NUF: Scandinavian biennial conference on urology

The Scandinavian Association of Urology (NUF) organises a biennial conference for urological doctors and nurses from the Nordic countries. This year the 31st Biennial Conference 2017 was held in Odense, the birthplace of famous fairy tale and Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

Erica Grainger chairing of the session “Urological emergencies”

The three-day conference gathered participants from Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, USA and the United Kingdom. The conference organisers prepared separate scientific programmes for doctors and nurses, an exhibit and a social programme which included a visit to the Town Hall and a Congress Dinner at the beautiful harbour of Odense.

The nurses’ scientific programme started with the session “Men, cancer and their partners”. Speaker Helle Ploug Hansen is a well-known nursing professor in Denmark. The session tackled topics such as challenges in everyday life among men with cancer and, in particular, how men and their partners differ in the way they respond to the challenges following a cancer diagnosis.

Rikke Knudsen and Maysa Steitiyeh during “A cystectomy www.eaun.uroweb.org
pathway in Denmark anno 2017”

A session on bladder cancer included a lecture on history titled “Black magic to evidence treatment and care,” followed by a presentation of “A Cystectomy Pathway in Denmark anno 2017.” This session provided a good and professional discussion on how we can implement research and evidence in our treatment and care. An example from Aarhus University Hospital showed how results from a PhD study are implemented in the pre-operative preparation for patients undergoing cystectomy.

Matilda Fagerberg, a nurse from Sweden, performs cystoscopies without assistance from a doctor. In a symposium called “Cystoscopy as a multidisciplinary procedure,” she presented the “Swedish Set-up.” In Sweden they have a certified cystoscopy education for nurses, and urologists are very “open minded” with regards the role of specialised nurses. From the doctor’s point of view, there are a lot of benefits if nurses perform cystoscopies as a standard procedure. A very interesting symposium, the session showed how the role of urological nurse has changed over the years, and how our specialty is still evolving in many ways.

Finland, Sweden and Denmark represented at NUF in Odense

The programme also included a poster session (with both poster and oral presentations), a session on “New Technologies,” and a discussion about the impact of technology as viewed by patients and nurses. The session “Urological emergencies with focus on nurse’s responsibilities” triggered a discussion regarding the importance of observations by nurses, and the challenges in treating urological emergency cases.

Theologian Niels Christian Hvidt ended the nurses programme with a themed session “Does Faith Move Mountains? And do Mountains move faith? Current research looks into the links of existential meaning, faith and health in different clinical settings.

Moreover, the session examined how attention to these topics has increased. The lecture underscored the importance of reminding ourselves that human beings also have a great need for faith and belief during times of crisis.

In all, the nursing programme of the biennial congress was an inspiring, thought-provoking meeting with a high level of knowledge, presentations, dedicated speakers and enthusiastic participants.

Rikke Nygaard Knudsen, President of The Danish National Society (FSUIS), Århus University Hospital, Århus (DE), rikkkn@rm.dk