Page 9 - Lessons learned from Ebola & COVID19 - June 2020
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DIRECTIVE 2013/55/EU - COMPETENCIES (Art 31) for Nurses
✓ To independently diagnose the nursing care - plan, organise and implement nursing care
✓ To work together effectively with other actors in the health sector
✓ To empower individuals, families and groups towards healthy lifestyles and self-care
✓ To independently initiative life-preserving in crises and disaster situations
✓ To independently give advice to, instruct and support persons needing care and their attachment figures
✓ To independently assure quality of and to evaluate nursing care
✓ To comprehensively communicate professionally and to cooperate with members of the other professions in the health sector
✓ To analyse the care quality to improve the own professional practice as a general care nurse
v. Proportionality Directive
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The Directive 2005/36/EC (modernised by Directive 2013/55/EU) strengthens nursing as a profession, and the
proportionality Directive goes even beyond that strengthening as national governments need to co-design
preparedness policies, with the profession. The delivery of hands-on care for patients, and coordination of the
care process to achieve better health outcomes requires a highly qualified nursing and health workforce. The
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European Commission Directive on a proportionality test used before adopting new or modified regulations
impacting on nurse education, service delivery and health outcomes, is key for preparedness, even in crisis, even
more in times of crisis as Ebola and COVID-19. Ministers of Health need to decide based on the dialogue they
had with the representatives of the profession, and any legislative outcome, need to be in line with the existing
European Directives. It is key to ensure the adoption of legislative measures able to preserve the safety and
quality of patient care, as well as the national specificities in their demographical, geographical and cultural
realities and make sure that regulation is based on proper justifications by the EU Member States. It is also
crucial to ensure that the level of protection of public health will not be undermined by the new provisions and
that EU citizens continue to enjoy access to appropriately trained and regulated professionals. The
proportionality test can play an important part in achieving this across the EU.
vi. Continuous Professional Development (CPD)/Lifelong Learning
Finally, investment in the education of the nursing workforce, enhancing the role of Continuous Professional
Development (CPD)/Lifelong Learning is an equal important step forward, to ensure the nursing workforce is
properly skilled and prepared to provide high quality care and patient safety, next to contributing to improving
patient outcomes and increasing the public confidence in the nursing profession. However, in reality, it is evident
that nurses lack working time to attend face-to-face courses and other educational opportunities. In COVID-19
times, there is little time to become a “link COVID nurse”, which is not a specialist nurse, but a general care nurse
with a specific COVID-19 responsibility on each unit. In addition to specific requirements in the current COVID-
19 crisis other essential policies such as the elimination of unsafe procedures as well as the transition to safe
sharps protection mechanism and devices is key for frontline nurses.
28 EFN Competency Framework. http://www.efnweb.be/?page_id=6897
29 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2016:0822:FIN
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