Updates from the Danish Post-EAUN Meeting

Since 2010 the Aarhus University Hospital (Denmark) has been hosting an annual scientific meeting with focus on research and development in urological nursing in cooperation with the EAUN.

The initiative originated in the spring of 2010 during the memorable volcanic explosion of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajøkull Volcano, which then made intercontinental travel a major challenge. At that time it was nearly impossible to fly to the Annual EAU-EAUN Congress in Barcelona due to the fact that air-traffic was totally grounded during that week in April 2010.

As chair of the EAUN back in 2010, it was almost unbearable to realise that so many of our colleagues across Europe were unable to make it to Barcelona. The board was very proud of the scientifi c programme and was looking forward to welcome the highest number of attendees ever recorded by the EAUN at that time. The rest of the story is well-known: improvisation, flexibility and a very good sense of humour were keys in the success of the annual meeting in 2010.

Nora Love (US) lectures on a new role in urology nursing

As in previous years, the enthusiastic Danish nurses submitted a big number of abstracts and signed-up for lectures and workshops, but, sadly, only a few had the opportunity to present their work. On my way back to Aarhus (DK) via Amsterdam (a 24-hour ride in a bus kindly provided by the Dutch urologists) I had plenty of time to reflect about the Barcelona meeting. How could we present the “gold nuggets” from the Barcelona programme to our colleagues back home, and moreover, encourage them to present their own work on a national platform? The idea of a national post-EAUN meeting turned to reality and since then the Department of Urology in Aarhus has been hosting this meeting.

Today, this one-day educational meeting has turned into an international event where we invite Danish and international speakers to present key take-home messages from the EAUN and focus on national research, cooperation and development in urological nursing practice. A similar post-EAUN meeting is also a highly recognised annual event in the Netherlands.

Meeting highlights

Ronny Pieters (BE) opens with a presentation on IC

The 8th Danish meeting this year was held last May 4 and gathered around 65 nurses. Below are some of the highlights: Mr. Ronny Pieters (BE) from Ghent University Hospital made an excellent opening with the presentation:
“Self- catheterisation, the golden standard?” In my view, the audience was convinced that so far CIC IS the golden standard, although we are all still waiting for the breakthrough which may guarantee the absence of side-effects.

Mrs. Nihal Mohamed from Mount Sinai in New York discussed the under-reported psychosocial needs in cancer care and the unmet needs in patients undergoing radical cystectomy. What do we actually miss? In particular, we need more pre-information and preparation regarding sexual health, change in bodily functions and psychosocial issues, all of which are often major concerns in the community.

Bente Thoft Jensen and Lawrence Drudge-Coates, both past EAUN Chairs

Mr L. Drudge-Coates of the King’s College Hospital in London took us on “a guided tour in his racing car” and brought us the latest updates on how to support the patient with advanced prostate cancer, directions for future care and educational needs.

Mrs. N. Love of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York lectured on testis cancer and the challenges especially with very young disabled men. She examined questions such as: Is sperm-banking relevant or ethically correct if the patient cannot cope? And in cases when care-givers do not allow such an action, what’s the role of the nurse? These are not easy questions and approaches may differ across borders in Europe due to ethical dilemmas.

  • Therese Juul of the Aarhus University Hospital presented the framework for an alternative organisation of follow-up treatment and care in a survivorship clinic for patients treated with any type of cancer. The programme also included the presentation of the latest EAUN guideline and upcoming ESUN-courses and local Danish research projects. These were presented by:
  • Brigitta Willumsen, Holstebro (AUH), RN-Ph.D.-stud; A new approach to home-based exercise for prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy
  • Susanne Vahr, Copenhagen University Hospital, RN-Phd.–Stud: Complications in radical cystectomy pathways- whats`s evident?
  • Annette Hjuler, Aarhus University Hospital, RN-Continence Adviser: Can self-installation improve QoL in Patients with painful bladder
    syndrome?

Co-organisers Erica Grainger and Rikke Knudsen (President FSUIS)

Finally, “Rethink with Aarhus 2017” would like to thank the co-organisers: Susanne Vahr of the EAUN Board, Rikke Knudsen of the Danish Urological Nurses and Erica Grainger of the Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital.

The meeting was free and this was made possible due to the continued and enthusiastic support of the following companies: IPSEN, Wellspect HealthCare, BL Medical, IBSA, Janssen, Navamedic and Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

The next meeting will be on June 14, 2018 at the Aarhus university Hospital, Auditorium B, 08.30 AM. The Call for Abstracts will be announced in October.

Bente Thoft Jensen, Ph.D-MPH, Aarhus University Hospital, Dept. of Urology, Aarhus (DK), benjense@rm.dk