Report on the N-ECCO Educational Activities at ECCO’25
Maria de Jong, N-ECCO Committee Member
 Maria de Jong© ECCO |
The 16th edition of the N-ECCO School and the 19th edition of the N-ECCO Network Meeting took place during the 20th Congress of ECCO, held from February 19 to 22 in a cold but sunny Berlin. The N-ECCO School gives nurses and dietitians the opportunity to increase their basic knowledge in IBD, while the N-ECCO Network Meeting provides an overview of new insights in IBD care, presented by a mix of excellent speakers. By networking, nurses at different levels are able to exchange knowledge on how to manage IBD care, and this knowledge can be transferred to their own IBD clinics.
The world of IBD is always evolving, and so is the role of the IBD Nurse. If you are new to this field, it can be difficult to achieve a good overview of what IBD care entails. This year, the N-ECCO School offered an interesting programme for this group of healthcare workers in which the basics of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis were discussed, along with the impact of these diseases and the role that nurses and dietitians can play. The enthusiastic audience had many relevant questions and interesting discussions ensued.
During the 19th edition of the N-ECCO Network Meeting, we took a deep dive into IBD care with a look into the future. Recently, new treatment options have come onto the market and this is having a major impact on the choices that you make with your patient. Important questions include: Which treatment is best for the patient? How can compliance be ensured? When should you consider stopping treatment? An interesting development is that more nurses worldwide now have the authority to prescribe and monitor treatment themselves.
The fact that nurses have a pivotal role in research again became clear during the abstract presentations, in which, among other things, the topic of sexuality was addressed. This is a subject that both healthcare providers and patients find difficult to discuss. Many suggestions were shared, taking into consideration the cultural differences between countries. Perhaps AI can help us with this in the future. For many, AI is still an abstract concept, but Adriana Rivera Sequeiros showed us the latest developments. AI will certainly change the way we work and provide us with new challenges − that's what makes our profession so beautiful.
Next year, on the occasion of our 20th anniversary, we will reflect extensively on the fact that our profession of IBD Nursing has undergone enormous developments. Will you be there with us (again)?
19th N-ECCO Network Meeting and 16th N-ECCO School at ECCO'25
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