News
(21.6.2019)
The European Transcultural Nursing Association (ETNA) conference was opened by the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch
At the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of the University of South Bohemia, a major international conference, the European Transcultural Nursing Association (ETNA), began on Wednesday and will continue until Saturday 22 June. It is a very prestigious event that is organized every two years. It is the first time it is being held in the Czech Republic; the conference language is English. This year's nursing curriculum focuses on the cultural competences of nurses – in the current globalized world, it is increasingly important to be able to provide all patients with care in compliance with their cultural habits, needs, and expectations.
The program is rich, and experts from almost 20 countries will present their papers in the halls of the FHSS USB Vltava/Uran. On Wednesday morning, Catherine Gilbert gave a lecture entitled Building a Culturally Competent Curriculum: If Not Now, When? Later the guests went to Český Krumlov. The opening ceremony took place in the evening at the Hotel Budweis with speeches by the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch, the Rector of the University of South Bohemia Tomáš Machula, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of South Bohemia Ivana Chloubová, the President of the Association of ETNA Irena Papadopoulos, and the Deputy Mayor of České Budějovice Viktor Vojtko. They welcomed them to the faculty, the university, the city and the South Bohemian region, and wished them days full of inspiring and pleasant discussions and meetings. At the end of the evening, all were delighted by the performance of the FHSS USB choir.
“In Czech hospitals, of course, we do not only have Czech patients, but also patients from different European countries and the world, and we need to get used to it. Health professionals need to adapt to this: they must be educated, and have the knowledge, experience and skills to treat patients from different countries and cultural backgrounds. I am glad that we will discuss this at the conference and eventually, it will benefit both patients and health professionals,” said the minister of health Adam Vojtěch. The rector of the University of South Bohemia Tomáš Machula stressed that he is very proud of our faculty and appreciates that we are organizing such a great international conference. He said, “With all modesty, I must say that you are in the right place because our FHSS is really the best one… We receive excellent feedback from hospitals not only in this region. Since last year, the faculty also has a new institutional accreditation in the field of nursing, which is a huge success.”
ETNA brings together nursing professionals, students, nurses, and other nursing and related specialists. Its only member from the Czech Republic is professor Valérie Tóthová, who made this event happen at our faculty. The theme is also very inspiring for us: the aim of the conference is to compare how curricula are set in different countries, and how students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to provide culturally competent care.
