Critical care nurses play a vital role in disaster response and need to be prepared for responding to increasing global threats in our continent, such as pandemics, war, and natural disasters. In addition, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted current nursing workforce shortages that stretch healthcare systems, threaten the healthcare response, and expose the need for more preparedness in Europe. The current shortage of nursing professionals in Europe is a major concern that requires innovative solutions.

EUHA is concerned that these shortages, together with growing healthcare demands, rising cost of treatments and an ageing population will pose challenges to healthcare accessibility, and limit system resilience during future health emergencies. For this reason, EUHA adopted as a strategic goal to develop innovative solutions for clinical care and upskill the healthcare workforce to support the development, resilience, and sustainability of European healthcare systems.

The EUHA Nursing Network contributes to this strategic objective with EUCARE, a 3-year fellowship programme whose primary objective is to facilitate the exchange of clinical knowledge among critical care nurses in EUHA hospitals. The project, which is coordinated by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, has received ERASMUS+ funding to design and implement a common education programme for nurses. This programme will provide specialised crisis response knowledge and create a network of interculturally trained nurses ready to work across borders. Thus, participants will undergo comprehensive practical training to acquire the necessary competencies that support the provision of critical care in different intercultural emergencies.