"Together into the future with nursing science and practice" - symposium at RWU

Weingarten - The conference began with a warm welcome from representatives of RWU. In his welcoming address, Rector Professor Dr. Thomas Spägele emphasized the central importance of nursing and the need for improvement in Germany in order to keep pace with international developments. Professor Dr. Anja Klimsa, Dean of Faculty S, then turned her attention to the financing of academic nursing. This must be ensured, as academic nursing staff is a decisive factor in the sustainable development of nursing care.

Following on from this, external speakers reported on their practical experiences, which confirmed the relevance of academic nursing. The team from Klinikum Stuttgart reported on their use of Advanced Practice Nurses (APN), i.e. employees from the field of nursing who have completed or are completing further academic training. Philipp Strnad, coordinator of the nursing experts at Klinikum Stuttgart, gave an insight into the current status of the implementation of APNs at his facility: 35 APNs are now employed there. Among them is Dr. Juliane Spank: "We have to stand up for our profession, then something can also change politically." Sebastian Graf then reported on his role as an APN in the emergency department.

No less innovative is the concept of rehabilitative long-term care that Oskar Dierbach has introduced at Haus Ruhrgarten in Mülheim an der Ruhr - with resounding success: according to the AOK Rheinland/Hamburg, his care facility has over 40 percent fewer hospital admissions than all other care facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The clinics in the Upper Swabia region then presented the work of nursing staff with academic training: For the Oberschwabenklinik, Astrid Richter, among others, presented the interdisciplinary consultation hours for patients with impaired bowel function following surgery. Manuela Kirsch, Head of Nursing at the Lake Constance Medical Campus in Friedrichshafen, and Vivian Föhr reported on the introduction of nursing rounds at their hospital. Patrick Lemli presented his work as an APN in long-term inpatient psychiatric care for the Zentrum für Psychiatrie Südwürttemberg.

The event concluded with a panel discussion dedicated to the question of how academicized nursing can be planned and implemented in a future-oriented manner, which was moderated by Dr. Thomas Boggatz, deputy professor of nursing science at RWU. During the discussion, Martin Holzke, nursing expert at ZfP Südwürttemberg, stated what will be important in the future: "We need a compatible training system in the field of nursing. Only through this can a heterogeneity be created that ensures that academically qualified specialists are involved in all areas in which nursing care is required and implemented".

Text: Alec Weber & Thomas Boggatz

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