09.07.2023

In November last year when Aarhus University Hospital accepted the invitation to become a member of the European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA), we entered a collaboration network together with the elite of European university hospitals.

As a part of this collaboration with membership hospitals, Aarhus University Hospital was recently linked to the EUHA Nursing Network – a network of nursing researchers and clinicians from some of the world’s leading university hospitals.

According to clinical researcher and professor Pia Dreyer at Aarhus University Hospital, this means joining the table to discuss common challenges and major strategic considerations in nursing at the international scene.

- Germany, Holland and Sweden face the same challenges as we do in Denmark - shortage of nurses and a demographic development with an ageing population, a higher number of patients, increasing life expectancy etc. This is the situation in most of Europe and that is why it is so important to collaborate across countries to find solutions.

- Being a part of EUHA’s Nursing Network has given us a fantastic opportunity to take part in the discussions about how to lead in nursing in an international perspective and it has given us a possibility to influence how millions of European citizens will receive nursing in the future.

- Next time we meet at Karolinska in Sweden where we will focus on the topics pain, delirium and falls. This will not “only” be a meeting with research jargon and painting the big picture, because each member country has been asked to invite three bed ward nurses to ask those who are faced with the challenges everyday to join and contribute to develop new ideas. This approach is really healthy, says Pia Dreyer.

Membership of the EUHA Nursing Network will also give access to participate in larger research projects and to apply for funding from larger European foundations. This is important to speed up translation of research and development results into clinical practice.