The European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP) and the organisations representing multiple sclerosis (MS) societies in Belgium launched the French and Flemish language training modules of MS Nurse Pro, an educational programme dedicated to European MS nurses. The launch took place on 16 November, in Brussels, Belgium.
The co-organisers were the Belgium MS League, the Flemish MS Society, the MS Society of the French-speaking community and the Belgium Society for Neuro Nurses.
Belgium is the eighth European country to host an MS Nurse Pro launch since the start of the project in 2012 joining Austria, Germany, UK, Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic and Spain as programme adopters.
By November 2015, more than 2,800 nurses from 24 countries had already registered for the training modules highlighting both the success of MS Nurse Pro and the need for continued specialisation of MS nurses.
The Brussels launch featured a range of informative presentations highlighting the importance and value of MS nurse training. Present at the event, EMSP's Chief Executive Maggie Alexander said that MS Nurse Pro has proved itself as a very useful pan-European training tool:
"MS nurses that have successfully completed the MS Nurse Pro modules feel better informed, more confident, less isolated and better able to draw on and implement best practice leading to tangibly improved quality of life for people with MS that they work with."
Other key speakers included the President of the Belgium MS League Baron Charles van der Straten Waillet, the President of the Belgium Society for Neuro Nurses Piet Eelen and member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Belgium MS societies Dr. Pierrette Seeldrayers.
High recognition and expanding reach
MS Nurse Professional is a European-focused, e-learning training curriculum for nurses beginning their career in the field of MS.
The programme is led by the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform in collaboration with the International Organisation of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses (IOMSN) and Rehabilitation in MS (RIMS).
MS Nurse Pro is constantly improving its reach, with further national launches scheduled in 2015-2016 in France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.