We are delighted to announce that this year we will run the 2nd cycle of the IBD Nurse Education Programme. The programme will take place in Hungary, and we are currently at the exciting stage of recruiting and selecting nurses to the programme. The primary aim of the programme is to increase the skills, knowledge and competences of nurses who are new to IBD and to help them in their role of delivering high-quality care to patients.  

N-ECCO School © ECCO

At the 18^th Congress of ECCO in Copenhagen, the Nurses of ECCO (N-ECCO) will host the educational activity for IBD Nurses, N-ECCO School, for the 14^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.

Ana Ibarra  © ECCO

On the evening of Wednesday, February 16, nurses from several countries across Europe participated in our yearly N-ECCO National Representatives Meeting.

As N-ECCO Committee Member responsible for the National Representatives, I welcomed the attendees. An exchange of nurses every 2–3 years is greatly encouraged by N-ECCO, but many countries nevertheless retain the same National Representatives for more than 3 years. New people tend to mean new ideas, although some countries have different service setups and getting new representatives is sometimes difficult.

The N-ECCO Research Forum takes place every other year and this year’s programme was designed to help nurses and other health-aligned professionals to better understand the different aspects of the research process.

Wladyslawa Czuber-Dochan opened the meeting and announced that the winner of the N-ECCO Research Grant for 2022 was Rosanna Comoretto from Torino, Italy.

Miriam Ganon © ECCO

The N-ECCO School ran for the first time in 2010. The aim of the School is to enhance the knowledge and expertise of nurses and dietitians who are new to IBD, enabling them to provide better quality care to IBD patients throughout Europe and beyond. In addition, the N-ECCO School has become a great networking opportunity for both nurses and dietitians, allowing them to share their experiences and plans for furthering their careers and demonstrating the importance of the MDT approach to IBD care.

Wladzia Czuber-Dochan © ECCO

The N-ECCO Chair, Susanna Jäghult, opened the 16^th N-ECCO Network Meeting by welcoming 171 nurses from around the world. This was the second virtual Congress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Petra Hartmann  © ECCO

One of the main goals of ECCO is to promote IBD research as well as to foster interaction and productive collaboration among European research groups working in the IBD field. To achieve this goal, ECCO continues to award Grants, Fellowships and Travel Awards. ECCO offers IBD Nurses across Europe the opportunity to apply for the N-ECCO Travel Award and the N-ECCO Research Grant.

Ana Ibarra © ECCO

Who would have thought that ECCO could so smoothly organise such a big conference online? This is the first year that the N-ECCO School has been held as a virtual conference. In reality, this meant less networking among participants but at the same time it provided an incredible opportunity for many more nurses and dietitians from different countries to attend this wonderful course, which provides so much information. In addition, access is being provided to all the presentations at a later date.

Susanna Jäghult  © ECCO

The 15^th N-ECCO Network Meeting made history this year in being the first network meeting to be delivered virtually. Both the programme and its delivery were a great success. A total of 159 nurses joined the sessions and the virtual format made it easier for participants to ask questions.

Denmark

N-ECCO National Representative:
Anne Hindhede
Job Title: 
IBD Nurse

What influenced your decision to apply for the role of N-ECCO National Representative for your country?

I was working in IBD and I thought that it was important to improve the level of information and good clinical practice of my Danish colleagues. Also, Else Mikkelsen and Palle Bager asked me to join them.

What IBD nursing initiatives, N-ECCO network opportunities or developments in IBD care are happening in your country?

Else and I translated the N-ECCO Consensus Statements into Danish, which will help many nurses who do not read or speak English. I am Chair of the National Association for Gastroenterology Nurses; we have a yearly two-day meeting and one full day is dedicated to IBD. Unfortunately our meeting in 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19.