both from Sweden, discussed care of the patient with stoma and pouch in a tandem talk in which they adopted a sensitive, realistic and open approach. Gionata Fiorino (Italy) then presented treatment options for patients with a previous malignancy, a hot topic that worries patients a lot.

Adriana Rivera Sequeiros © ECCO

On February 21 of this year, Stockholm became the hub for groundbreaking discussions at the 8^th N-ECCO Research Forum during the 19^th ECCO Congress. Designed to spotlight the pivotal role of specialised nursing in managing IBD, this biannual gathering underscored the importance of Europe-wide nursing collaboration in research and mentoring the next generation of IBD Research Nurses.

Marie Andersson © ECCO

Some weeks have already passed since the 15^th edition of the N-ECCO School took place in Stockholm, attended by 98 participants. 

I can still remember my first N-ECCO School in Prague in 2010, when I was attending the ECCO Congress there. That was my very first international congress. At the time I was a nurse had not worked for very long with IBD. I was very nervous about travelling alone to a large congress without knowing anyone and also very unsure of the English language. Would I be able to handle it? What if I couldn’t understand what was being said or answered incorrectly if asked a question? I believe there are many of you who will recognise yourself in these comments.  

General information

Name: Goedele Dewitte

Occupation: Nurse Consultant IBD

Observation period: 24–28 October, 2022

IBD location: St. Mark’s Hospital, Central Middlesex, London

Local Supervisor at St. Mark’s: Prof. Hart and ANP-IBD Nurse Madhoor Ramdeem

Supervisor at current IBD unit, Ghent University Hospital: Prof. Lobaton and Dr. Geldof

Goedele Dewitte © Goedele Dewitte

Background

St Mark's Hospital in London is the only hospital dedicated solely to gastrointestinal pathology. It includes a reference IBD unit, a world centre of excellence for endoscopy (Wolfson unit) and an intestinal failure/rehabilitation unit. Both the endoscopy and the intestinal rehabilitation unit work in harmony with the IBD unit to optimise the care for tertiary and complex IBD pathology.

This observational internship was intended to increase insight into the organisation of a tertiary, high-volume IBD reference centre from the nursing point of view.  

Wladzia Czuber-Dochan  © ECCO

Marie Andersson © ECCO

It is that time of year when we write to tell you, with great pleasure, about the N-ECCO Activities scheduled for the 19^th Congress of ECCO, to be held on February 21–24, 2024, in Stockholm, Sweden. As in previous years, the N-ECCO Committee has worked hard to put together a broad programme covering clinical, educational and research topics.

Simona Radice © ECCO

Ana Ibarra © ECCO

There are plenty of reasons why, as an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Nurse, you should consider applying for this position, the first and foremost being to make a difference to the IBD nursing service across Europe and ultimately change the lives of patients with IBD.