[The first conferences of dialysis nurses and staff in Czechoslovakia]

After successful seminars of dialysis nurses from the Clinic of Internal Medicine in Plzen in 1974, 1975 and 1976 the Board of the Czechoslovak Society of Nephrology entrusted the Dialysis Centre from the Clinic to organise national conferences for dialysis staff. The first conference of dialysis staff took place in 1978 in the hotel Solidarita at Spicák. Following conferences were taking place in the manor Zinkovy near Plzen till 1989. To establish independent dialysis conferences was necessary because of a rich content of those conferences and an effort not to limit traditional nephrology at nephrology congresses. The conferences always took from 2 to 3 days and dialysis physicians, technicians and nurses participated in. Since 1981 selected professionals from abroad took part in them too. Participants of the conferences and members of the Czech Society of Nephrology who always had their meetings during the conferences think that nephrology conferences contributed to progress in dialysis and transplantation area in our country. Dialysis nurses in Plzen made a special contribution to organization of conferences which lead to giving those conferences a nickname the Conferences of Dialysis Nurses. Since 1980 the national conferences in Zinkovice alternated with national conferences in Eastern Slovakia lead by professor Mydlík. There were no other conferences of dialysis staff organised in the Czechoslovakia within years 1978-1989.