Nurses from 15 countries attended Emergency Nursing 2024, including Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan and Netherlands. They delved into the education sessions and mingled at several events designed for international conversations and connections.
Attendees from around the world, including Fiji, Australia, Netherlands, Egypt, Canada and the United Kingdom, mingled at the Global Meet and Greet, held in the Experience Hall.
“You had nurses from all walks of life with so much shared experience who would have otherwise never met if not for Emergency Nursing 2024,” said ENA Global Partnership Development Manager Matthew Hessler. More than 100 people from outside the United States attended, as well as a number of U.S. nurses who currently live and work abroad, sharing their insights and experiences of providing emergency nursing across many cultures.
ENA Global Advisory Council members and ENA board members welcomed international attendees at the Global Meet & Greet in the Experience Hall for informal discussions and networking.
“It’s an incredible experience,” said Mereani Turagabeci, RN, one of seven nurses who attended from Fiji. She was looking forward to sharing what she learned. “This will open doors for our colleagues back home.”
During ENA’s Global Innovation Luncheon & Session, participants shared their top challenges and their professional goals. No. 1 on their list of challenges was ED overcrowding and boarding, and most said they wanted additional skills development.
Dawn Peta, BN, ENC(C), RN, a member of the Global Advisory Council, encouraged her colleagues to grow their advocacy and develop events like ENA’s Day on the Hill in the U.S. or the first National Emergency Nursing Association Walk on Parliament in Canada that took place in June.
Similar conversations took place during the session “Global Perspectives: The Coffeehouse, Where the World Meets.” Global Advisory Council Member Walter Sergio Lugari, BSN, FKP-NP, RN, of Germany arranged an international discussion inspired by the centuries-old tradition of exchanging ideas over coffee. The session was co-moderated by Palestinian-American Jamla Rizek, MBA, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, NHDP-BC, NRP, of New York and Journal of Emergency Nursing section editors Patricia Clutter, MEd, RN, CEN, FAEN, of Missouri and Kelly Collins, BSN, CEN, CPEN, RN, SANE, who was born in Ireland and now lives in Maine.
International nurses shared their experiences and insights on emergency care during the session “Global Perspectives: The Coffeehouse, Where the World Meets.”
Several attendees from Ghana, Pakistan and Fiji described the employment landscape for nurses in the countries. Setaita Bulai, RN, of Fiji described new recruitment programs to entice nurses who moved to other countries for better-paying jobs to come home.
“This is an issue for all of us,” said Babar Islam, RN, of Pakistan, who talked about flexible work schedules and retention bonuses.
Lugari led another session, “Lena und Ich: An International Perspective and Exploration into Personal Trauma in the ED,” with Sarah Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL. They each shared very personal stories of how the deaths of particular patients took an emotional toll and how they helped themselves heal. They pivoted from their personal experiences to outline the types of emotional conditions and diagnoses — such as stress, anxiety, PTSD and burnout — and how to get help.
Christine Russe, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, FAEN, and Kim Austin, MSN, RN, CPEN, SANE-P, TCRN, shared their experiences traveling around Argentina with the 2023 ENA Global Exchange Program trip, in which the ENA delegation explored the country’s emergency care system.
“You could sense nursing pride,” Russe said, regarding the tours of several hospitals, from large well-financed medical centers to small rural facilities. “Their biggest challenge is the nursing shortage. Sound familiar?”