ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

"AUDIMAX", UNIVERSITY OF REGENSBURG, UNIVERSITATSSTR .31
REGENSBURG, GERMANY, APRIL 22ND 2004

MINUTES

ITEM 1
Sue opened the AGM and welcomed the ESPUN members present, thanking them for attending. 76 delegates had pre-registered and were in attendance at congress.
20 abstracts had been submitted, 15 were accepted for presentation at the ESPUN scientific meeting, 4 were accepted as a poster presentation and 1 accepted as a video presentation. 7 of the abstracts were also accepted for presentation in the main forum.

ITEM 2
The minutes of the ESPUN AGM in Madrid, Spain, March 2003 were discussed and agreed to be an accurate representation of the items addressed. Apologies were given on behalf of Johan Van Daele, board member from Ghent, Belgium who was unable to attend the conference this year. It was also noted that Marie Ode Bau from Paris, France had now officially stepped down from her position as board member.

ITEM 3
Craig then gave a membership update. The ESPUN was at the start of congress 96 in number with further applications already being requested and processed.
REMEMBER YOU HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF THE ESPUN TO QUALIFY FOR THE REDUCED FEE FOR CONGRESS REGISTRATION.
Congress organisers now have a list of all ‘paid up’ members to check against applications for reduced registration.
Members have now been allocated a membership number. Craig will inform members of their membership number on dispatch of the AGM minutes. New members will not be allocated their membership number until their fees have been received by direct bank transfer. Catherine, the board treasurer, will in turn confirm payment with Craig who will then allocate the membership number.
It was agreed that the membership fee remain at 24 Euros payable by the 1st of January each year. Members who do not pay for two consecutive years will have their name removed from the membership list.
Composition of the board was then discussed and the voting for new board
members addressed.
The only member nomination to the board, Katty Van Cauwenberghe from Ghent, Belgium then introduced herself. Katty gave a brief overview of herself, her job and what she hoped to achieve by becoming a board member.
She was voted unanimously by a show of hands of the members present and so was welcomed to the board as an official member.
It was noted that with Katty elected to the board, composition now included three members from Belgium. This was put to the members present and was met with their approval.
Sue stressed the importance of recruiting new board members to ensure the continued success of the now extremely well established ESPUN group.
2005 is to be Sue’s last year as active President although she has agreed to remain on the board for a further two years as ‘ex-officio President’, as permitted under the bye-laws, in an advisory capacity to assist, help and support the newly elected ESPUN President.
The board members each then gave a brief overview of their role within the board including the financial and time commitment associated with their particular role.

ITEM 4
Catherine then gave an overview of the financial report of the board. The balance is a healthy and positive one at present. It was discussed that monies remain available to support nurses unable to obtain funding to attend congress and for payment of invited guest speakers. The deadline for sponsorship application is to remain as October 1st of each year to enable the applicants to be discussed at the Autumn / Winter ESPUN board meeting.
Options such as payment by direct debit for membership fees are to be explored further.

ITEM 5
Margrethe and Sue gave an overview of the language course held on the day prior to congress. Overall it was a successful day with mostly positive feedback. Sue thanked Astra who continue to very generously provide sponsorship for the ESPUN language course. All those wishing to attend future language courses must apply before the closing date to be announced in subsequent ESPU mailings in order to be considered. It was also stressed that course delegates must bring their letter of confirmation to be accepted onto the course.
This year applications were received from 27 delegates. 4 delegates did not attend on the day, 1 delegate cancelled and 2 delegates who were ‘not on the attendance list’ turned up on the day. Attendance therefore stood at 24 delegates on the day. It was agreed that the cost incurred for those who did not attend without prior notification remain at 50 Euros.
If anyone has any ideas relating to how they would like the language course to be run or the structure of the day do not hesitate to put your thoughts forward to
any one of the board members before the end of September 2004.

ITEM 6
The web site was discussed. The code for accessing the membership corner was confirmed as ****. The code changes yearly and you will be updated accordingly. If any changes to your membership details occur pleases amend your details by accessing the nurse corner to ensure that you receive all relevant mailings from the ESPU / ESPUN. The web site is also accessible for clinical case discussions where members can exchange information relating to specific conditions and cases. Web site interest has increased and of course this is an extremely useful forum for networking with colleagues world-wide. Please check the web site and get involved wherever possible.

ITEM 7
The dates and host countries of the forthcoming meetings were addressed. The meeting in 2005 will be held in Uppsala, Sweden 15th – 18th June in association with the AAP.

• Please follow the abstract submission guidelines very carefully as defined in forthcoming mailings from the ESPU
  
• Deadline for the submission of abstracts is December 15th 2004 for the Uppsala meeting in 2005
  
• Abstract selection will be in January 2005 and abstract notification of acceptance will be in February 2005
  
• Again this year only on – line abstract submission will be accepted.
  
• Please ensure that you include VAT when registering for congress in 2005
  Any feedback from members relating to the congress format and ideas for the forthcoming meeting will be greatly appreciated.

Sue thanked the members present for their time and valuable comments during the AGM. Sue also thanked the speakers for the excellent papers given throughout the congress, the chairpersons for keeping order throughout the day and hoped everyone enjoyed the remainder of the their visit to Regensburg both professionally and socially.
Sue also thanked the congress organisers for all their effort and hard work in organising the meeting and ensuring the smooth running of the day.
The meeting was then officially closed.