Chair visits CUA Meeting in Ningbo

As chair of the EAUN it was my great privilege to be invited to attend this year’s annual Chinese Urology Nursing Meeting in Ningbo, a seaport city in the northeast of Zhejiang province, People’s Republic of China.

A meeting made possible by the gracious invitation of the chair Ms. H.E. Wei and fellow committee members of the Chinese and Hong Kong Urology Nursing Associations, Mr. Larry Tsang and Mr. Gilbert Lui. Over 200 delegates attended the meeting over the two days, representing only a fraction of the expanse of Chinese urology nursing across such a vast country.

The purpose of my visit was to continue and grow the unity and collaboration previously started by fellow colleagues in the EAUN, this unique opportunity providing key insights into urological nursing practice in China and the commonalities in practice and issues faced by urology nursing across different continents.

Unlike the previous meeting where overviews of the EAUN were presented, as chair I supported the meeting with a presentation on bone metastases in urology cancer and the role of the urology nurse, as part of our ongoing commitment to share expertise and practice, which was well received. This provided an opportunity to highlight the EAUN bone health course, one of our first online educational initiatives.

Members of the CUA & CUAN

With translators, language did not prove to be of any hindrance although my Mandarin I hope will improve with time.

Uniquely for this year the meeting was initially chaired by the key figures in the Chinese Urology Association (CUA), CUA President Prof. Ying-Hao Sun, and the CUA Ex-President Prof. Zhang-Qun Ye, the Chinese Urology Association of Nurses (CUAN) coming under the umbrella of the CUA. In the opening address Ms. Wei (CUAN chair) thanked the EAUN for its continuing engagement with the CUAN and its plans for further collaboration and group membership and outlined the programme of the day.

The EAUN’s mission remains and importantly is not only to support and encourage the development of urology nursing within Europe, but also to collaborate with national societies across the globe in support of the development and application of high-quality urology nursing practices. The next and important step in this collaborative chapter I believe, is to welcome the CUAN as group members and these discussions are moving forward. Our continued collaboration offers huge potential for the sharing of clinical practice and education, and with that the opportunity to develop education programmes across two great urology nursing organisations. We have a lot to learn from each other and I look forward to an exciting and successful union.

My thanks go to Ms. H.E. Wei (chair) and the CUAN committee for its hospitality and very warm welcome and to Mr. Larry Tsang and Mr. Gilbert Lui for making this all possible.

By Lawrence Drudge-Coates Clinical Nurse Specialist, Uro-oncology, EAUN Chair, London (UK)

European Urology Today Vol. 27 No. 3 June/July 2015