MS Nurse PRO launch event in Greece

The Hellenic Federation of People with MS, in partnership with the Greek MS Society (GMSS), have translated six modules of the MS Nurse Professional accredited e-learning training curriculum. MS Nurse Professional is a European-focused, training for nurses beginning their career in the field of MS led by the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP) in collaboration with the International Organisation of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses (IOMSN) and Rehabilitation in MS (RIMS).

To mark the completion of the project the Hellenic Federation of People with Multiple Sclerosis (POAMSKP) organized a launch event at the 5th Annual Panhellenic Conference of the Hellenic Academy of Neuroimmunology (HELANI) in December 2018.

On December 5th the launch event kicked off with a seminar for nurses under the theme of “Holistic approach and the role of nursing in Multiple Sclerosis”.

Highlights of the event:

• Seminar on The necessity of having a specialist nurse in Multiple Sclerosis: the view of a neurologist;
• Seminar on The role of the specialist nurse in Multiple Sclerosis by Theano Tatsi;
• Presentation on ‘MS Nurse Pro: the foundation of expert MS nursing care’ by Aliki Vriennioy (in the name of Vicky Matthews);
• Presentation on ‘The Scientific Program of the Union of Neurological Nurses of Greece’ by Chrissa Chrysovitsanou;
• Presentation on ‘The patient – nurse relationship in MS’ by A. Vrienniou.

The MS nurse plays a key role in the interdisciplinary team that plans the treatment of a person with MS. The job of an MS nurse is crucial in helping the patient understand his/her condition and treatment options, in facilitating the management of the MS symptoms and in contributing to the patient’s adherence to treatment by being a reliable source of information. There is a need for training more MS nurses, for which the MS Nurse PRO, with its proven track record in improving the specialisation of MS nurses offer. Since the Greek launch of the training tool, 11 individuals have completed the course and became certified MS nurses in Greece.

With more than 7,000 nurses enrolled since the launch and eleven language versions, MS Nurse Pro is constantly improving its reach.  To facilitate the expansion of the online curriculum, the MS Nurse Pro Steering Committee held an official meeting on 27 February 2019 in Brussels discussing the strategy of the project for the coming years.