Annual Report 2008 of the Swiss Society of Cardiology’s Working Group on “Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions”

Activities of the Working Group

The Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (WGCNAP) continues to evolve and establish itself as an active working group of the Swiss Society of Cardiology and as the Swiss National Society of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions.

2008 has been noteworthy for the following major landmarks:

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Completion of the Working Group Statutes in accordance with the SGK Statutes

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Establishmentof two Speciality Groups or Interest Groups

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Support for two continuing education programmes for cardiovascular nurses and allied professionals

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Increase in membership

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Improvement in networking amongst members both within Switzerland and internationally

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Agreement to co-sponsor the 2010 Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology’s Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions

Statutes

The Working Group statutes will be voted on and approved during the annual assembly at Lausanne in June 2009. In addition, the statutes for the two Interest Groups have been adapted and will be submitted to their respective memberships for approval by the end of 2009.

Interest Groups

Interest Groups are subgroups or specialty groups of both the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions and their respective Speciality Working Groups. Two new groups have been incorporated this year:

• The Interest Group for Rhythmologyand Electrophysiology (IG-AR) was officially launched in 2008 with the election of the Board, definition of its goals and framing of its statutes, creation of its website and logo, opening of its bank account accompanied by initial contacts with sponsors for financial support, and active participation in Swiss Rhythm 2008 with three special workshops. The Board met four times, the Board and the Board of the Working Group on Pacemakers and Electrophysiology held four joint meetings, and the General Assembly was held during Swiss Rhythm 2008. Currently the IG-AR has 24 members. President: Christine Mathis; VicePresident and Webmaster: Dragan Skocibusic; Treasurer: Barbara Schwab; Secretary: Lea Toikari.
• The Interest Group for Heart Failure Nurses (IG-HIB) was officially reorganised in November 2008 with a provisional board to prepare the Interest Group goals and statutes. The goals and statutes will be presented to the members during the annual meeting in autumn 2009, when the permanent Board will be elected. The IG-HIB held a day-long workshop in November 2008 with presentations relating to care of the heart failure patient. The Board has met once so far. With the recent reorganisation of the Interest Group, a new call for members has been made and former members have been asked to rejoin both the WG and the IG. The IG-HIB currently has 33 members.

President: Brigitte Eggimann; VicePresident: Katrin Vogt; Secretary: Veronika Schindler-Rufer; Past-President and Representative to Working Group on Heart Failure: Marcia Leventhal; Board Members: Kaija Leena Minkinen, Lilian Volken, Benitta Blatter, Lydia Eisenmann.

Marcia E. Leventhal, President of the Working Group.

Continuing Education Programmes

The Inselspital Cardiology Department staged a one-day continuing education programme for nurses and allied professionals entitled “Practical Cardiology for Nurses” in June 2008, and Zurich University Hospital Cardiology Department presented a half-day continuing education programme on “Adults Living with Congenital Heart Disease” in September 2008. In addition, members were notified of workshops, congresses and continuing education in neighbouring countries.

• Spring Meeting 2010, Geneva

The Working Group, as the Swiss National Society of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions, has been invited by the ESC Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions to co-host the annual Spring Meeting to be held March 13–14 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a great honour and privilege for our National Society to participate as hosts of this prestigious meeting. Many of our Swiss Members will be invited to present their research and clinical practice projects, and will also have an opportunity to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations. We have members on the Scientific Committee as well as the Organising Committee, and we are planning for major participation by Swiss nurses and technicians. The meeting will be translated into German, French and Italian. The first notice will be prepared by the Spring Meeting at Dublin in April 2009, and will be distributed throughout our membership and Swiss hospitals.

Membership

Membership has continued to grow to its present level of 120 members with approximately equal representation of both cardiovascular nurses and interventional technicians.

Board

The Board membership was completed this year with the addition of the two representatives from the Interest Groups: Christine Mathis (IG-AR) and Brigitte Eggimann (IG-HIB). The Board met twice in 2008 and conducts most of its communication via email. The prime challenge confronting the Board is the difficulty of maintaining a stable membership. With regret we must report the death of our most respected member, Corina Perini, in September 2008. She was a valued member of the Board, the Working Group and the Interest Group for Heart Failure Nurses, and her vision and goals will continue to guide the Group. Christine Tschannan and Denis Hemme resigned from the Board for professional reasons. A call for new Board members has been issued and new members will be elected during the annual meeting in June 2009.

Challenges and Goals for the Upcoming Year

Ensure the stability of the Board; obtain sponsorship for the development of the Working Group; reach out to all CV Nurses and Allied Professionals working in Switzerland; establishment of the website; participation in the SSC Annual Congress with nurses invited to present their research during the scientific sessions, including submission of abstracts to the SSC Congress.

Varia

Hinweis zum Veranstaltungskalender

Da der Veranstaltungskalender auf der SGK-Website laufend aktualisiert wird, verzichten wir künftig auf einen Abdruck der regelmässigen Veranstaltungen und der Kongresse in der «Kardiovaskulären Medizin». Der Kalender ist zu finden unter: www.swisscardio.ch → Fortbildung → FB-Veranstaltungen → «Regelmässige Veranstaltungen» bzw. «SGK-Veranstaltungskalender». Die Redaktion

Jahreskongress der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kardiologie: Preise 2009

Im Rahmen des Jahreskongresses der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kardiologie vom 10. bis 12. Juni 2009 in Lausanne wurden folgende Preise verliehen:

• CardiovascularBiologyAward2009

Für ihre Arbeiten «Inhibition of Protein Kinase C2 Prevents Foam Cell Formation by Reducing Scavenger Receptor A Expression in Human Macrophages» und «c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase 2 Deficiency Protects Against Hypercholesterolemia-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress» erhielt Elena Osto, Zürich, den Cardiovascular Biology Award 2009.

• BestefreieMitteilung

Die beste freie Mitteilung präsentierte Lorenz Räber, Bern, mit der Arbeit «Peripartal myocardial infarction caused by placenta embolus».

• Posterpreis

Die Preise gingen an folgende Personen: An S. Morel, Genf, für das Poster «Prominent role for the endothelial gap junction protein connexin40 in myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in mice» sowie an N. J. Farpour-Lambert, Genf, für das Poster «Associations between physical activity level, cardiores-piratory fitness and cardiovascula diseases risk factors among obese children and their mother».

• Echokardiographiepreis

Die Verleihung des Echokardiographiepreises erfolgte nach folgenden Rängen:

1. Preis: A. Rohner, M. Wachter, M. Katan, S. Muzzarelli, F. Fluri, A. M. Bernheim (Basel): «The role of routine echocardiography for unselected patients with cerebrovascular ischaemic events – A one-year follow-up study».

2. Preis: G. Leibundgut, A. Rohner,A. M. Bernheim, A. Kessel, M. J. Zellweger, P. Buser, M. Handke (Basel): «Real-time three-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of the right ventricle in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging».

3. Preis: R. Diamond, M. Pfyffer,R. Candinas, F. W. Amann, A. FähGunz, C. Scharf, W. Kiowski, C. H. Attenhofer Jost (Zürich): «Left ventricular noncompaction: caveats of echocardiographic criteria and overlap with other cardiomyopathies».