In the middle of April the 13Th meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Urology Nurse Group, ESPUN, was taken place in Nice, France. Paediatric nurses and paediatric urotherapists met in Nice to share their experiences and knowledge.

The Congress was held at the Acropolis Congress centre, closed to Old Nice.  Nice it self is an attraction: the rich blue-green sea, diverse shopping, and lovely art-deco facades. Nice is second only to Paris in the number of museums and galleries. Few spots epitomize Nice or, in fact, the inviting Promenade des Anglais. It is always bustling with humanity.

The aims of the ESPUN are to share knowledge and experiences between nurses and other paramedical staff in paediatric urology and continence, increase the quality of care for children suffering from these problems as well as support nurses and urotherapists in their professions and research. The nurse group now has 84 members and there are 13 countries represented in ESPUN.

English is the official language of the ESPUN but not the first language of all members. All nurses were invited to attend a language course, sponsored by Astra Tech and ESPU, The course had 22 participants and there was a lot of laugh and learning in the group. 

The objectives of the ESPUN are also to develop and maintain an international network group in paediatric urology nursing. Further ESPUN strive to raise the profile of the group by promoting educational activities such as annual conference with paper presented by members and workshops about clinical cases and problems.

The ESPUN scientific meeting had 4 sessions; Bladder exstrophy, Functional disorders, Other categories and Clinical Practice. Nineteen abstracts and two posters were presented. We had two workshops: CIC in non-neurogenic adolescent children and To catch or not to catch, to clean or not to clean, to be invasive or not invasive? Setting guidelines to manage urine samples in the 21st C for European nursing.

Three ESPUN members defended their thesis 2007. They all gave a brief presentation of their work. Ulla-Britt Jansson continued the Reseach School session this year and focused on how to write an abstract.

The ESPUN prizes for the nurses; Marianne Vijverberg, Utrecht, NL received the prize for best research paper The long-term effects of LUTS treatment in children and
Vonny Hulthén de Medina for the best clinical practice “Uris & Kluris” a patient and parent information.

The ESPU Thesis Award 2008 prize;
Ulla-Britt Jansson, Sweden Urinary bladder function and acquisition of bladder control in healthy children and Marian Van der Weide, The Netherlands, Lower urinary tract dysfunction after renal transplantation in children and adults.
 
Göteborg May 22, 2008