Celebration of EONS’ European Cancer Nursing Day takes place every year in a different country. It’s an important day to celebrate cancer nursing and recognition of cancer nurses as an important part of a multidisciplinary team.
It was a great honor for the Croatian Oncology Nursing Society to welcome EONS to our capital city, Zagreb, for ECND22. As a relatively “young” oncology nursing society in Croatia, we have for some time been discussing and planning ways of improving specialised education in Croatia for oncology nurses, organising different events, educational opportunities and advocating for a curriculum for oncology nurses. A great effort, time and much passion were put into meetings during the event organisation. A special thank you goes to EONS COO and EONS Team who have been working hard online and during the event to make sure none of the details would be missed. Special thanks also goes to the colleagues and friends who supported me by encouraging me to forward the invitation to EONS in the first place!
The Round Table discussion was held with the Croatian government on the theme: “Challenges in Cancer Care and Cancer Nursing during and beyond the pandemic”. In attendance were the Croatian Minister for Health, Science and Education, the President of the Nursing Council, and representatives of Nursing Higher Education in the Universities and the Croatian Oncology Nursing Society Board, namely lead nurses of each of the Croatian Oncology Nursing Departments in the country. The goal was to help with recognition of cancer nursing in Croatia. It was a dynamic and highly successful discussion supported by all the representatives and participants. Gratifyingly, government representatives immediately confirmed their support in any way needed to move Croatian cancer nurses forward to a place of recognition. A heart as big as a house, as it is said in Croatian! An unbelievable outcome, huge support, right there on the spot – 32 people sitting and discussing, 32 people agreeing on recognition of cancer nursing. Contact’s exchanged, collaboration announced, a pathway has been established!
A huge THANK YOU to the EONS family, CONS, representatives and to all participants, live and online. Thank you for putting time, effort, passion and love into ECND22. We celebrated ECND in a fantastic way, and finally met each other face-to-face (46 in person, 21 online). It was a real honour and opportunity to be a host of such an important event. Thank you for making history for the future of all cancer nurses.