Second EAUN Nursing Workshop with hands-on training in Dubai draws high attendance

The 5th Emirates International Urological Conference (EIUC) held from 15 to 17 December last year in Dubai was a true testament of the Emirates Urological Society’s (EUS) mission to strengthen and promote the practice of urology medicine, disseminate knowledge and promote innovation.

With over 70 expert speakers in this field, disseminating excellent work in a multitude of workshops and symposia, the 5th EIUC could be truly described as a gem in the urological conferences calendar. The European Association of Urology Nursing (EAUN) is proud and grateful to participate in this event by organising the full-day nursing workshop presentation on December 16, thanks to Dr. Yasser Farahat and the EUS for inviting us for the second time. The nursing workshop was attended by 68 nurses.

We started the day with my introduction to the EAUN. In this short opening speech, I addressed the EAUN’s core objectives and function, with an overview of our organisation’s history, growth and international educational partnerships. This was also an opportunity to mention the benefits of an EAUN membership and I ended the talk with an invitation to join us in our upcoming EAUN annual conference in London.

I was followed by an excellent presentation by EAUN Chair Elect Susanne Vahr, on “How to Read Guideline-The evidence base

Workshop presenters (from left): Simon Borg, Bente Thoft Jensen, Corinne Tillier and Susanne Vahr

for developing guidelines.” Our various EAUN Guidelines are actually our “tour de force” and there isn’t a more versed expert in this field than Susanne Vahr because of her salient contribution to this topic. She expertly guided the participants on the importance and applicability of such guidelines
and the importance of an evidence-based practice and guideline development. It was very encouraging to hear that many participants, who informed us later in the day, are well acquainted with our guidelines and use it as reference in their practice.

Former EAUN Chair Bente Thoft Jensen discussed “Anatomy and Neurological Control of the Bladder – Assessments and Anamnesis. Bente Thoft Jensen’s expertise on this subject and her unique immersive yet friendly presentation skills, held the delegates attention to this extensive topic. Her presentation was very detailed yet easy to follow with practical explanations on a topic that is not always well understood by the nursing community. The nurses took very well to her presentation, as was very evident further on in the day during the practical sessions.

Enthusiastic discussions

EAUN Board member Corinne Tillier presented on “Rationale and indications for pelvic floor muscle training – How to teach pelvic floor exercises effectively to patients.” Tillier’s extensive and well-prepared presentation was a credit to her expertise and competence. It appeared that for many of the nursing delegates the topic was somewhat new, and they found her presentation of great interest and easy to follow. Their eagerness to know more was very tangible during the practical session that followed the presentation.

During the practical session the delegates were divided into groups with Bente and Corinne expertly going through the practical side of their respective presentations. This was well-received, with enthusiastic participation and eagerness to know more and try on, “hands-on,” the exercises illustrated in the previous two presentations.

After a sumptuous lunch break, Susanne Vahr discussed “Recommendations for insertion and care of an indwelling catheter”. This presentation followed very closely the EAUN’s Indwelling Catheter Care Guidelines which Susanne Vahr has extensively worked on. In a sense, it was a follow-up update of last year’s excellent guideline presentation, this time focussing on the specific criteria for insertion and care of indwelling catheters.

After Susanne Vahr’s second presentation, I presented “Management of Endoscopes: Fundamental principles for Nurses”. This, like all the preceding presented topics, was very broad and difficult to compress in the allocated time. I discussed the different stages that our expensive endoscopes go through with an emphasis on cost management applications and practical examples as reference. The emphasis of this presentation was to give the delegates a window on the science that goes into our endoscopic work with attention to health and safety aspects.

There was a sponsored presentation on laser use and the science behind it from a surgeon’s perspective that, in many ways, concurred with a part of my presentation.

The EAUN workshop was also held in a larger hall than last year due to the bigger attendance and we had five “hands-on” tables as opposed to just one during last year for our practical sessions. A pleasant surprise was the availability of local product specialist representatives who conducted most of the individual practical sessions themselves. This gave us the opportunity to answer the many questions during our talks. It was also noted that there is a need to elaborate more on the nursing role in Urodynamics Studies, which is a recurrent issue.

Another topic that led to a surprisingly many interesting queries was on laser safety application during endoscopic lithotripsy, a topic that was mentioned briefly due to time constraints. Just as with the urodynamic studies, these laser safety issues are of concern to the participants and may warrant further dedicated workshops in the future.

At the end of the day, we conducted a test with a selection of questions dedicated to each presentation. We were pleased that the average mark was very high and that was a great reward and a positive way to end this all-day Nursing Workshop.

At the end of the conference we were all treated to a delightful Conference Dinner at Al Qasr, a fitting and lasting testament to the EUS’s excellent hospitality and organisational credentials that are second to none.

Simon Borg, EAUN Board Member, Mater Dei Hospital, Inpatients Theatre, Msida (MT), s.borg@eaun.org