Finnish Nursing Association pays fact-finding visit to Hudds

The visit comes on the back of conferences talks in Finland by the University’s Dr Melanie Rogers who is Chair of the Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nurse Network of the International Council of Nurses.

THE University of Huddersfield’s expertise in Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) led to a delegation from the Finnish Nurses Association (FNA) paying a two-day visit, aiming to learn more about the subject and how it can be developed in their country’s social and healthcare system. 

APN includes the role of Nurse Practitioners, whose special training qualifies them to move beyond core nursing practice and carry out tasks such as assessment, diagnosis and issuing prescriptions.

Senior Lecturer Dr Melanie Rogers has been a nurse practitioner for 18 years.  She leads a course on the subject at the University of Huddersfield and is Chair of the Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nurse Network of the International Council of Nurses.

It is a role that has led her to be invited to speak at conferences in Finland and other Nordic countries and on a visit to Helsinki she met Anna Suutarla, who is Head of International Affairs for the Finnish Nurses Association, which has played an active role in developing APN in Finland, with consultation and support from Dr Rogers.

The Association then arranged a study trip for 25 members in order to to learn about advanced roles in the UK.  In addition to the University of Huddersfield, it also visited Manchester Foundation Trust and London South Bank University.

When the group came to Huddersfield it was welcomed by Dr Rogers, who spoke about the development of APN in the UK, where nurse practitioners were introduced in 1989.  Dr Jackie Vasey, who is Head of the Division of Child Mental Health and Learning Disability Nursing, spoke about pre-registration nursing.

The Finnish delegates also met several qualified nurses and spent a day in class with Dr Rogers’s first year Advanced Clinical Practitioner students, some of whom gave clinical presentations and carried out simulated patient examinations.

“Afterwards, they said we had an excellent Master’s programme here and had gained a really good grasp of AP nursing in the UK,” said Dr Rogers.  “They were very excited to see how much autonomy and accountability is taken on by nurse practitioners.”

Anna Suutarla commented that: “The Finnish Nurses Association sees that we need APN roles in our future social and health care services in Finland.  Since the early 2000s, we have had more options for nurses’ master level clinical careers, and we have introduced the roles of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner, but we are still developing the roles and education.

“Since 2010, we have had nurses’ restricted right to prescribe.  It was now excellent to have this possibility to learn and share and we will bring valuable lessons and inspiration back home.

“The delegation was especially touched and impressed by Dr Rogers and the students’ pride in developing the role of nurses’ roles.  Dr Rogers is truly a great advocate for nursing and advanced roles globally.” 

The success of the visit by delegates of the Finnish Nurses Association could lead to new links with the University of Huddersfield, including research collaborations and student exchanges.