Critical care nursing in Hellas and Cyprus: at the verge of a new era

Abstract

The last 15 years since the launch of Nursing in Critical Care (NICC) we have witnessed unprecedented changes in critical and intensive care nursing in Hellas and Cyprus, alike. The role of critical care nurses has shifted gradually as nurses are now much more involved in the development of their practice, they pursue continuing and academic education opportunities zealously, they are more accountable for the clinical outcomes of their patients and more eager to incorporate research evidence into practice (Patiraki et al., 2004; Kalafati et al., 2007b, 2009a). In Cyprus, the first integrated and specialized intensive care units were introduced a few years ago, and intensive care gradually moves away from the few increased acuity beds harboured within hospital wards. The Hellenic and Cypriot Departments of Critical Care and Emergency Nursing, under the auspices of the respective national nurses' associations, have been involved actively in the standardization of critical care nursing practice through the development and implementation of clinical guidelines and practice protocols, the first sets of which have been introduced successfully to Hellenic ICUs. Moreover, the Departments strive to motivate research and our national scientific meetings are now more stimulating than ever, whilst the participation of Greek-speaking intensive care nurses to international meetings increases exponentially, often followed by awards and commendations. Throughout these changes, NICC has served us in many ways: as an educative resource, as a trigger for practice and research development, as an agent of empowerment and as a state-of-the-art reference (Kalafati et al., 2007a).