The general secretary of the General Nursing Council of Spain, Diego Ayuso, participated on Friday in the VII Nursing Science Conference held by the Official College of Nursing of Teruel in Andorra. From there he encouraged professionals to investigate, especially in health prevention and in favor of the elderly, and conveyed some demands. He urged the regional and central administrations to recognize the competency development of nurses, assign them professional category A1 and increase the ratio of professionals throughout Spain and in all health areas. He regretted, on the other hand, that healthcare providers can barely prescribe basic products or medications related to care.
-What is the reason for the presence of the Council in Andorra?
-The College of Nursing of Teruel has invited us to these research sessions. First of all, thank you and congratulate you for this initiative. It is very important for nurses to promote research, it is one of the reasons for the advancement of the profession. If we do not hold meetings to disseminate, promote and give visibility to all the research carried out by nurses in our country, and specifically here in Teruel, it will be difficult for us to continue advancing.
-How do you see the development of the profession in rural areas?
-We think it is fundamental because the reality that our country has in many autonomous communities is geographical dispersion. It is important that in rural areas all aspects related to the health of the population are very accessible, especially those linked to prevention, health promotion and acquisition of healthy lifestyle habits. It is absolutely necessary so that there is not as much chronicity as exists in our country and to prevent future complications. That is why it is very important that from the Council we are also present in rural areas, promoting nursing research.
-Is nursing sufficiently valued?
-Unfortunately, we are not. The reality is that nurses are present in all areas of care (primary care, hospital care, social care) and those who have needed care know our importance. Yes, we feel appreciation from the citizens, but what we need right now is political appreciation. That is to say, we are really committed to developing the skills of nurses and we are not receiving that from politicians. We ask that our profession be valued as it should be, that they give us the A1 professional category, which we deserve, that we be recognized at a remuneration level and that the number of nurses in Spain be increased. In rural areas where we are, where nurses are a health reference for the population, there must be policies that really allow us to develop our skills to meet the needs of the population and improve the health of citizens. At an academic level we are graduates, masters and doctors: the highest level. But that has not translated into real recognition.
-They also want to prescribe basic medications.
-We want a nurse to be able to prescribe a health product or a medicine related to care. Obviously, due to our training, experience and skills, the situation is really very sad. From the Ministry of Health we have been able to develop only 10 guides and 10 drugs in five years, and four of them are appealed. It’s very sad. We ask the regional and central administration to give approval so that nurses can be prescribers of the Medicines Law.
-The example of the value of the professionals they represent and train are the scientific communications that they are capable of making in conferences like this.
-Nursing research is the driving force towards the advancement of the profession. It is true that we still have a long way to go, but we have evolved in recent decades in a very important way. The scientific contribution is key. Not all nurses have to do research, but we do have to consume scientific evidence and that is why it is so important that there is nursing research that is applicable to the care we give to the population.
-How does the Council support the investigation?
-The commitment to research is very firm. First of all, say that nurses do research in our free time. It is important that public administrations are convinced that part of the working day is counted as research time. And we need financing. Other disciplines, thanks to the industry, have very important economic support to be able to carry out research, but this is not our case. That is why the Council established aid worth 750,000 euros per year that is given directly to nursing schools so that they can launch research projects. On the other hand, we are supporting scientific societies and national nursing associations with amounts of 600,000 euros in aid, annually as well. We cover different areas of knowledge, from critical care to cardiology, emergencies, ostomies… We also offer assistance to doctoral students. The doctorate is the highest academic level, therefore it is the highest level of research and we want those who are willing to achieve it to have this aid. We have 230,000 euros per year, which is undoubtedly not enough but annually it is an important help. We establish five national awards with which we give 10,000 euros to each research project, before starting. And for the best doctoral thesis we also give a prize of 5,000 euros. And we have research grants in areas such as mental health or skin care, among others.
-In what fields do you think more research could be done?
-The field of public health, of primary care, is very important. All aspects that have to do with health promotion and disease prevention. And then there is another aspect in which we have to advance, which is chronicity. Chronic pathologies are increasingly common in our country. And there are more and more older people and therefore we have to focus our attention to take better care of our elderly because it is really the population that uses health resources the most, that needs us the most and therefore we have to do it with higher quality .