Paediatric nursing in Europe: influencing policy and practice

The WHO European Health Report 2005 called for significant efforts from all countries to protect and promote children's health. Nurses across Europe have a major role to play in this effort but in many countries they lack the appropriate education and organisational support to make a meaningful contribution. A network of paediatric nursing associations in Europe was formed in 2003 to strengthen nurses' voices in child health policy and improve the potential of nurses to contribute to protecting and promoting the health of children and young people. Based on a consensus definition of the European paediatric nurse, the Paediatric Nursing Associations of Europe has developed consensus position statements on issues such as regulation and educational preparation. These have been used to lobby at national levels with positive results such as new mechanisms for identifying paediatric nurses on some national nursing registers, legislation to protect the use of the title 'paediatric nurse' and consideration of the reintroduction of specific programmes at both pre and post registration level for preparation of paediatric nurses.