At the 16^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 12^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

Everyone would agree that IBD specialist nurses do an incredible amount of work to help patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Over the years we have learnt that patients with IBD require access to our services when they need them, rather than simply at their next scheduled appointment in the clinic. Patients also think that one of the most important things that IBD specialist nurses can provide is high-quality advice and information, especially when they feel unwell.

Petra Hartmann  © ECCO

ECCO offers Research Grants for IBD Nurses in order to promote innovative scientific research in the area of IBD Nursing across Europe. The N-ECCO Research Grant provides nurses with a great opportunity to gain economic support, and this year a total of EUR 20,000.- will be awarded.

The N-ECCO Research Grant aims to enhance the opportunities for IBD Nurses to become involved in international research projects across Europe. The goals are to enable IBD Nurses less experienced in research to engage in research activities, with mentoring by senior researchers; to promote IBD-related basic and clinical research; and to foster interaction and productive collaboration among European research groups working in the IBD field. 

Ana Ibarra  © ECCO

On the evening of Wednesday, February 12, 16 nurses from 11 countries across Europe participated in our yearly N-ECCO National Representatives Meeting.

As the N-ECCO Committee Member responsible for the National Representatives, I welcomed the attendees, and this was followed by a short round of introductions. 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.

Susanna Jäghult  © ECCO

The 14^th N-ECCO Network Meeting was opened by Susanna Jäghult (Sweden), N-ECCO Chair. In total, 255 nurses from across the world attended the meeting.

The first session focussed on presentations regarding “The IBD Nurse Education Programme”, which was performed and completed in Italy during 2018–2019. Palle Bager (Denmark) and Karen Kemp (United Kingdom) reported on the development of the programme and how it was conducted in Italy. Then, Simona Radice and Gionata Fiorino, both from Italy, described the country perspective on the programme. This aroused great interest among the audience and the second cycle is now in the pipeline.

Miriam Ganon © ECCO

The 11^th N-ECCO School in Vienna was attended by 74 participants from 25 countries, including dietitians and IBD Nurses. The School covered various IBD topics of interest to both nurses and dietitians who work with IBD patients. The aim was to enhance participants’ basic knowledge in IBD, enabling them to provide better support to IBD patients throughout Europe and beyond. The N-ECCO School has also come to serve as a great networking opportunity, allowing nurses and dietitians to share their experiences.

Wladzia Czuber-Dochan © ECCO

The 6^th N-ECCO Research Forum was attended by 52 nurses active and/or interested in research. The Research Forum is arranged every second year and this year was opened by Wladzia Czuber-Dochan (United Kingdom), who also presented the winners of the N-ECCO Research Grant 2020: Simona Fourie (UK) and Katarina Pihl Lesnovska (Sweden).

Rikke Edelbo © Rikke Edelbo

I would like to thank the N-ECCO Committee for awarding me the N-ECCO Travel Award, which was a great financial support and helped me for my studies in Stockholm.

My focus was primarily use of the telephone in patient contacts, patient education, management of newly diagnosed IBD patients and independent nursing activities.

Ana Ibarra  © ECCO

Once again, N-ECCO is offering an outstanding range of clinical and educational opportunities for nurses attending the ECCO’20 Vienna Congress.

The programmes for each activity continue to be developed on the basis of the evaluation forms from the previous year in order to meet your needs. Thank you so much for providing your feedback, which helps us to improve all the N-ECCO Activities.

Eveline Hoefkens © Eveline Hoefkens

Belgium

N-ECCO National Representative:
Eveline Hoefkens
Job Title: IBD Nurse

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

By being a national representative, you are actively involved in N-ECCO meetings. The yearly national representatives meeting at the ECCO congress is the ideal place to expand your network. You interact with IBD nurses from other countries and share experiences. It is a great opportunity to create an international network.