By Polona Frelih Klanšček, nurse at University medical centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Collaboration among nurses in countries of the former Yugoslavia has been a topic of discussion within the EBMT Nurses Group in recent years. While the desire to connect and cooperate has always been present, we have encountered several obstacles and challenges that we aim to overcome. Our nursing colleagues from the Czech Republic provided a great summary of the history of the former East Forum, which operated between 2006 and 2012. Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Slovenia were also part of this forum. Read the news article Establishment of the Czech EBMT Nurses Group.
Last year, after joint discussions, we realised that the East Forum group was too large, with countries speaking many different languages, creating a significant language barrier. As a result, we decided to collaborate in a more centralised way, focusing on countries that share similar languages. Together with my colleagues from Croatia, we developed the idea of forming a group that would initially include Croatia and Slovenia, with the possibility of expanding to other Balkan countries in the future.
We met at the Annual Meeting of the EBMT in April 2024 and held several online meetings with the EBMT NG Global Education Committee. In 2024, the annual congress of KroMreža HMST was organised in Croatia, where our colleagues from Slovenia and Serbia kindly invited us. We were also honoured to actively participate in lectures at this congress. During the event, we presented the idea of a joint nurses’ group, and all attendees agreed it was a great initiative.
Looking ahead, our goal is to formally establish the group and define its objectives and plans. Both Slovenia and Croatia have many young, emerging healthcare professionals working in HCT and cell therapy. Since we all face similar challenges and obstacles, we believe that by working together, we can find effective solutions. Our vision is to create a collaborative group that fosters cooperation, knowledge-sharing, and the exchange of experiences in HCT and cell therapy.