After several years of informal collaboration between the Nursing Council of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Working group on Cardiovascular Nursing (now Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Profession in the European Society of Cardiology) the two groups decided during a meeting at the AHA congress in Chicago 2002 to formalise their collaboration.
Conferences
The two Councils plan to continue and extend their collaboration regarding the programme at the annual ESC and AHA conferences. The coordination between both AHA and ESC nursing sessions will be enhanced as well as the trans-Atlantic participation in AHA and ESC conferences. Educational initiatives of AHA and ESC will be announced on their respective Web Pages and journals.
Exchange programme
An exchange programme for students and faculty has been developed. The goal is to link students and faculty interested in cardiovascular research with expert mentors overseas thus optimising available resources on both continents and enhancing options for networking.
Research collaboration
In view of research collaboration, it is envisioned that the model of the UNITE group could be extended across continents. The funding in this regard needs to be further explored as it would create major opportunities for cardiovascular nursing research.
The liaison of the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Profession in the European Society of Cardiology is our past chair Wilma Scholte op Reimer (email). The liaison of the Nursing Council of the American Heart Association is Sandra Dunbar (email).
Link to the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing of the American Heart Association here